By Evan Vitale

Here are some of the top stories making headlines in the world of venture capital, January 16, 2017:

The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that San Diego start-ups raised venture capital at a slower pace than a year ago.  This follows a national trend of a pullback from higher levels of VC investments in 2015.

Local firms corralled $1.07 billion in venture capital funding last year, according to The Dow Jones VentureSource. That’s down from $1.5 billion the prior year.

Eighty-seven San Diego area companies received funding last year based on the VentureSource data, down from 93 companies in 2015.

Details: http://bit.ly/2jLY00L

A decrease is also being felt in Minnesota, as the Minnesota StarTribune is reporting that the state had its fewest venture capital deals over the last 12 years.

For the year in the state, there were 23 venture capital deals, raising $339.4 million, according to data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/CB Insights MoneyTree report. It was the lowest number of such deals since 2005, which saw only 20 deals, and the lowest amount raised since the $267.9 million from 39 deals in 2013.

Details: http://strib.mn/2jJCLfS

However, things were better in Florida. According to the Orlando Business Journal, venture capital investment across the state yielded the best year for Florida since 2001 despite a nationwide drop in VC funding, according to the MoneyTree Report, released this week by PricewaterhouseCoopers and CB Insights.

VCs invested $1.12 billion in Florida-based startups through 71 deals in 2016, though much of that capital was funneled to Magic Leap. The South Florida startup, now working on its highly anticipated mixed-reality technology across two offices in Dania Beach and Plantation, scored $793.5 million in the first quarter. The fundraising round was led by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

Details: http://bit.ly/2jf90mb

Have a great week!