U.S. in 3Q11, a 5% increase in dollars over the $8.0 billion invested in 776 deals reported for 2Q11 in July 2011, according to Dow Jones Venture Source ("VentureSource").  The largest Silicon Valley investments in 3Q11 were Twitter and Bloom Energy, which were also two of the three largest nationwide.  Northern California received 38% of all U.S. venture investment in 3Q11. The PwC/NVCA MoneyTreeT Report based on data from Thomson Reuters (the "MoneyTree Report") reported slightly different results -- that venture capitalists invested $7.0 billion in 876 deals in 3Q11, a 7% decrease in dollars over the $7.5 billion invested in 966 deals reported in July 2011 for 2Q11.  Investments in software companies were at their highest quarterly level since 4Q01, at $2.0 billion; investments in internet companies fell to $1.6 billion after the ten year high of $2.4 billion reported in 2Q11, and life science and cleantech investments fell 18% and 13% respectively from 2Q11. Overall, venture capital investment in 2011 is on track to exceed the amount invested in 2010 according to both VentureSource and the MoneyTree Report. Merger and Acquisition Activity . Acquisitions (including buyouts) of U.S. venture-backed companies in 3Q11 totaled $13 billion in 122 deals, a 33% increase in dollar terms from the $9.8 billion paid in 100 deals reported in July 2011 for 2Q11, according to Dow Jones.  The information and enterprise technology sectors had the most acquisitions, and the acquisition of PopCap Games by Electronic Arts for $750 million was the largest acquisition