U.S. venture capital investment drops by more than 15% in 2012

Data released Friday by Dow Jones VentureSource shows that U.S. venture capital investment fell 15.3% in 2012 to $29.7 billion, down from $35.1 billion in 2011. Among individual industry groups, information technology, and industrial goods and materials saw a 15% and 2.8% increase, respectively; while investments in consumer goods, and energy and utility companies saw the greatest declines, with 51.3% and 47.3%, respectively.