Dow Jones has reported that "Web 2.0" investments have doubled in the first half of 2007 over the same period in 2006. Interesting to note is that this increase has been fueled by greater global investment and though U.S. investment has been flat, it has been more regionally diverse... i.e., Bay Area investment has decreased as the first wave of risk-taker VCs step back to watch where their initial investments go.
I thought it was really interesting that in the U.S., many of the new companies receiving capital are in the "Enterprise 2.0" space - concentrating on B2B and organizational collaboration technologies while international investors continue to look at consumer applications.
So what? Greater diversity among investors and investees is certainly a good sign that the sector's growth will be sustained. The increased focus on the business and productivity applications for these technologies is also a good sign since the business models in these sectors are typically more stable. What this means to membership organizations is that we should begin to see less technology risk from vendors and more focus on meeting the business needs of serious social networking customers.
Will this risk-reduction happen overnight? Of course not. But when you're planning your technology strategy 3-5 years out, knowing that investors are starting to look at making sure you have solid and successful vendor options in the Web 2.0 space is a good thing!
