Quarterly VC survey: More first stage financings

VCs invested more money in first-round financing of telcos start-ups in 2005

Venture capital firms have invested more money in first-round financing of telecommunications start-ups in 2005 than they have in several years, in what may be a sign of renewal in this long-troubled segment of the high-tech economy.

In the first half of 2005, venture firms completed 33 first-round telecom deals, according to the quarterly MoneyTree Survey compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Financial Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association. This compares to 23 first-round deals completed in the first half of 2004, and 21 first-round deals completed in the first half of 2003.

Kirk Walden, national director of venture capital research with PricewaterhouseCoopers, says that the venture capital industry's interest in funding new telecom companies is a good sign.

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Venture capital firms have invested more money in first-round financing of telecommunications start-ups in 2005 than they have in several years, in what may be a sign of renewal in this long-troubled segment of the high-tech economy.

In the first half of 2005, venture firms completed 33 first-round telecom deals, according to the quarterly MoneyTree Survey compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Financial Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association. This compares to 23 first-round deals completed in the first half of 2004, and 21 first-round deals completed in the first half of 2003.

Kirk Walden, national director of venture capital research with PricewaterhouseCoopers, says that the venture capital industry's interest in funding new telecom companies is a good sign.

"VCs have to stay with companies that they've already financed," Walden says. "If there's one bright and encouraging sign for telecom it's that they're making these first-time deals."

The five largest first-round financing deals of 2005 are:

* $30 million invested in CSM Wireless, a Great Falls, Va., provider of wholesale and retail cellular services.

* $15 million invested in GoTV, a Sherman Oaks, Calif., provider of on-demand, customized content for wireless phones.

* $15 million invested in Rivulet Communications, a Portsmouth, N.H., developer of IP technology.

* $15 million invested in Teledvance Communications, a Louisville, Ky., provider of voice, data and video communications services.

* $12 million invested in Spanlink Communications, a Brooklyn Park, Minn., provider of IP communications solutions for service providers and enterprises.

Walden says many of these companies are beyond the start-up stage, with shipping products and existing companies.

"Some of these are expansion-stage investments in companies that are getting venture capital financing for the first time," Walden says. "The odds of these companies succeeding are greater than they were in 2000. The companies that get funded now for the first time have gone through such a level of due diligence and scrutiny and they are more mature."

Overall, the venture capital industry has invested $926 million in the telecom segment of the high-tech industry during the first half of 2005. That includes $562 million invested in the second quarter of 2005 and $364 million in the first quarter of 2004.

During these two quarters, venture capitalists completed 114 deals in the telecom sector, with 33 of them - or 29% - being first-round financings.

The reason venture capitalists are interested in first-round telecom deals is that "the efficiencies of IP are finally being realized and finally making a difference," Walden says. "There is an increased interest in first-stage investments in companies that have profits and positive cash flows. The venture capitalists are acting a little more like private investors rather than the risk takers they used to be."

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