Venture Capital Fundraising Absolutely Abysmal

What a lousy year this has proven to be for the venture capital industry. According to data released today by the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters, venture funds raised just $1.6 billion in the third quarter. That’s down 82 percent from a year ago and 21 percent from last quarter. Worse, that sum was raised by just 17 funds, the fewest since the third quarter of 1994.

Seems a paucity of IPOs and lackluster returns on investment have caused VC money to dry up. This does not bode well for an industry in what NVCA President Mark Heesen likes to refer to as a “Darwinian contraction”; “You are going to see a reduction in the number of firms, but more important you will see a reduction in the number of venture capital professionals,” Heesen told Reuters.