Venture funding in the state saw a strong uptick in 2013, as investments in Connecticut companies grew faster than the national average.
But it’s not all good news. Venture funding levels in Connecticut still lag significantly behind pre-recession levels, another indicator of the state’s slow recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.
Venture capitalists injected $182 million in Connecticut companies in 2013, a 19.2 percent increase from the $152.6 million invested in 2012.
That sum represents 53 deals, compared to 50 deals a year earlier, according to the latest MoneyTree report, a joint project of PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.
Nationwide, venture capitalists invested $29.4 billion in 3,995 deals in 2013, a 7 percent increase in dollars and a 4 percent rise in deals over the prior year.
Venture funding in the state peaked in 2000 — right before the dot-com bubble burst — when investors poured an astounding $1.5 billion into Connecticut companies. The state hasn’t gotten close to that level of investment since.
Connecticut is working hard on multiple fronts to develop a more innovative, entrepreneurial economy, but significant challenges exist. The state isn’t considered a technology hotbed making it hard to retain or recruit entrepreneurs who attract venture funding.
And, while the state has a fair amount of venture capital firms, particularly in Fairfield County, investors are more apt to place their bets on startups in Boston or New York.
Across the country, investors seem most bullish on software and Internet companies, which received $11 billion and $7.1 billion, respectively, in 2013, their highest single year funding levels in more than a decade.
In the fourth quarter, investors poured $53 million into Connecticut companies, up from $51 million in the year-ago period. Most money went to firms in Fairfield County, which traditionally sees the largest investment activity.
Greenwich medical device maker Mederi Therapeutics’ $18.5 million investment was the largest deal. The only Greater Hartford company to receive funding was Avon’s Idevices LLC. The software development firm landed a $5 million investment.
— Greg Bordonaro
Survey: CT bankers’ pay tops regional peers
Connecticut commercial bankers drew an average $125,976 in annual base pay in 2013, most among their New England, Atlantic coast and Midwest peers, a fresh compensation survey shows.
Massachusetts and Rhode Island commercial bankers weren’t far behind, earning $118,549 in average base pay last year, according to Scarborough, Maine, bank executive search and placement adviser Smith & Wilkinson’s fifth annual bankers’-pay survey.
New York and New Jersey bankers took home an average $117,796.
Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and District of Columbia bankers earned $114,453 in base pay.
Pennsylvania bankers collected $103,944, while their peers in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire got $103,036.
Ohio bankers were the least paid, averaging $95,103, the Smith & Wilkinson survey found.
Connecticut commercial bankers’ surveyed in 2012 had pay averaging $115,283, and $107,914 in 2011, Smith & Wilkinson said.
On average, commercial bankers surveyed from publicly traded lenders earned about $135,841 a year, far more than peers toiling at private or closely held banks, credit unions and mutual and cooperative lenders owned by their depositors.
Commercial bankers at mutual/co-op lenders averaged $128,370 in pay, while those at private/closely held institutions averaged $118,393. Credit union officers averaged $116,846.
At bonus time, New York/New Jersey commercial bankers led last year, with an average of $33,631, the survey showed.
Connecticut commercial bankers averaged $23,722 in 2013 bonus pay, tailed closely by Massachusetts/Rhode Island bankers with $23,217. Maine/New Hampshire/Vermont bankers averaged $18,759.
Pennsylvania bankers got the smallest 2013 bonuses, averaging $14,974.
The survey included data from commercial loan officers who don’t manage other bankers, and covered 846 responses from lenders in New England, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C.
Sixty-four of the responses were from Connecticut.
— Gregory Seay
