VC fundraising plummeted in Q4 2008

How hard are venture capitalist firms being hit by the economic slump? Well, they still managed to raise $3.4 billion during Q4 last year, according to research from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association.

However, that compares to $11.7 billion raised by the VC firms in Q4 2007 - a drop of more than 70 per cent year-on-year.

That's not great news for startups - including mobile games companies - who see VC financing as their lifeblood for the near future.

Then again, there's still money out there, so companies confident in their business models and strategies shouldn't be spooked, at least not until there's evidence that even their chances of raising new funding rounds are being squeezed.

The research reveals that for 2008 as a whole, VC firms raised $28 billion - down 21.4 per cent from 2007.