• January 22, 2008

Venture capital investors poured $4.6 billion into Internet-specific companies in 748 deals in 2007--up from $4.1 billion in 691 deals in 2006, according to the MoneyTree report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, based on Thomson Financial data. That's an increase of 12% and 8%, respectively.

Internet-specific companies accounted for 84% of dollars and 81% of deals in the Media and Entertainment industry in 2007.

Separately, media and entertainment companies received $1.9 billion in venture dollars in 340 deals last year, compared to $1.7 billion in 318 deals in 2006. The $29.4 billion invested in 3,813 deals overall in 2007 marked the highest total since 2001, when $40.6 billion was invested.

--Mark Walsh