New trends in venture capital

Venture capital is still around in France. However, because of the economic slowdown, it is decreasing in volume and is above all targetting other sectors. It was revealed by the sixth indicator Chausson Finance for the first six months of 2001. The first trend concerns the decrease in volume : 360 million euros compared to 476 million euros on the second semester 2000. The average investment decreased (from 1.9 million euros to 1.6) as well as the number of companies which benefited from it (from 248 to 225).

Second trend : investments are not made in the same sectors anymore. The software, and more particularly the professional software, gets the first place, replacing Internet and its « dot.coms »; biotechnologies are getting more interest ; on the contrary, the telecom sector is getting much less (9% of invested amounts compared to 19% on the previous semester). Organizors of the international venture capital summit at Sophia-Antipolis could note all these trends. The fifth edition of the summit will take place from December 3rd and 4th at the CICA.