Survey Finds VCs Optimistic About 2011 Investments

Venture capitalists say they plan to invest more next year, according to a survey released today by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Dow Jones VentureSource. The survey polled 330 venture capitalists and 180 CEOs for their thoughts on where they see investment headed in 2011.

51% of VCs said that they expect investment to increase next year. 24% say they think it will remain the same, and the same percentage think investment will decrease. The CEOs surveyed were also optimistic about venture funding. 58% indicated they think it will rise and 64% said they plan to raise funds in 2011.

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VCs seem more positive about late stage funding than early stage investment opportunities. 51% said they thought late stage investment would increase, and 14% thought it would decline. By comparison, 49% said they thought early stage investment would increase, and 26% thought it would decline. Most VCs thought that raising seed and series A rounds will be “somewhat difficult” in 2011.

Respondents said they expected to see increasing investment in the consumer Internet, cloud, Heath IT, and mobile sectors. At the same time, the VCs said they expect to see investment “froth” in consumer Internet, cloud, and mobile telecom.

The report seems to paint a fairly optimistic picture for 2011, with roughly 63% of both VCs and CEOs saying they think the economy is set to improve in the new year.

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