According to the San Fransisco Business Times [5]; “Venture firms raised $1.7 billion in the second quarter, the lowest quarterly raise in more than seven years. Only 25 firms reported raising money nationally, according to data from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association. The venture capital industry raises money to invest in young companies looking for big returns when the companies sell or go public. But universities and endowments, some of venture’s biggest investors, and others have been crippled by the recession and can no longer afford the large investments that marked the last several years. The lack of public offerings over the last several years has also made venture capital investing less attractive to some investors.”