Missouri leads region in venture capital investments

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A quarterly survey of venture capital investment activity in the United States shows that Missouri led the Midwest region in venture capital investments during the third quarter of 2002, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development. |ret||ret||tab|

The MoneyTree Survey, which is done in cooperation with Pricewater-houseCoopers, Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association, revealed that Missouri led the Midwest region with $80,650,000 invested in 10 companies. |ret||ret||tab|

The company receiving the largest investment in the Midwest region, and making up a significant portion of the total venture capital invested in Missouri companies, was NuVox Communi-cations, formerly known as Gabriel Communications in Chesterfield, which received a $66 million investment. |ret||ret||tab|

Other Missouri companies receiving investments included Auxeris Therapeutics Inc., St. Louis; BioProfile Inc., St. Louis; Centerre Healthcare Corp., St. Louis; Divergence, St. Louis; eScout, Lee's Summit; GlobalStreams, St. Louis; Physicians' Edge Inc., St. Louis; Quick Study Radiology Inc., St. Louis; and Western CE, Kansas City.|ret||ret||tab|

Joining Missouri in the Midwest region rankings was western Pennsylvania, coming in a second with $36.5 million in seven deals, and Illinois ranking third with $26 million in seven deals. |ret||ret||tab|

Ohio had $14 million in four deals, Michigan had $12 million in six deals, Indiana had $5.5 million in two deals and Kentucky had no investments for the quarter. |ret||ret||tab|

"We are very pleased that Missouri continues to gain attention from the venture capital community, even in the midst of difficult business and economic conditions," said Joseph L. Driskill, DED director. "Our efforts to attract more venture capital resources to Missouri over the past five years are definitely gleaning positive results. However, we must continue to work hard to increase venture capital resources at all levels of development. Access to adequate amounts of venture capital will enable Missouri entrepreneurs and businesses to take the risks involved in commercializing new technologies and ensure that these companies stay in Missouri in the future." |ret||ret||tab|

With these solid investments in the third quarter Missouri moved up to third overall for Midwest region investments, with $127.6 million in 25 deals so far in 2002. Western Pennsylvania leads the region with $162.5 million invested in 25 deals, followed by Illinois with $135.2 million in 41 deals. |ret||ret||tab|

Overall the Midwest region ranked ninth out of 18 regions. The Silicon Valley ranks first with a commanding lead of nearly $1.4 billion invested in 161 deals, or nearly 31 percent of all venture capital investment in the United States. |ret||ret||tab|

The New England and Southeast regions follow, accounting for another 23 percent of all investments.|ret||ret||tab|

The MoneyTree Survey is a quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the United States. |ret||ret||tab|

As a collaboration between Price-waterhouseCoopers, Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association, it is the only industry-endorsed research of its kind. |ret||ret||tab|

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