Venture capital drought continues

If you're having a rough time finding venture capital, you're not alone.

Venture firms invested just $39.2 million in Florida companies in the fourth quarter, a 29% drop from already low levels of funding in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to Thomson Reuters data analyzed by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.

Two of those deals were in the Tampa Bay area. None was reported in the Sarasota, Fort Myers or Naples areas. Florida got less than 1% of the $5 billion venture capital firms invested nationally in the fourth quarter.

Still, Florida did better in the fourth quarter than some Southeast rivals. Georgia companies netted just $30.4 million in venture investing, for example. However,
North Carolina reported $107.1 million in venture investments in the last three months of the year.

Nationally, venture investing dropped 37% in dollar terms in 2009 compared with 2008.