VCs to Orange County: No Worries on the Horizon

Venture capitalists poured a record amount of cash into technology start-ups here in the second quarter despite the beating many existing tech stocks have taken on Wall Street, a new report says. Nearly 30 OC firms split a record $368.4 million in VC money in the second quarter, the report by the National Venture Capital Association says, up from $247.13 during the same quarter last year. “Investors are paying a lot of attention to Orange County, even though some of its [publicly held] tech companies have had some problems lately,” NVCA spokeswoman Jeanne Metzger tells GlobeSt.com.

The trade group’s report is good news for Orange County’s commercial property owners. Technology companies have been driving the local office market for the past few years, and the money that VCs are pumping into start-ups in the area could continue the trend.

Metzger says the big increase is largely attributable to Orange County’s reputation as a hotbed of high-tech talent and a great place to live. But other analysts say part of the increase in VC cash reflects the poor reception that some recent technology IPOs have received on Wall Street: “Tech companies can’t raise a billion dollars overnight by taking their stock public anymore, so the VCs are filling in the gaps,” one analyst explains.