US VCs tighten the purse strings

NEWS Venture capital has declined further in the US over the third quarter as investors find it increasingly difficult to spot a sure thing. The 23 per cent decline from the last quarter is moderate, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers and VentureOne Money Tree who conducted the survey. Altogether $6.5bn was invested through 601 rounds of financing, a 16 per cent decline in rounds from the previous quarter. However, the survey says 2001 will hit $30bn in total so will be in third place for the largest venture capital spend year in history. The spending slump mirrors drops between the first and second quarters of 2001. Quarterly investment is around one quarter of its 2000 first quarter peak.