Venture Capital Investment on Record Pace

A $23-million investment in Epoch Networks Inc. helped push total venture capital investment in Orange County to $44.7 million in the first quarter, putting the county on track for another record year, Price Waterhouse found in a survey.

Out of nine deals in the first three months of the year, the investment in Epoch was by far the largest. The Irvine company specializes in helping corporations use the Internet.

But Kirk Walden, national director for the Price Waterhouse survey, said that a $2-million investment in VenPro Corp. in Costa Mesa, was particularly significant. The start-up biotechnology company makes artificial veins through a biological process.

Venture capital firms are focusing more on very-early-stage companies like VenPro, Walden said. That’s a healthy sign because it reflects investors’ willingness to be patient and their confidence that the investment will ultimately pay off, he said. The VenPro deal is also indicative of venture capital firms’ growing awareness of Orange County’s technology edge.

“Venture capitalists aren’t just out there investing in another restaurant chain,” Walden said. “If it’s on the cutting edge, they are interested. You guys do pretty well in that area.”

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Patrice Apodaca covers economic issues for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-5979 and at patrice.apodaca@latimes.com