Venture capital shops got behind medtech during the 3rd quarter, increasing their spend and the number of deals compared with the same period last year, according to the MoneyTree report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Assn., based on Thomson Reuters data.
There were 78 medical device company deals worth $585.6 million during the quarter, according to the report, for increases of 18.2% and 13.3%, respectively. The average quarterly VC spend on medtech so far this year was also up, rising 15.1% to $624.0 million compared with Q3 2013.
And the overall VC spend in all industries this year has already surpassed the spend for all of last year, according to the MoneyTree report. There have been 3,154 deals worth a collective $33.17 billion during the 1st 3 quarters this year, compared with 4,134 deals worth $29.53 billion in 2013.
"Driven by a strong IPO market for venture-backed companies and the rise of startups in every region across the country, we continue to see a greater number of new players joining the venture game," NCVA president & CEO Bobby Franklin said in prepared remarks. "The emergence of non-traditional investors, including hedge funds and mutual funds, is contributing to the increase in venture investing this year. Another factor that can’t be ignored is the changing nature of our economy, where startup companies are disrupting entrenched industries and, in some cases, creating new industries altogether. Traditional and non-traditional venture investors alike recognize this and want to get in on the ground floor of innovation."
"[V]enture capitalists have already invested more in the 1st 3 quarters of the year than they did in all of 2013, and investments are on pace to surpass $40 billion in 2014," added PricewaterhouseCoopers global software leader & technology partner Mark McCaffrey. "In addition to the continued participation of non-traditional investors, another factor driving the strong investment levels is the increasing prevalence of mega-deals, deals exceeding $100 million, which we’ve seen over the past few quarters. We’ve already counted more than 30 mega-deals in 2014 compared to only 16 in all of 2013."
