After two straight sputtering starts to the calendar year, venture financing by Connecticut startups jumped in the first quarter of 2017 even as Hartford legislators weighed whether to prime the sector further by way of a tax break for venture capital investors.
Connecticut companies raised $83.7 million in venture financing in the first quarter across 29 separate deals, nearly triple the funding totals of a year ago, according to Securities & Exchange Commission filings and company announcements tracked by Hearst Connecticut Media.
The data arrives even as the Connecticut General Assembly considers a potential tax exemption for venture capitalists in an effort to get more funds to operate locally, and by extension invest in local companies.
“The changes in legislation could be a launch pad for consolidation of venture capital firms here to Connecticut, as opposed to New York City or Silicon Valley,” said Thomas Madden, director of economic development for the city of Stamford, while…