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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alan Fogg,
Director of Communications
afogg@fceda.org, 703-790-0600
Record number of Fairfax County firms receive venture capital investment
Fairfax dollars almost match totals for Md., Pa., and N.C.
Fairfax County, Virginia, November 23, 1999 — Sixteen Fairfax County companies received $161.9 million in venture capital funding in the third quarter of 1999, continuing a record pace for capital attraction.
The number of companies receiving funding is the most in any quarter since the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority began its Capital Attraction Program in 1996. Including the third-quarter figures, venture capitalists this year have invested $392.2 million into 37 Fairfax County companies. The dollar amount is 169 percent higher than the venture funding reported through the third quarter of 1998.
Many of the Fairfax County companies receiving venture capital this round are in the software and information and communications sectors. Others are in the health care, distribution, business services and consumer sectors.
"What impresses me is that such a large number of companies received funding and that they represent a breadth of industries and backgrounds," said Gerald L. Gordon, president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.
The Fairfax County firms snagged 59.7 percent of all the third quarter venture investment in Virginia, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers numbers. The 15 Fairfax County deals noted in the MoneyTree Report outnumber the 14 others it reported for the rest of Virginia.
The Fairfax County dollar figure reported by PricewaterhouseCoopers approached the total for Pennsylvania ($186.1 million), Maryland ($179.1 million) and North Carolina ($168.4 million).
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the accounting and consulting firm, announced this month that 15 Fairfax County companies received $158.3 million in venture capital in July, August and September:
- Advanced Switching Communications, $35.0 million.
- American Wholehealth Inc., $24.4 million.
- Atlantic Duncans International, $5.0 million.
- comScore Inc., $13.5 million.
- Engenia Software Inc., $6.0 million.
- InfoShark, Inc., $4.5 million.
- ICSA.net, $490,000.
- LifeMinders.com, $23.0 million.
- Member Direct Television, $2.4 million.
- Reliacast Inc., $1.25 million.
- SI International, $2.94 million.
- Simplexity.com, $600,000.
- Sunrise International, $6.0 million.
- Vitamins.com, $24.75 million.
- Zona Financiera, $8.5 million.
The VentureOne research group tracked one additional Fairfax County that received venture capital in the third quarter:
- XML Solutions, $3.6 million.
Venture capital is funding provided to start-up companies in exchange for a percentage of ownership in the firms. Seventeen venture capital firms are located in Fairfax County, as are several law firms and banks that specialize in serving the venture community.
The third quarter dollar amount was the second highest for Fairfax County firms, behind only the $185.65 million reported in the second quarter of 1999. The third quarter results follow last week’s Mid-Atlantic Venture Fair, in which 17 of 71 companies seeking venture capital hailed from Fairfax County. "The fact that almost a quarter of the companies at the event came from Fairfax County is further proof of the strength of the economy here and a reflection of the predominance of Fairfax County in this region’s economy," Gordon said.
The local record this quarter was part of a record $9.04 billion in venture capital invested with start-up companies and entrepreneurs nationwide, according to the MoneyTree Report.
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) operates an aggressive capital attraction program that has two goals: One, assist entrepreneurs by bringing them together with venture capitalists and "angel" organizations; and two, increase the amount of venture activity in the county.
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