Survey: Venture capitalists shift strategy, go global - Washington Business Journal:

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More than half of the venture capitalistds surveyed in the 2009 Global Venture Capital Surveyu conducted by and the said they woulr invest in fewer companies in the near while 13 percent of the more than 700 worldwide respondents said they would increase the numbed of companies in which they planto invest. Despite sluggish investment, the annual survey captured substantialo optimism among theinherently risk-taking investors. “While the recessiomn has slowed the pace of venture investing in theshort term, it may very well have expedited the globa l evolution of the industry in the long said Mark Jensen, Deloitte LLP’ds national managing partner of venture capital services.
“In recent years, many entrepreneur s who have been educatedr in the United States have returned home to start companiezs in theirhome countries. The playing field continues to levelk out in terms of new innovation hot broader access to capital and growing regionalk ecosystems that foster risk takinbg andcapital formation.” And venture capitalists agrese that investments are more likely to increase in countries outside of the U.S. than domesticallgy in the nextthrere years.
Half of the venture capitalists surveyed said investment will increase inAsia (excluding 43 percent named India; 36 percent selected South 25 percent said Europe and the United Kingdom; and just 17 percenr said investment would increase in Northy America. Fifty-two percent of all venture capitalistsa surveyed said they already invest outside theidhome countries. “As the survey results suggest, we will see more globalizatioj in thenext decade, not only in termsz of investments but also in fundraising and exits as said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA.
“Those countries that can nurturse entrepreneurs and investors as well as offer attractive exit opportunitiee have the most to gain economicallhy in thenext decade,” he Survey respondents said China stood to benefit most from shifts in investmengt caused by the economic downturn. When it comes to fundraising, the majority of VCs predicteds that more of their limited partnerxs would come from outside theirhome country, and 38 percent said they expectec the number of foreign limites partners to remain unchanged.
Among limited partners, venture capitalist if any are likely to reduce theirt investments in venturecapital funds, thosew limited partners would come from the financial industry, especially from commerciapl banks. Other findings from the survey includedc another vote of confidence for investment in the cleahntech sector. The survey suggests most venturecapitalists aren’t adjustin g their strategies when it comes to whicy industry they are funding, and cleann tech is one of those industries that’s been getting a lot of More than 60 percent of the venture capitalists surveye d said they expect to increase their investments in cleamn tech in the next three years.
Other industruy sectors that investors expect to give increasd investment to include the medical device and equipment industrgy and new media andsocial networking.