Investing in software companies? How passé. A new MoneyTree report shows biotechnology is the space to be for the venture crowd. You can credit an aging population and a swelling tab for healthcare as the two key reasons for the growth. Biotech and medical device companies garnered $1.8 billion in 177 deals in the quarter ended September 30. Software, which had been number one, saw 186 deals worth a collective $1.09 billion. A local analyst in Colorado credited the venture upsurge in biotech to recent successful IPOs, but that won't compute for a lot of people in the industry who have seen public offerings coming out on the low end of the range or pulled out of sheer frustration. Lucrative licensing deals definitely seem to be whetting the appetites of the VC companies, with big pharma more than willing to whip out the check book to fill anemic pipelines.
- read the report on venture capital trends from the Denver Post