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NEW YORK — U.S. venture-capital investments sank 61 percent in the first quarter, dropping to the lowest level in 12 years as financiers became even warier about sinking funds into start ups during a deepening recession.
Venture-capital investments totaled $3 billion during the first three months of 2009, according to a report released by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters. In the year-ago quarter, investments totaled $7.74 billion.
The latest figure is the lowest since the first quarter of 1997, at $2.96 billion. The number of companies receiving capital was the lowest since the first quarter of 1995.
