Democratization of funding is disrupting the venture capital landscape

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Democratization of funding is changing the VC landscape.

The venture capital and funding market has changed dramatically over the last ten years. In the past venture capitalists were the go-to-guys in the playground, there are new players giving entrepreneurs with many choices. One used to focus their efforts in the famed VC offices on Sand Hill Road, but today it is happening in every corner and coffee shop around the world.

 

 

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The Rise of Fat Venture Capital

Andrew Chen: In 2007, before YCombinator and AngelList had changed the industry, I worked in a nondescript office park in the heart of the venture capital industry off Sand Hill Road. Amid the leafy sprawl of buildings next to 280 and Stanford University, billions of dollars were and are invested out of the fancy offices of VC/PE firms you’ve never heard of. The whole industry has been shrouded in opaqueness since it was created decades ago, built on relationships from business schools, professional networks, and investor referrals. In 2007, I worked at a big firm as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and did my best to make sense of this world.

 

 

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Nanotech Venture Capital is Out of Sync with Returns

Nanotech Venture Capital is Out of Sync with Returns

 Nanomedical start-ups generate 77% of returns but get only 27% of investment

Venture capital (VC) firms invested $702 million in nanotechnology start-ups last year across 61 deals, slightly down from $738 million across 73 deals in 2006. But this VC spending is sharply out of sync with investment returns. Although application-oriented life-sciences companies have delivered the majority of VC returns in nanotech, VC firms consistently devote most of their funding to companies in other areas, according to a new report from Lux Research entitled “How Venture Capitalists Are Misplaying Nanotech.”  

 

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