Venture funds jump 400%

Nine Utah companies captured $90 million in venture capital funding in this year's first quarter, a 400 percent increase over $18 million in last year's first quarter and the highest amount raised in a first quarter in five years.

According to the quarterly MoneyTree Survey, this year's first quarter deals are nearly half the $188 million of total venture money raised by Utah companies in 2004.

Chief among the deals was $45 million to Draper-based AMP Resources, which specializes in geothermal power generation and industrial heat recovery generation.

Ron Mika, managing director of Lehi-based Sorenson Capital, which invested $20 million of the $45 million, said AMP Resources presented an attractive investment from its position in renewable resources and its strong management team.

Boston-based Highland Capital Partners chipped in an additional $20 million, with the remaining $5 million coming from local Utah investors.

"If you look at the trends, we've had four great quarters in a row," said Steven Stauffer, senior audit manager of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Salt Lake City. "We've even exceeded what our national average has been."

The average deal size in Utah was $10 million, compared to $6.8 million nationally.

Other leading deals included $9 million from the Walnut Group and BEV Capital to Salt Lake-based LoveSac Corp. Realm Systems Inc. of Sandy secured $8.5 million.

Stauffer noted five of the nine Utah companies that received funding in the quarter were getting their first venture money.

Nationally, venture funding dropped to $4.6 billion in the first quarter from $5.1 billion in the same period a year ago. Utah fundings accounted for 2 percent of the $4.6 billion U.S. total.

"This continues to demonstrate that Utah has continued to rebound since 2002," said Brad Bertoch, chief executive officer of the Wayne Brown Institute, a nonprofit that helps businesses find venture funding. "It's pretty good news. I think that when you finish out the year, we'll be better off than we were last year."

Bertoch added that Utah continues to close a funding gap with states like Colorado, which in the first quarter raised $163.8 million in 17 deals. Typically, Colorado venture dollars exceed Utah by three to four times.

The MoneyTree Survey is made in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association.

The survey captures equity investments but excludes debt, bridge loans, recapitalizations and initial public offerings.

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E-mail: danderton@desnews.com