CHENNAI: Venture Capital (VC) investments have hit an all-time high this year with transactions worth $1.44 billion in 323 closed deals from January to September. According to data from research firm Venture Intelligence, investments made in the nine months of 2015 have crossed the previous historical high of 304 deals worth $1.17 billion recorded in 2014 for the entire year.

The investments for the quarter ended September 2015 also rose to a new record with 111 deals worth $536 million, 9% higher from the previous quarter, which reported 102 deals worth $473 million. The September quarter also saw a 41% jump from 79 investments worth $264 million during the same period last year.

Early seed investments (seed, first- and second-round investments in companies not more than 5 years old) attracted over $1 billion in the 9 months ended September 2015, said the report. Among various segments, IT and IT-enabled services (ITES) companies, mainly internet & mobile firms, led the pack accounting for 79 investments worth $376 million (71% of total investments in volume). The largest deals were recorded by Tiger Global with its $20 million investment in mobile-based news service News in Shorts and a similar amount attracted by engineering services BPO Allygrow in a round led by Zodius Capital.

Food and beverages attracted the second highest amount of funds (5% in volume) with six deals worth $27 million. Goldman Sachs-backed restaurant Mamagoto obtained a $10 million investment and tea chain Chai Point with a similar sized second round led by Eight Roads Ventures.

In healthcare & life sciences, Sequoia Capital India accounted for two deals: $20 million to bio informatics firm MedGenome and $19 million to women's reproductive healthcare focused drugs maker Akumentis Healthcare.

