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After three consecutive years of decline, U.S. venture-capital investment increased in 2004--with $20.4 billion invested in 2,067 deals--according to the Quarterly Venture Capital Report released by Ernst & Young LLP and VentureOne, a unit of Dow Jones Newswires and the publisher of VentureSource. While deal count was nearly flat compared to the preceding year, the amount invested rose by 8% over the $18.9 billion invested in U.S. companies in 2003.
Most significantly, investors refocused on company formations as seed- and first-round deals captured a considerable portion of activity this year. These early-stage deals made up 37% of all venture-capital rounds in the fourth quarter--the highest percentage since 2001. For the year as a whole, seed- and first-round deals represented 33% of all deals, compared to 31% in 2003.
"Several positive factors came together in 2004 to mark the beginning of a new venture-capital cycle, including increased venture-backed IPO and M&A exits, recovering valuations, and renewed fundraising activity by venture-capital firms," said Bryan Pearce, Ernst & Young's New England Venture Capital Advisory Group Leader. "The increase in early-stage investment in 2004, a rise of 17% to a total of $4.1 billion in seed- and first-round deals--the highest figure since 2001--is a reflection of the venture-capital community's confidence in the prospects for long-term success."
In addition, investment in companies identified as being in start-up mode was 58% higher in terms of deals, and 34% higher in terms of dollars, than in 2003, noted John Gabbert, vice president of worldwide research for VentureOne.
"We saw many new companies formed in 2004, in part as the result of the opening of the liquidity market--which makes the exit path more apparent--and in part as the result of the increased number of new funds raised by venture capital firms, which now can be directed to longer-term commitments to promising start-ups," Mr. Gabbert said. "The second half of 2004 appears to have been a particularly strong one for closing new funds aimed at the next wave of entrepreneurial companies. VentureOne's preliminary estimate for funds raised in 2004 is in the $16-17 billion range, which stands in contrast to the $8.7 billion raised in 2003."
In the fourth quarter, venture-capital investment in U.S. companies was $4.5 billion, which represents a 15% drop from the amount invested in the fourth quarter of 2003, and an 8% decline from the third quarter of 2004. Deals also declined to 479 in the fourth quarter, a 17% decrease from the preceding year and a 3% decrease from the prior quarter's amount. Thanks to larger investments throughout the year--the median deal size for the year was $7 million, on par with 2001 levels--the total amount invested in 2004 came out ahead.
By industry category, median investments in biopharmaceutical companies were the largest of the year: $12 million. For the fourth quarter, it was $15 million. The biopharmaceutical segment is bolstering the venture-capital industry as a whole, with a 20% increase in the amount invested in the category this year, and 7% more deals. In actual numbers, there were 228 biopharmaceutical deals and $4.3 billion invested, the highest amount in four years and nearly equal to the amount invested in 2000. Another health-care category, health-care services, also saw increases with 36 deals and $375.6 million invested in 2004. This category saw a particular increase in activity in the fourth quarter as the deal flow reached its highest level since 2000, and the amount invested nearly doubled from the previous quarter.
The largest health-care investment of the fourth quarter was the $52.2 million later-stage investment in Alexza Molecular Delivery (Palo Alto, Calif.), a developer of specialty pharmaceuticals delivered via inhalation. The largest health-care investment of the year remains the first quarter's $250 million investment in Jazz Pharmaceuticals (Palo Alto, Calif.), a developer of pharmaceutical products for use in targeted therapeutic areas.
Information-technology (IT) companies received significant investments as well, holding steady or showing increases across nearly all segments... In total, $11.3 billion was invested in IT this year, compared to $10.4 billion last year.
Companies in the electronics and information-services segments were particularly popular with investors as deal flow rose 20% and 21%, respectively, over 2003 in those segments. Semiconductor deals were also on the rise, with 8% more completed rounds than in 2003.
Investment in communications companies faltered, however, with deals declining to 208 and capital invested dropping to $2.5 billion--both representing 17% decreases from 2003 levels. Still, the largest deal of the fourth quarter--and 2004 as a whole--was in the communications category: a $145 million third-round investment in Mobile Satellite Ventures (Reston, Va.), a provider of mobile satellite communication services.
