Tech start-ups before investments are receiving the highest valuations since the dot-com boom, as venture capitalists look to infuse the next Google or YouTube with large amounts of cash. According to
a new study cited by the
Financial Times this week, the median value of a pre-investment start-up was $18.6 million in the first quarter--up from $3 million last year. That's the highest since
Q4 2000, when the median value of such companies (with far flimsier advertising strategies) was $23 million. The report says venture capitalists are keeping a particularly keen eye fixed on
communications, Internet, and health care start-ups. VentureOne, which conducted the study, said that higher acquisition prices have been driven by an uptick in the number of health care companies
seeking IPOs. Telecommunications companies saw a particularly massive increase in valuation, rising from $29.9 million last year to $82.8 million. A median is not an average; it refers to the middle
number in a list of numerical values.
Read the whole story at Financial Times »
