Could Dotcom Investments Drive 2010s Economic Upswing?
Was the end of 2009 the end of the start of the upswing, or the beginning of the end of it? New figures released that track fourth quarter venture capital spending make for interesting reading on this matter. Except if you’re in cleantech. The data is coming from New York-based research firm ChubbyBrain, and it concerns venture capital funding rounds in Q4 2009. The figures are complex, but there are some fascinating facts buried among them. For a start, the absolute amount of cash concerned fell quarter on quarter between Q3 and Q4 from $6.1 billion to $5.5 billion–but the Q3 figures were artificially boosted by a number of big late-stage investments that came to conclusion at the time, like Twitter’s $100m deal. The most promising sign is that the actual number of deals ChubbyBrain tracks rose throughout the year, and peaked in Q4 at 687, a full 84 more than in the same period in 2008. That’s an extremely positive sign, indicating that venture capitalists are happy to speculate on c
