New York Venture Capital Stages a Small Recovery

Crain’s New York Business reports that venture funding for New York startups was up about 1 percent in the 4th quarter. However, only 66 companies received funding, as opposed to 86 the year before.

Venture funding in New York area is concentrated in three industries:

• Biotech
• Medical Devices and Equipment
• Software

Investors appear to be more conservative, with late stage businesses receiving the bulk of the funding.

In terms of tech, it interesting to note that Foursquare Labs Inc., owner of Foursquare which just released its Blackberry app, that I wrote about a few days ago, received $2oo,ooo in early seed funding.

I predict that Foursquare is the tech business in New York that has the best potential for fast growth.  It is in a great position to take advantage of geolocation on smartphones, matching businesses such as restaurants with consumers located near by.