Venture capital for tech start-ups outlook good for 2010

Start-ups hoping to get a leg up in 2010 are in for some good news as venture capital, which was a comparative dry well through most of 2009, has started to flow back into the technology industry. VC for start-ups was down almost $10 billion, to $14.6 billion, through the first nine months of 2009 compared to a year earlier when venture capital firms spent $25 billion on new companies, the Wall Street Journal reported. But things have started to loosen up in the past quarter.

It's not just VCs who are looking at a brighter New Year, the start-ups themselves expect to see an increase in IPOs, a key engine of the VC boom in recent years. IPOs raised more money in the first three quarters of 2009 than in the first three quarters of 2008 -- $683.4 million compared to $550.6 million -- but they were far off the 2007 mark of $6.8 billion.

VCs spent much of 2009 looking for ways to conserve cash as the Wall Street contagion and an ongoing recession felled the industry.

Earlier this week, it was reported that M&A cash also was beginning to come to market, stirring that pot as well, especially in the tech segment.

For more:
- see this WSJ article

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