Startup Investments Down 19 Percent In Q1

New York, April 20 (FinanceEnquiry.com) - Venture capital investments dropped 19 percent in the first quarter, as investors put less money into some of the deals, in order to take caution for the future. Financing for startups declined to $5.8 billion in Q1, against $7.1 billion in the previous year, as per a study carried out by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the National Venture Capital Association, based on data from Thomson Reuters. 

This quarter, the number of deals completed were 758, down 15 percent when compared to 889 in 2011. Extended warranty services provider SquareTrade Inc received $238 million deal funding in the quarter and captured the first place, while venture investors poured in $139 million as early-stage funding in Sapphire Energy Inc, an algae-based crude oil developer. Fisker Automotive Inc, an electronic vehicle company, was at the third position with $130 million in later-stage funding.

The drop in investments was witnessed at every stage, as 53 seed companies received a funding of $141 million this quarter, as compared to 86 companies and $211 million in 2011, and 290 early-stage startups got $1.61 billion, against $1.81 billion and 320 companies. 

Venture capitalists poured in $1.71 billion in 207 expansion-stage companies in Q1, which is again less than $2.26 billion for 221 companies the previous year. Whereas for the later startups, $2.41 billion was invested in 208 compaines, compared to $2.41 billion that was put in 234 companies a year earl


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