Venture Capital Investing Has Reached Early Dotcom Era Levels

Venture capital investment in software and media companies is reaching dotcom era levels, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Here's a chart showing the amount of money invested in software companies through seed, early, expansion, and later stage venture capital deals, during every quarter for most of the last 20 years.

This data feels right given anecdotal evidence. Uber, Snapchat, Lyft – software companies by PwC's definition — have all raised enormous amounts of money in the past few quarters.

Here is PwC's definition of a software company:

Software companies are "Producers of bundled and/or unbundled software applications for business or consumer use including software created for systems, graphics, communications and networking, security, inventory, home use, educational, or recreational. Also included is software developed for specific industries such as banking, manufacturing, transportation, or healthcare."