TEXT OF STORY

STACEY VANEK SMITH: The nation’s venture capitalists are getting a bit of their mojo back. A survey out this morning from the National Venture Capital Association finds investors in high-risk startups more optimistic about 2011.

From the Entrepreneurship Desk at Oregon Public Broadcasting, Mitchell Hartman has more.

Mitchell Hartman: Venture capitalists expect to pump more money into promising startups in 2011 — with
I.T., mobile- and cloud-computing leading the way.

Successful startups are also launching more initial public offerings. This is where we might expect see the next high-tech job engines like Amazon or Google. Except, one-third of IPOs this year were from China. Mark Heesen is with the National Venture Capital Association.

Mark Heesen: It’s still nowhere near what we need as a U.S. economy as a whole, when you see so many companies coming from overseas that are receiving U.S. money.

One bright spot is research and development, says Trevor Loy, who manages a $40 million portfolio at Flywheel Ventures in Santa Fe.

Trevor Loy: United States investment — both corporate and government — in basic R&D has continued to accelerate throughout the downturn. Not only the social networks, but some of the more physical sciences have seen tremendous advancement and innovation.

Loy says that pipeline will feed clean energy, nanotech and drug development for years to come.

I’m Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace.