Web 2.0 deals exceed $850 million

At the Annual Web Ventures Conference, Ernst & Young and Dow Jones VentureOne released figures for Web 2.0 funding in 2006. The research shows $844.4 million was invested in 167 deals in 2006 more than twice as much money and nearly twice as many deals in the previous year. Analysts do not believe we are in a bubble economy yet although it is a significant increase in interest in an emerging area. The median pre-money valuation for a Web 2.0 company worldwide was pegged at US$6 million overall compared to US$18.5 for US ventured backed companies.

What is interesting is VentureOne's method of identifying and categorizing Web 2.0 companies. e.g. their business model must revolve around "a dynamic interface facilitating participation through such methods as user-created content, networking, an collaboration. Applications include podcasting, tagging, blog, social networking, mashups and wikis. Technologies used include: AJAX, RSS, SOA, CSS, XHMTL and Atom."