Fenwick and West has released its 2010 2Q Venture Capital Survey. The survey shows that the climate for VC financing is improving. For the fourth quarter in a row, up rounds exceeded down rounds (55% to 27%, with 18% of rounds flat), and this was an improvement over 1Q10, when up rounds exceeded down rounds 49% to 32%, with 19% of rounds flat. (Down rounds are when a company raises money at a price per share less that that used in a previous round, generally a sign of lessened expectations for the company’s success.) In addition, the survey showed an average price increase of 30% in 2Q10, compared to 21% in 1Q10. Perhaps more significantly, DowJones VentureSource reported that the amount invested by venture capitalists in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2010 was approximately $7.7 billion in 744 deals, a significant increase from the $4.7 billion invested in 602 deals in 1Q10.
F&W’s press release summarizing the results, and a link to the full report can be found here.