In an annual survey of global venture capitalists, investors disclosed what they are most excited about — and what keeps them up at night.
When it comes to investment sectors, U.S. investors were most confident about cloud computing followed by mobile and the Internet of Things. That’s got to be a good forecast for the Seattle region, given it is home to several leaders in the cloud computing space and wireless, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and T-Mobile.
The annual survey, conducted by Deloitte and the National Venture Capital Association, polled VCs around the world to get their thoughts on global investing trends, fundraising, IPOs, and government policy. It polled 200 investors between May and June across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Confidence levels are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with anything over a 4 considered very positive, and anything between 2.5 and 3.5 being neutral.
The survey asked investors how they felt about particular markets, but did not ask how confident they were about the Seattle region, in particular. Of the top five metro areas, here’s how they rank: Silicon Valley (4.28), New York (3.86), Boston (3.77), Los Angeles (3.43) and Chicago (3.22).
Meanwhile, in terms of policy issues, immigration reform was top of mind for U.S. investors, with two-thirds considering it a top priority. Investors also remain bullish on the IPO market, with sentiments rising for the fourth year in a row despite a moderate first quarter and only 27 venture-backed IPOs in the second quarter.
Here’s some additional findings:
- U.S. venture capitalists named cloud computing the strongest technology investment sector at 4.13, marking its third year as most valuable segment. Interest in mobile technology was nearly the same at 4.12.
- U.S. investors were least interested in energy/clean technologies (2.69) and hardware/semiconductors (2.71).
- Technology hubs in the U.S., Israel and Canada continue to have high confidence numbers at 4.17, 3.9 and 3.6 while levels fall in Brazil (2.7) and other emerging markets.
- In terms of public policy issues, 61 percent of U.S.-based investors said immigration reform was the most important issue by far and away. Patent demand reform ranked second with 36 percent.
- Overall the global IPO market ticked up to an average of 3.24, while opinions of investors’ home country IPO markets rose to an average of 3.29.
