Venture capitalists invested more money in more U.S. startups in the third quarter than they did a year earlier — especially in the software industry. Compared with the previous quarter, however, there were declines in both the amount of money invested and the number of deals made. This suggests that investors may be getting more cautious about the economy and the volatile stock market, which has caused many companies to hold off on going public — when many venture capitalists get their payoff.
