Venture capital investment in European companies topped euro 4.56 billion in 2007, the highest annual total since 2002, according to the quarterly European Venture Capital Report released by Dow Jones VentureSource. As in the United States, the capital increase was due in part to investors putting more money into later-stage companies, resulting in a 2% increase over 2006's investment level. However, Europe's deal count fell for the sixth year in a row with 897 deals completed, 10% fewer than in 2006.
