A quarterly survey of venture capital firms conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Encouraged by a healthy economy and a hot market for new Internet stocks, venture capital firms gave a record US$7.67 billion to US startups in the second quarter of the year, according to a survey. Survey researchers described the latest round of funding as a blowout quarter. Between April and July, VCs doled out more than twice as much as they did in the same period last year. The figures come from The Money Tree, a quarterly survey of venture capital firms conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The figure also marks a huge jump from the first quarter of the year, when VC investments totaled $4.31 billion. Although they don_t expect more record increases for the rest of the year, researchers said there were logical reasons for the ultra-strong second-quarter performance. "We saw a very stable stock market, a very strong IPO market, and, of course, a terrific economy," said Kirk Walden, director of venture capital research for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Internet-related companies accounted for nearly half of venture funding recipients, with more than 400 startups qualifying. Communications companies recorded the biggest gains, with venture funding for the industry increasing 165 percent to $2.5 billion. Other hot sectors included biotechnology, electronics, software, and computers.