The phrase "VC winter" has been bandied about more and more here in the U.S., but in China it seems the weather is sunny, with only a few scattered clouds.
Dow Jones VentureSource reports today that venture capitalists poured $964 million into 59 deals during the third quarter, an increase of 22% over the $792 million invested a year earlier.
The rounds got fatter too. The average size of the 73 deals in Q3 last year was $11 million, compared to about $16 million in the most-recent quarter.
The first nine months of 2008 brought a total of $3.29 billion in mainland VC investments, breaking the previous record for that period of $2.88 billion, set in 2001.
For young tech companies, however, the news wasn't quite as rosy. Most of the money went into companies that were generating revenues or were profitable. Information technology investing slid 17%, to $230 million, compared to the third quarter of last year, and deal count decreased to 18 from 29.
Overall, the biggest increase came in China's consumer services industry, where the $267 million of investments in nine deals represented a 57% year-over-year increase. Not too surprising, as this area, along with business and financial services and consumer goods, is closely tied to retail, manufacturing, media and advertising, all sectors that tend to take off in emerging markets, Dow Jones VentureSource said.
The boom in investments comes despite the fact that some VCs in China, just like so many in the U.S., are
down in the mouth about exit opportunities.
-- Olaf de Senerpont DomisSee Oct. 29 post from Tech Confidential
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