N.C. companies raised $910M in 2007

North Carolina companies raised $910 million in venture capital investments in 2007, according to the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

The figure, raised in 87 deals, is a 72 percent increase over 2006, CED says. The Triangle accounted for 87.5 percent of all the money raised, compared to 66 percent the year prior.

Both of those increases are in large part due to the record amounts raised by Durham software company Motricity. Backed by billionaire financier Carl Icahn, Motricity raised $230 million in two separate fundraisers in 2007, using much of the cash to buy the mobile software division of Washington company InfoSpace.

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In March, the company said it wouldlay off 250 and move its headquartersto Bellevue, Wash.

There were other big deals locally in 2007, however, besides Motricity's.

Topping the list was the$50 million fundraiser of InnerPulse, a Durham company working on technology to treat irregular heart rhythms. Other companies raising a substantial amount of money include Durham's Tranzyme Pharma, Morrisville's ChannelAdvisor, Durham's Serenex (laterbought by Pfizer), and Durham's Chimerix.

The average size of a deal in North Carolina was $10.47 million. That number, which topped the national average of $7.71 million, was also skewed by Motricity's large deals - including one of $185 million.