Venture capital companies spent $9.4bn over the first nine months of 1998, up 13% from the $8.3bn invested during the same period last year, according to San Francisco based research firm VentureOne Corp. Investments in the third quarter totaled $3.16bn, an amount spent on 461 investments. Of those, 282 were in the technology sector, accounting for $2.08bn, or 66% of all investment dollars spent. That was a slight decrease from the second quarter. Santa Barbara, California-based telecommunication infrastructure equipment supplier Somera Communications Inc raised the most funding out of all the market sectors, with $52m. On-line real estate seller RealSelect Inc came second, raising $52m. Dutch information warehouse design tools firm InfoDjini BV, which now has a US base in Burlington, Massachusetts, won $37m in funding. Fourth and fifth on the list were Campbell California internet community firm TalkCity Inc ($34m) and Walnut Creek, California-based electronic commerce company Commerce One Inc ($31m). Nineteen venture-capital backed firms went public in the third quarter, raising $1.23bn in initial offerings – significantly down from a year ago. But both the median amount raised per deal – $46m – and the pre-offering valuation – $239m – were up. Allegiance Telecom raised the most in the technology sector from its IPO at $150m, with Entrust Technologies Inc making $124m, GeoCities Inc $81m and Cyberian Outpost $72m. Mergers and acquisitions of venture-backed companies accounted for $2bn in 30 transactions during the period.
