Venture firms are growing; where are the boutique VCs?

Jeff Hindenach

The median size of venture capital firms is growing.

So are the small boutique firms going extinct? Those with one or two partners, who want to invest $1 million or so, and really get into the trenches with the entrepreneurs they support? We write about this increasingly rare species in this Mercury News story. We mention the latest moves in Silicon Valley by Alsop-Louie, Geneva Ventures, Ridgelift and several others. In part, angels are stepping in to fill the void — and so you’re seeing large angel rounds like those of Kaboodle and StumbleUpon.

You’ll also see links to our quarterly venture capital survey, which can be good for people (job seekers, etc) keeping track of companies getting funded here in Silicon Valley, along with links to previous reports.

In Europe, the median size of VC firms grew to $50 million in the first quarter, up from $32 million for all of last year — and so firms are still relatively small there. But here in the U.S., the median sized fund has rocketed past $200 million. The data comes from VentureOne, a unit of Dow Jones.