The amount of venture capital investment into the IT sector has remained steady in Q1 2006.
The Technology Finance MarketWatch takes an in-depth view of the activity in the technology sector, tracking mergers and acquisitions and venture capital (VC) investments made in the IT sector. It also lists fluxes in the financial performance of 500 of the biggest vendors of software, hardware and network equipment, consulting and professional services firms, and telecoms and carrier services companies.
For those cases where the level of the VC funding was disclosed, the total investments in the first quarter of 2006 ran to $3.01 billion, down slightly on the same period in 2005, when deal values totaled $3.19 billion.
The breakdown of deals for the different technology sectors tracked on a daily basis reveals the wireless sector scored big in February, with 17 deals that raised a total of $216 million. It appears that investors are looking to back companies that are offering some form of service for mobile phone users, be it content, gaming or even location-based applications for mobile devices.
The biggest deal for the first quarter of 2006 saw the satellite telecommunications business of Orbocomm complete equity financings totaling over $110 million led by Pacific Corporate Group, which committed $60 million. The company provides narrow band two-way digital messaging and geo-positioning services.
Second-place Indian offshore IT services provider Hexaware Technologies took on board INR3 billion ($68 million) in funding from private equity firm General Atlantic. That deal, which values Hexaware at approximately INR20 billion ($451 million), should see General Atlantic take a 15% stake in the company.
Meanwhile, third-ranked Optasite, an operator of telecommunications tower sites, completed a $125 million round of debt and equity financing consisting of a $60 million series C private equity round.
All in all, venture capital investment into the IT sector has held steady in Q1 2006.
