In a positive sign for both the U.S. economy and the diffusion of new technologies, investors placed $9.5 billion in venture funding during the initial three months of 2014. That represents the highest quarterly total since the second quarter of 2001 and was up 57 percent from the same quarter one year prior. Venture capital enables emerging companies to expand more rapidly through many mechanisms, including through marketing, distribution, and produce refinement.
But this investment was hardly distributed evenly across the country. California-based companies attracted more than half of the venture funding during the first quarter, with nearly $5.5 billion raised for 406 startups. Massachusetts placed a distant second with roughly a billion dollars raised by 88 companies. New York was third with $754 million raised by 97 companies. Meanwhile, venture funding in the broader Washington metropolitan area actually declined. The information regarding venture activity is compiled by Moneytree and published by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters.
