Wisconsin VC rank drops, but absolute numbers are on the rise

Wisconsin dropped to 35th place nationally in venture capital investment for 2005 from 26th in 2004, according to the yearly MoneyTree survey. Nationally, venture capital recorded by the survey remained steady at $21.7 billion, just a hair over 2004's total.

According to MoneyTree, 10 Wisconsin companies received nearly $68 million in venture investments in 2005, while nine companies brought in $57 million in 2004.

Venture investment data on Wisconsin is historically not a smooth trend line, so its ranking drop may be no big deal. Because of its relatively small volume, investment here can vary significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year based on individual deals.

The survey also does not necessarily record all VC deals made, and it gives no consideration to angel investments or grants, which have brought millions of dollars to some Wisconsin companies.

In 2006 so far, we've heard about VC deals such as $14 million for TomoTherapy, $12 million for EraGen and $7 million for Guild. MoneyTree is compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association.

• MoneyTree report web page