But even here lurk subtleties that a quarterly total doesn't reveal. Entrepreneurs say companies that received their funding in July, before the market turned downward, generally enjoyed better terms than those funded in September. Consider the choice made by Calico Technology Inc., a San Jose company that provides electronic commerce software. It's a choice that young companies are increasingly facing as they try to survive. But the sheer amount of money they're receiving is still testimony to the faith among investors that their products have a chance of success.
Venture capitalists suggest that three intriguing trends are becoming apparent.
Another young company, Nuance Communications Inc. of Menlo Park, is developing a voice-recognition product that will allow brokerage customers, for example, to access their accounts or make trades verbally. It's much more than a way of communicating with grandma. Mayfield, for example, has recently invested in the Cupertino-based PostX Corp., which is developing a product to allow financial institutions and brokerages to send customers confirmations of trades and account statements electronically. Compared with other regions, Silicon Valley venture capitalists have shown more interest in software than in telecommunications. Communications took 20.7 percent of the total venture dollars here.