$18.6M in venture funding for 3 LI tech firms

Three Long Island companies received a total of $18.6 million in venture capital funding in the fourth quarter of 2011, continuing a winning streak for the year, according to a new report.

For all of 2011, Long Island companies received $45.7 million, more than double the $21.4 million the year before, according to data in the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.

"Long Island is back on the radar of venture capitalists as evidenced by the four straight quarters of investment in Long Island companies," said David Silverman, PricewaterhouseCoopers managing partner in the New York metro emerging-company practice.

"This is a welcome payoff for the region's continued concentration on promoting their potential," he said.

Kemp Technologies Inc., a Yaphank networking equipment manufacturer, was the quarter's big winner, receiving $16 million. Certpoint Systems Inc., a Roslyn Heights software manufacturer, won $2.1 million. AccuVein Inc., a Huntington medical-device manufacturer, received $500,000. The win for AccuVein came after it received a $22.5 million venture-capital investment in the third quarter.

Long Island's four straight quarters of venture-capital investment last year compared with just two quarters of venture capital investments for the Island in 2010.

Nationwide, venture capitalists invested $28.4 billion in 3,673 deals in 2011, compared with $21.8 billion and 3,277 deals the year before.