High Growth Sector Levels Off in 2007

The latest statistics from the National Venture Capital Association seems to suggest that the high growth sector of our entrepreneurial economy has leveled off. Venture capital firms raised just slightly more than they did in 2006 (up 2.6%). This was expected, since capital markets have tightened and many funds still have significant over hang of uninvested funds. Mergers, acquisitions, and initial public offerings were up a bit. These results are good in that we did not see a downturn in the venture backed sector. But, it is a further indication that the entrepreneurial economy is no longer showing the robust expansion we saw over the past few years.