CEOs and Venture Capitalists Expect Higher investment in 2014

Venture capitalists (VCs) and CEOs of venture-backed companies are showing a mix of greater optimism, confidence and measured concern for the venture ecosystem in 2014 according to the results from this year’s Venture View predictions survey. The survey was conducted by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Dow Jones VentureSource. Respondents predict next year will bring improvements across several fronts, including greater IPO (initial public offering) volume for venture-backed companies, greater employment at startups and improved returns to limited fronts.

While the market challenges of the past couple of years still linger, respondents predict that 2014 will bring improvements across several fronts, including greater IPO volume for venture-backed companies, greater employment opportunities at startups, and improved returns to limited partners. However, both CEOs and VCs are skeptical that the federal government can pass legislation to address several issues critical to the vibrancy of the startup ecosystem.

“With a gridlocked Congress, it is imperative that we continue to educate lawmakers and regulatory agencies on the positive impact of venture capital to the U.S. economy and the unique attributes that make our startup ecosystem the envy the world,” said Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of the National Venture Capital Association.

“Case in point is immigration reform,” Franklin added. “We cannot allow the politics of the broad immigration reform issue to overshadow the line item we are focused on – immigrant entrepreneurs and the creation of a new type of visa to support them. With our members and venture-backed CEOs expressing a bit of optimism for 2014, we must ensure that the positive momentum continues so that innovative technologies get funded, job growth continues, pension funds, university endowments and other limited partners see returns on their investments, and VCs are incentivized to take the risks no other asset class takes.”

The eighth annual Venture View survey reflects predictions from nearly 300 venture capital professionals and CEOs of venture backed startup companies in the U.S. collected between November 26 and December 11, 2013.

Read: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/12/26/most-ceos-and-venture-capitalists.html

Read: https://nvca.informz.net/NVCA/data/images/2014predixreleasefinal2.pdf