According to Deloitte’s “2015 Global Venture Capital Confidence Survey”, there is positive sentiment among investors in new and emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, mobile, and cloud computing. In addition to incresingly positive investor outlook of the global IPO market rose for the fourth consecutive year.
Jim Atwell, national managing partner of the Emerging Growth Company practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP, commented on the results of the survey: “Despite a hot IPO market and the proliferation of appealing investment opportunities across industries, this data shows that investors believe that the government needs to do more to ensure they can fully capitalize on the prospects ahead,”
“Technology continues to generate a great deal of excitement on a global level, especially with today’s optimal market conditions and despite the widening gap in governmental support.”
The survey was carried out in May and June 2015. It surveyed over 200 venture capital, growth equity, and private equity investors across the world. The results provide information on investor confidence in “the global venture capital environment, market factors shaping industries, and investments in specific geographies and industry sectors.”
According to Delloite, “opinions were measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with a score of 5 being the most positive indicator.”
Bullish sentiment for domestic and global IPO markets
Sentiment on both the domestic and global IPO market showed continued growth. Sentiment for the global IPO market climbed up to an average of 3.24, while sentiment of domestic IPO markets rose to an average of 3.29.
More tax incentives for venture capital investment
Half of investors outside the US said that they would like to see policy leaders introduce tax incentives and tax credits for venture capital investment. However, only 21 percent of investors in the US considered this to be a priority. Most investors in the US (60 percent) were primarily concerned about immigration reform.
Venture capital fundraising boomed in 2015
Venture capital fundraising in the US has gained momentum. During the second quarter of 2015 US venture capital firms raised $10 billion in new commitments for 74 funds. In fact the second quarter was the strongest three-month period for venture capital fundraising since the fourth quarter of 2007.
“As the global hub of innovation, there is much for U.S. venture investors to feel excited about. The fundraising environment continues to improve, the IPO market is gaining strength and there is no shortage of innovative, game-changing startup companies to take to the next level,” said Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of NVCA. “Yet in spite of all there is to be confident about, U.S. venture investors continue to believe U.S. policymakers aren’t doing enough to enact policies that help strengthen the innovation ecosystem. If policymakers were to proceed with some of the most challenging issues of our time, there’s no telling what we could achieve.”
Strong interest in cloud computing and mobile technology
Venture capitalists in the US considered cloud computing to be the strongest sector in technology to invest in (with a score of 4.13). And, for the first time, US investors also expressed almost the same level of interest in mobile technology (4.12).
On a global scale investors showed more interest in cloud computing (4.18), followed by mobile (4.05), and the Internet of Things (3.95).
Cloud computing is a kind of computing that relies on storing and sharing resources in the Internet rather than storing everything on the user’s own hard drive. Documents, music, photographs, and other data are stored remotely – in ‘the cloud’.