What do venture capitalists in Brazil, UK, Canada, Europe, India, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and other tech regions think about investment prospects in the current gloomy global economy?

"It's been a difficult recession but the industry is coping and making adjustments," said Mark Jensen, national managing partner of Deloitte's Venture Capital Services. "They're moving forward and not sitting on their hands waiting for something to happen." The company has just published results of a new survey on the global VC outlook entitled: Global Tends in Venture Capital which surveys more than a dozen VC associations around the world. The survey was conducted by Deloitte's  Technology, Media  & Telecommunications group.

 VCs, according to Deloitte, are re-evaluating the stage in which they're investing, with many shifting to early-stage investing.  About half are maintaining their current strategy and a significant percentage are shifting their focus to later-stage and existing portfolio companies.
"In this environment, it pays to be either a very early-stage investor or a very late-stage investor," said Steve Fredrick, general partner of Grotech Ventures.

In short, the report notes, "the tourists have left," explained Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA. "Young entrepreneurs who thought they could get rich quickly with just a good idea are now gone and those now left standing recognize the challenges and tenacity needed to establish and build a sustainable business," he said. "Those out on the hustings trying to get funded are much more astute about the globalization of the economy and worldwide competition. They understand that the value of their company today is not what it will be six months from now and that if they want to be funded, it will likely be at a lower valuation than in the past."

Lower valuations could present opportunities for VCs looking for a good deal. But are they spending, the report asks? In fact, the larger firms are eying a bigger slowdown than the smaller firms. Just more than half of respondents from firms managing $500 million or more are decreasing their level of investment, compared to about one in three of those managing $99 million or less.

Five years ago, when the Global VC Survey was first conducted, the goal was to see if the "buzz" about investing in emerging international markets was widespread or just concentrated among a few leading venture capital firms. The results showed a small committed group of global investors with lots of interest on the sidelines. Today, globalization of the venture capital industry continues in a meaningful way, with slightly more than half of respondents stating that they are investing outside their home country.

This year, the survey goal was to see if the global recession was impeding this march towards globalization. Although venture capitalists are making adjustments to their strategy in response to the current recession, the survey results clearly show that this industry continues to move toward increased globalization. The current recession is not stopping venture capitalists from looking for the best investment opportunities in order to produce the best possible returns for their investors--regardless of borders.

"We continue to believe in the strength of global technology innovation and entrepreneurship," said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president.

"Challenging economic times present an opportunity for companies to outperform their competition with cool and exciting new products and services."

The survey revealed that globalization of the venture capital industry will intensify in coming years, posing significant competitive questions for the United States, and opportunities for emerging markets such as China. Additional findings include:

• The clean tech sector is poised to become the leading investment category.
• Levels are more likely to increase in countries outside the U.S. Governments of all countries have a crucial role to play in fostering competitiveness and innovation.
• Just over half of VCs surveyed remain optimistic that it is a terrific time to invest in promising entrepreneurial companies.

A copy of the report can be downloaded here: tmt_2009vdsurvey.pdf

Finalists in the Draper Fisher Jurvetson - Cisco Global Business Plan competition have been selected, with the the winner to be announced tomorrow, June 30, 2009 following a webcast of the final round of competition.

 Competitors in the final round come from 6 different countries in locations as diverse as Brazil, Russia, India, China, Israel, and all across the USA. According to the contest sponsors, the review process considered the management team, technical innovation, addressable market size, competitive positioning, barriers, capital efficiency, and financial projections.

We had a difficult time selecting the top finalists. "Technology and entrepreneurship have no borders; talented entrepreneurs are everywhere solving some of the world's biggest problems and improving the way we do things. From designing improved drip irrigation systems in India, providing online entertainment for China, to creating efficient and affordable web-scale computing - these are all amazing entrepreneurs making a difference," the event sponsors said in a press release.

S O U R C E: PRNewswire

Conference in New York to Present Investment Opportunities in Technology and Innovation Sectors in Brazil

    Conference:

    Invest in Brasil
    Date: 6/25/2009
    Time: 8:00AM
    Location: The New York Palace
    Address:  455 Madison Avenue
              New York, NY  10022


    For more information:

    Press Contact Brasscom - Elizabeth Warnock, elizabeth.warnock@bm.com -
    +1-212-614-4417
    Press Contact Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce - Andrea Soares
    Berrios, info@brazilcham.com - +1-212-751-4691
    Press Contact Apex-Brasil - lilian.leao@apexbrasil.com.br -
    +55 61 3426-0298

Tweetpics: Car technology, China's R&D roadmap, Estonia, Brazil, crisis innovation, emerging phone markets,

Bangladesh, Pakistan and India are target markets

eetimes:  Low-cost phones, emerging markets to drive handsets sector: With developed markets saturated and shifting mostly.. http://tinyurl.com/maunxdabout 2 hours ago from twitterfeed

 Video

RT @thinQing:IT innovation in a time of economic crisis: http://bit.ly/12TgIi about 2 hours ago from twitterfeed

Silicon Valley en Brasil:http://www.elcomercio.com.pe/impresa/notas/silicon-valley-brasil20 minutes ago from TwitterFox

China issues long-term roadmap for development of science and technology: BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The Chine.. http://tinyurl.com/l728wsabout 2 hours ago from twitterfeed  

eetimes: Social aspects will determine car technology, Freescale executive says: <i>EE Times Europe</i> recen.. http://tinyurl.com/nwyh3m

The International Association of Science Parks (IASP) 2009 World Conference,held in the U.S. for the first time this year, kicked off in Raleigh, NC, hosted by the Research Triangle Park.

Organizers have put some Web 2.0 technologies in place on YouTube, LinkedIn,Facebook and Twitter to help track the event online. Follow my Tweets this week at: TNxtSV and check out the social media outreach page on RTP's Science in the Triangle website.

If this event is any indication, it looks like tech is dodging the global recession, and that the tech innovation business is booming at tech centers and science parks around the world.

As blogger Sabine Vollmer put it in a recent post, "It's an encouraging historical fact that creativity rises when the economy tanks. That means, the time to plant seeds for tomorrow's innovation is now, when the global economy is shrinking, unemployment is rising and one of the world's largest carmakers, General Moters, is about to restructure in the biggest industrial bankruptcy in U.S. history."

Visitors TNxtSV spoke with seem to share this optimism. "The hard core tech sector is doing very well," according to Dr. Helge Neumann, Executive Manager of International Cooperation for Berlin Alderhoff, a thriving tech park that got its start behind the Berlin Wall, after WW II. Berlin's tech drivers include photvoltaics, optical materials, microelectronics and several other key enabling technologies.

"We're seeing growth in photvoltaics of 14-20%" Neumann boasted, both in terms of "turnover (revenue) and new jobs."

The international conference is expected to attract over 750 individuals from 39 countries and will focus on "Future Knowledge Ecosystems". The themes of the conference explore new concepts and knowledge on what it will take for research parks and places to remain competitive in the face of global change.

Event organizers speaking at this evenings opening reception claim that this week's gathering is the largest attendance yet for an IASP conference.

The event's audience is a veritable international melting pot, with delegates, press and attendees spotted form far and wide in the U.S. as well as Daejeon,Korea; Trieste, Italy; Malaysia, Mexico, Barcelona, Spain; Brazil; UK; France; Germany; Finland; Israel; Thailand; Japan; Estonia; Namibia; China; Greece; Denmark; Kuwait; Canada; Russia.

Following is TNxtSV take from the program agenda and observations and thoughts on the globalization of tech innovation:

• Tough economic times don't prevent technologies and their applications from continually developing and changing.


• In fact, spurring tech innovation can drive economic recovery and strengthen competitiveness
• Today, tech innovation is a national imperative around the world


• The proliferation of new technologies in semiconductors, electronics, computers, software, the Internet, solar tech, bio tech, clean tech and other emerging technologies has lead many regions of the world to an increasing focus on entrepreneurship.


• As in Silicon Valley, technology development thrives in an environment of creative intellectual energy; a networked economy; proximity to research institutions and universities; unique intellectual property development; a diverse base of high-tech talent; access to investment capital and infrastructure.


• These attributes are now found in the water supply of many metropolitan regions around the world.


• Innovation hubs and science parks are no longer limited to a few select locations. In today's economy, innovative businesses and regions are appearing and flourishing by making global connections, tapping into virtual opportunities and breaking down local jurisdictions to build regional innovation engines.


• By some estimates, in as little as ten years virtually all jobs will have a technology component. Highly skilled workers can choose where they want to live, work, and play and the battle is on among regions globally to attract and retain them


• Ironically, as the worst economic down turn in modern times unfolds, thousands of talented professionals , engineers, scientists and students from around the world are leaving Silicon Valley, or having difficultly staying in or entering the U.S.


• According to recent Business Week article "Foreign students who graduate from U.S. universities with degrees in science and engineering are increasingly leaving the U.S. to pursue job opportunities in their home countries."


• A Duke University report released on Mar. 19th entitled "Losing the World's Best and Brightest," warns that "the departure of these foreign nationals could represent a significant loss for the U.S. science and engineering workforce, where these immigrants have played increasingly larger roles over the past three decades."


• Craig Barrett, the recently retired chairman of Intel has warned for years that current U.S. immigration policy deteriorates America's competitiveness , to Europe and the world's advantage


• In a The Washington Post column in 2007 Barrett noted: "The European Union has taken steps that the U.S. Congress can't seem to muster the courage to take, and by proposing simple changes in immigration policy, E.U. politicians served notice that they are serious about competing with the United States and Asia to attract the world's top talent to live, work and innovate in Europe.


• "With Congress gridlocked on immigration, it's clear that the next Silicon Valley will not be in the United States," Barrett declared.


• *The Washington Post A Talent Contest We're Losing by Craig Barrett 12/23/07

Stay tuned.