Unsurprisingly, 2009 was a very difficult year for media and internet startups when it came to raising cash from venture capital firms, according to data released today by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the National Venture Capital Association. Dollars invested in media and entertainment startups plummeted 32 percent and the number of VC deals dropped 38 percent last year. Internet-specific startups, meanwhile, did no better. The amount of money invested in those companies was down 39 percent, while deal volume was off 30 percent. But the data also shows that the worst is likely over, something that’s backed up, albeit less scientifically, by the size of some of the funding rounds we’ve been profiling recently on our site.
The amount invested in media and entertainment startups has now increased for the last two straight quarters, rising by 13 percent during the fourth quarter of the year, according to the report; the number of deals in that category, meanwhile, has increased for the last four quarters in a row. Internet-specific companies too have seen an uptick, with a 20 percent sequential increase in the number of deals and 14 percent jump in the amount invested.
The National Venture Capital Association — which has previously been cautious in its outlook for VC funding — points to the overall data, which showed an increase in the number of first-time and early stage deals during the fourth quarter, as “marking the beginning of an uptick in investment levels for 2010.”

{"source":"https:\/\/gigaom.com\/2010\/01\/22\/419-media-internet-funding-up-quarter-to-quarter-by-double-digits\/wijax\/49e8740702c6da9341d50357217fb629","varname":"wijax_ac7821bbf7ba64cdea10ad068e7b6b1f","title_element":"header","title_class":"widget-title","title_before":"%3Cheader%20class%3D%22widget-title%22%3E","title_after":"%3C%2Fheader%3E"}