(Press Release) Research validates that venture capital fundraising and IPOs are on the rise, with favorable investment outlooks continuing in cloud computing and mobile technology.
Global investor confidence in the United States significantly increased for the third year in a row, driven by a combination of favorable capital markets, abundant investment opportunities in innovative companies and a strong investor climate, according to the 2014 Global Venture Capital Confidence Survey from Deloitte and the National Venture Capital Association. Moreover, global investor confidence also increased in the United Kingdom, Israel and Canada, but continued to decline in Brazil, China and India, according to the survey.
Conducted in May and June of 2014, the 10th annual survey, gauged confidence levels of more than 300 venture capital, private equity and growth equity investors in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, assessing investor confidence on the global venture capital environment, market factors shaping industries, and investments in specific geographies and industry sectors. Confidence levels were measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with a score of 5 representing the most confidence.
“For the past three years the U.S. has seen a significant increase in investor confidence, continuing the trend which began to take hold in 2012,” said Jim Atwell, national managing partner of the Emerging Growth Company practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP. “Improving capital market conditions lifted the pace of initial public offerings, fed by a strong lineup of new and innovative companies like we see on the Technology Fast 500TM list, along with increased investor confidence both in the ability to fundraise as well as to achieve favorable returns on investment.”
Venture capital fundraising has been picking up steam in recent quarters with U.S. venture capital firms having raised $7.4 billion in new commitments from 78 funds during the second quarter of 2014, according to Thomson Reuters and the NVCA. A 24 percent increase compared to the number of funds raised during the first quarter, marks the strongest quarter for the number of funds raised since the fourth quarter of 2007.
Venture capitalists invested $29.5 billion in 3,382 companies in 2013, according to the NVCA Yearbook. Software was the leading sector, receiving 37.3 percent of total dollars followed by biotechnology, which was less than half the amount at 15.4 percent of total investment. Among first fundings, software led the way with 591 companies getting their initial venture capital rounds, more than 46 percent of all first fundings.
In line with this, the survey found that global investors continued to invest and expressed the greatest enthusiasm for information technology-related sectors that are less capital intensive, particularly technology, mobile and cloud computing. At the same time, sectors requiring more capital intensive spends including hardware and semiconductors were viewed as the least favorable sectors.
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“Continued confidence from global investors in the U.S. is welcome news for American innovators building next generation companies,” said Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of NVCA. “In order to maintain this enthusiasm in U.S. innovation, policymakers in Washington need to come together to enact policies that support the creation of sustainable, high-growth companies that create jobs and drive economic growth.”