Venture capital funding for startup firms has continued to be slow during the first quarter both countrywide and in San Diego County, however business experts expect things to get improved later this year.

Numerous flourishing primary public stock offerings this year, with an increase in unification activity and the improving financial system are creating watchful hopefulness for the business, which has been stumbling and tossing over and over from the economic slump.

Bill Wiberg, General Partner at Advanced Technology Ventures, stated that he would observe the pace of investment that picks up in the first quarter data. It is likely to be seen that at least a reasonable lift in investment activity is there through 2010, and he also thinks that it will be across sectors, health care, clean tech and information technology.

The preceding year was not easy for venture capital. The majority of investors put much of their energy and cash into keeping businesses they'd already financially supported alive. Money for startups was difficult to come by.

Despite the fact that the stock market has improved and a few number of companies, including Carlsbad chip maker MaxLinear, have had booming IPOs, venture capital investing stayed moderately unenthusiastic in the first quarter.

Nationwide, 681 companies raised $4.7 billion, as compared with 832 companies receiving $5.2 billion in the fourth quarter, as per the information given by the MoneyTree Survey from the National Venture Capital Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In San Diego County, 29 startups earned $222 million. That's ahead of the first quarter of the previous year but not as good as the fourth quarter of 2009, when 31 firms received $305 million.

Tom Siegel, Managing Director of Shepherd Ventures in San Diego said that it is still quite flat. The process is slow.

There are a few number of funds that are looking good now, even if they haven't raised money in recent times. They are in that position at the moment where they may have been slow to pull the trigger in the past and now they're being a little bit extra forceful.