Michael Greeley, Chairman of the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) and Partner at Boston-based Flybridge Capital Partners predicts that New England companies will raise $2 billion in venture capital in 2010. That’s down from $3 billion in 2009. He points to the fact that NEVCA currently has 108 members, down from 138 members in 2009.
Yikes.
Hey startups… time to get really friendly with those angel investors who still have cash money!
January 5th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
not so fast! the local VC scene has weathered the financial storm quite well and continues to be relatively active. i happen to believe the decline in dollars invested in 2009 reflects the overwhelming focus on existing portfolio company issues in the first half of last year – which came at the expense of new investments.
the VC industry has always been somewhat concentrated to a couple dozen active firms – and they are all open for business. I take great comfort that in spite of the fact that the region attracts only 12-14% of all VC dollars annually, well over 20% of VC dollars are managed in new england.
http://www.ontheflyingbridge.com
January 5th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Thanks for the comment Michael. I agree with your points – but the fact that a number of local firms have raised smaller funds can't be good. While your fund, Flybridge, is in a great spot due to the fresh fund (and a fund that is the right size to be aggressively early-stage focused) there are a lot of bigger/older funds who are not so lucky.
The increased hold period for existing investments, which is something a lot of existing funds are dealing with, will take up more partner time/board seat slots than expected at older funds – and more cash.
All this points to me being a little freaked out about the funding scene.