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Venture Capitalists Invest $493.2M In Southern California In Q1

The latest venture capital numbers from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data provided by Thomson Reuters, was released tonight, showing that Southern California had $493.2M in investments in Q1 of the year, across 54 deals. Investments were down from $625.4M invested in Q1 of 2010. The largest investment was $111.92M invested in Irvine-based Fisker Automotive, followed by $76.4M invested in Santa Monica-based Coda Automotive.

Nationally, venture capital investment up slightly, at $5.9 billion in 736 deals in the first quarter vs. $5.6 billion a year ago. Although dollars were up, the number of deals (736 nationally in Q1 vs. 827 deals last year) was the lowest in a single quarter since Q3 of 2009.

Locally, the report totaled $201.28M in deals in the Los Angeles area, $191.89M in the Orange County area, and $100.0M in San Diego. By far, the industry with the most investments in Q1 was Industrial/Energy, bolstered by both the Fisker Automotive and Coda Automotive deals. Biotechnology was second, with $98.14M in investments, followed by Meidcal Devices, with $61.02M in investment dollars.

The most active investors for Q1 in Southern California were DFJ Frontier, the Tech Coast Angels, and New Enterprise Associates, all with three deals each. Other active investors in Southern California firms were Montreux Equity Partners, Avalon Ventures, Alloy Ventures, Aberdare Ventures, Adams Street Partners LLC, RiverVest Venture Partners, Miramar Venture Partners, Google Ventures, Angeleno Group, LLC, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Versant Ventures