Venture capital information and analysis company VentureOne Corporation
www.ventureone.com, released its latest figures today showing that
Internet-related companies received investments of $3.81 billion (US$) in
the second quarter, up dramatically from first quarter figures.
The San Francisco-based company said that the Internet industry snared mo=
re
than half of the $6.8 billion invested by venture capital companies in th=
e
second quarter. Some $11.8 billion has been invested in total so far this
year. By now, it's no surprise that the Internet is hotter than a Sun Cit=
y
sidewalk in summer. Every day brings new facts and new figures, many of
which break the short-lived records that have marked the nascent industry=
to
date. "The Internet industry continues to mature as it has moved in a
progression from infrastructure and content to software and search engine=
s,
to e-commerce and now business services," said VentureOne CEO, Dave
Witherow. "Internet companies now have expanded into the business of the
Internet: marketing, advertising, financial transactions and other
business-to-business services."
Witherow's point is well taken. The single largest investment draw within
the Internet industry was business service companies, which accounted for=
34
percent of the total amount in the second quarter and a cumulative total =
of
$2.18 billion for the year to date. That exceeds the total invested in th=
e
sector for all of last year, a clear display that business services are t=
he
rising star of the industry.
"And The Envelope Please"
The largest Internet-related investment of the quarter was the $128 milli=
on
backing of VIA Net.Works. It was followed by JuniorNet at $70 million,
Onsite Access at $60 million, Family Education Network at $51 million and
Pets.com at $50 million. Sixth on the list is MotherNature.com at $42
million, followed by MediBuy and Globeset at $40 million, SciQuest at $37=
.5
million, Netcentives at $36 million, BuildNet at $35.7 million and
MedicaLogic at $35 million. VentureOne, which was purchased by British me=
dia
conglomerate Reuters in January, said that total venture capital investme=
nts
reached an all-time high of $12.5 billion in 1998, another figure that is
almost surely set to be surpassed by the time the calendar turns to 2000.
One of the leading players is Softbank Technology Ventures. The affiliate=
of
Japanese technology investor Softbank Corporation announced today that it
closed its new $600 million fund, which is aimed at investing in early-st=
age
Internet companies. Any recipients will be in good company. Softbank is
legendary in the industry for its investments in Yahoo!, E*Trade and ZDNe=
t.
Softbank Technology Ventures' last fund invested $320 million in E-Loan,
GeoCities, TheStreet.com and over 35 other Internet companies
Tushar J. Mehta
email: [email protected]
voicemail: (206) 405-2335