As is abundantly clear from all the entrepreneurial activity on display at TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing, China is growing as a startup center. In the third quarter of 2011, $1.3 billion in venture capital poured into China, up 84 percent, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
At the same time, VC dollars slid 12 percent in Europe to almost exactly the same amount: 951 million Euros or $1.3 billion. (For comparison, U.S. VC dollars rose 29 percent to $8.4 billion in the third quarter). Are we at a crossroads where more venture capital will end up in China than in Europe?
One quarter’s data is not enough to draw any conclusions, but if this pattern continues we could see China supplant Europe in terms of total capital available to startups. The median deal size is already bigger: $11.7 million in China versus $2.8 million in Europe. VentureSource tracked 89 deals in China last quarter, and 219 in Europe.
In terms of potential exits, China is still booming as well, There were 29 Chinese startups which IPOed last quarter, raising a total of $4.4 billion