Venture capitalists will have plenty of dough to invest over the next three to five years. New stats from the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Financial show that fundraising in 2007 reached its highest level since 2001.

For the year, VCs raised $34.7 billion and closed 235 funds, up 9.4% from  $31.6 billion in 2006. Balanced-stage funds raised the most, with $10.6 billion, followed by early-stage funds ($9.7 billion), later-stage vehicles ($7.2 billion) and expansion funds ($4.8 billion). In 2001, by comparison, VCs raised $38.8 billion for 318 funds. 

For VCs, of course, the real issue these days isn't raising capital, which is plentiful, but profitably deploying it. That has become more difficult with startups needing less money than ever to get off the ground and valuations in cleantech and Web 2.0 reaching sky-high levels. - George White

See Jan. 14 press release from the NVCA