After the Flood With the flow of VC funding slowed to a trickle, let our list of the top 100 VC funds be your divining rod.

Now that the venture capital free-fall is ending, can you land the right VC to launch your company into the big time?

True, overall venture capital investing last year was far below the dotcom bubble years of 1999 and 2000. But, at over $36 billion, 2001 was still the third largest year in history, and 2002 looks like it will stabilize well above historical norms. That's good news for early-stage companies.

"During most of last year, venture capitalists spent the majority of their time working closely with their existing portfolio companies, leaving less time to make investments in new companies," says Mark Heeson, president of the National Venture Capital Association. "By the beginning of this year, the focus was beginning to shift back toward evaluating new opportunities."