Venture capital firms invested $13.4 billion in 1,020 transactions in the first quarter, down 10% in dollars and 8% in number of deals from the fourth quarter, when venture firms invested $14.9 billion in 1,103 deals, said the MoneyTree Report from the National Venture Capital Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers based on data from Thomson Reuters.
However, on a year-by-year comparison, venture capital investment increased in dollar terms by 26% from $10.6 billion invested in 1,030 transactions in the first quarter of 2014.
The first quarter of this year had the most venture capital activity by dollars than any first quarter since the first quarter of 2000, said Tom Ciccolella, U.S. venture capital leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Venture capital deals continued “the megadeal trend” with 10 deals at more than $100 million and two around $1 billion in the first quarter, Mr. Ciccolella said.
Many of these deals include capital from managers that do not usually invest in venture capital such as hedge funds and private equity funds, he said.
The largest deal of the quarter was the $1 billion raised for software company Uber Technologies, which provides software that connects car drivers and passengers, with venture capital investors including Foundation Capital. The second largest was the close to $1 billion deal for Space Exploration Technologies Corp., a space launch service provider, with venture capital investors including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Fidelity Investments Fund II and Founders Fund.
