DJX VentureSource data showed that 500 Startups was the most active venture capital investor last year, The Wall Street Journal blog Venture Capital Dispatch reported. DJX VentureSource is the research unit of Dow Jones & Co, the publisher of Venture Capital Dispatch. The seed fund and accelerator founded by Dave McClure undertook 57 new deals in 2013. The accelerator that has supported hundreds of startups made 77 total deals last year, the report said.
Close to its heels is Andreessen Horowitz with 56 new deals. However, when follow-on investments are factored in, the firm had 81 deals in total last year which was more than 500 Startups. Although a relatively new entrant to the venture capital business, Andreessen Horowitz made waves after making bets on Facebook Inc and Groupon Inc, the report said.
According to the report, the investment pace of venture capital firms is commonly measured through the total deals they have made. However, this can also cloud the possibility that investors that seem to be very active are just pouring money into the firms in their portfolio and not investing in new companies.
By ranking investors through the new deals they have undertaken, a clearer view is produced as to who has the money. However, this also tends to favor early-stage investors that participate in many small rounds compared to those that give more funds to a fewer number of startups, the report said.
Google Ventures rank third with 50 new deals and 73 deals in total while SV Angel is in fourth with 32 new deals and 44 in total. In fifth place is TechStars with 35 new deals which also represent the same total for the year while Lerer Ventures is in sixth with 34 new deals and 45 in total. In seventh place is Y Combinator with 31 new deals and 35 total deals while in eighth place is New Enterprise Associates which logged 30 new deals and a total of 74 deals.
In ninth place is Ben Franklin Technology Partners Southeastern Pennsylvania with 27 new deals and 39 in all. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Great Oaks Venture Capital were tied at 10th place, each having 25 new deals but with KPCB having 59 deals in all as opposed to the 28 of Great Oaks, the report said.
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