Venture-Backed I.P.O.’s Increased in 2nd Quarter

The picture is looking a bit brighter for initial public offerings of venture-capital-backed firms, which showed renewed activity — both in terms of dollar volume and the number of offerings — in the second quarter.
According to a report released Wednesday by Thomson Financial and the National Venture Capital Association, there were 19 venture-backed I.P.O.’s in the second quarter of 2006. That represents a 90 percent increase over the anemic 10 I.P.O.’s during the first three months of the year, as well as the 10 from the second quarter of 2005. This quarter’s venture-backed offerings totaled $2.01 billion, compared to $540.8 million raised in the first quarter of this year and $714.1 raised in the second quarter last year.