Venture capital investments in Orange County dipped to $182 million in the first quarter, the lowest amount since the $105 million worth of activity in the first quarter of 2015, according to the VentureSource report from Dow Jones.
“I don’t see it as a trend, but more like a blip,” said Tim Rahall, a partner in Ernst & Young’s Orange County business who’s led the global audits and initial public offering process for several technology companies. “Venture capital investments will continue to come to Orange County.”
Nine VC deals were completed during the quarter:
• In March, Warburg Pincus made the county’s biggest investment, $115 million, in Alignment Healthcare, an Orange-based health management company in the medical software and information services sector.
• Another $48 million was invested in the medical devices and equipment sector. Irvine-based Ivantis Inc., which makes a device to lower eye pressure in glaucoma patients, said in January that it closed a $25 million Series C financing round led by new investor RA Capital Management.
• Irvine-based cloudvirga, which developed an automated mortgage platform, said in March that it raised $15 million in a series B funding round led by Incenter, a Blackstone Group portfolio company.
Investments are passing companies by that aren’t keeping up to date with new technologies, such as data analysis and services on mobile devices, Rahall said.
Ranking
Orange County ranked eighth nationwide in VC investments, behind Chicago and Seattle, which reported $240 million each, and ahead of San Diego’s $150 million.
The San Francisco Bay Area continued to dominate, with 316 deals totaling $6.64 billion. Silicon Valley’s hottest sector was healthcare, which attracted $2.69 billion in VC funding.
Alteryx Inc. of Irvine made the list of the top three IPOs of the first quarter by raising $126 million. Snap Inc. raised the most, $3.4 billion, followed by MuleSoft Inc. at $221 million.
Most IPOs are expected to raise in the range of $100 million to $200 million, Rahall said.
