VCs Put $12 Billion To Work So Far This Year

The venture capital industry in the United States raised $12 billion, across 57 funds, in the first quarter of this year, as noted by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), in conjunction with Thomson Reuters.

The commitments represented a 59 percent growth in terms of dollars over the same period last year and a 17 percent drop in the number of funds raised. All in all, according to the data, the first quarter of this year was the strongest one seen since almost 10 years ago, when the VC industry raised $14 billion across 79 funds.

Drilling down a bit, there were 43 follow-on funds, along with 14 new funds in the quarter just ended. The new funds tally was down 33 percent year over year. The follow-on funds number was down 10 percent.

Among the most notable activity, 1955 Capital, based in California, grabbed $200 million for its inaugural fund. And, in terms of total commitments, the biggest in the country came through the Founders Fund VI, which raised $1.3 billion. Accel Growth Fund IV LP raised $1.2 billion, as did Norwest Venture Partners XIII LP. The top five funds raised 43 percent of the overall total, as measured against a similar tally of 45 percent for the top five funds last year.

In a statement by Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of NVCA, he stated: “As witnessed over the last year, the fundraising environment for venture capital continues to improve. That’s welcome news for venture capital as an industry but even better for American entrepreneurs, who will put that capital to work growing their businesses, hiring workers and driving innovation.