Money, money everywhere
We’ve said this before, but the money keeps cascading in.
U.S. private equity firms, which includes venture capital firms that invest in start-ups, continue to raise more money than ever before.
They’ve raised $172.2 billion in 253 funds so far this year through the close of the third quarter of 2006 — an increase of about 72 percent in capital from this point last year, according to Dow Jones.
The total this year has already exceeded the $162.5 billion raised in all of 2005. The year’s total is expected to easily exceed 2000, when a record $177.9 billion was raised. Private equity is a term that includes buyout and corporate finance funds, venture capital, mezzanine funds and funds-of-funds.
We should note that venture capital firms themselves are no where near raising the record levels they hit in 2000. But they are raising more than last year: They raised $21.8 billion so far in 2006, about 18 percent more than was raised at this point last year, the report said.
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About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
