Show me the money

Florida entrepreneurs are shaking that money tree a little harder.

Venture capitalists boosted their investments in Florida-based companies by 50% in the year ending March 31, according to an analysis of Florida deals by market tracker InternetCoast using data from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters.

“The surprise for me is how much better we're doing,” says Dale Gregory, president of InternetCoast.

The recent $800 million round of funding of Dania-based Magic Leap skews the numbers, Gregory acknowledges. Still, he says: “Even without that it's been a very strong period of time for Florida.”

Venture capitalists invested $855 million in 16 Florida companies in the first quarter this year. That was the best quarterly performance since 1996, except for the bubble years of 1999 and 2000.