VC funding in 2015 was highest since dot-com era despite valuation fears

Venture capitalists spent more money during 2015 on private companies than in any year since the dot-com era, but a slowdown in funding during the final three months of the year suggested that financiers have become a bit queasy about plunking down cash on startups, according to the latest Money Tree Report. The slowdown in funding could be due to worries about so-called technology "unicorns," a term used to refer to technology upstarts whose estimated private valuations have reached $1 billion or more. Some industry watchers fear that these unicorns have become overvalued.

During 2015, venture capitalists spent $27.35 billion on private companies in the Bay Area, according to the Money Tree report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. The venture financing during 2015 was the most that venture capitalists have spent since 2000, when they plunked down $33.42 billion on Bay Area private companies. The 2015 venture financing levels were 7.6 percent above the $25.43 billion investors spent in 2014.