CHICAGO ? Forty-four states combined have committed $5.8 Billion to current venture capital programs, including direct investments by the states, tax incentives for others to invest, according to the State Venture Capital Program Study just released by the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds.

Michigan has contributed $153 million in public-private funds, putting the state slight above the average state investment of $137 million, said NASVF spokesman George Lipper. He said the survey had six responses from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and from Michigan University Technology Transfer programs.

The biggest focus of state programs is on seed-stage investing:

20 percent will invest at the research stage

33 percent will do pre-seed deals

57 percent will invest at the seed stage

39 percent will make venture stage investments

18 percent will invest at the mezzanine level

12 percent will invest in later stage deals

Typically a state program targets several industry sectors. The top sectors were:

Biotech

Medical devices and equipment

Software

Telecommunications

Industrial/energy

These were followed closely by:

Semiconductors

Networking and equipment

IT Services

A third tier was:

Computers and peripherals

Health care services

Business products and services

When asked what outcomes were expected, 32 percent of the program managers said the goal was jobs or job quality. Another 13 percent said economic benefit. ROI on the investment was mentioned by only 15 percent of the program managers.

42 percent of program managers reported that the program?s performance has been excellent or above average, 47 percent average and only 12 percent below average.

What asked, ?What was being done right?? the highest number of program managers said private sector management or that the program is private sector driven. Many respondents mentioned training and educating entrepreneurs and investors.

What asked ?What should have been done differently,? the most popular response was right-size program to fit the needs. The program managers want flexibility to access more capital when it is needed and to invest in smaller or larger amounts than was originally planned.

Of the states surveyed, 41 percent of the programs involve the state taking an ownership interest.

63 percent of the program employs public capital

20 percent use private capital

17 percent use incentivized private capital

76 percent of the programs provide capital in cash

12.3 percent in tax incentives;

4.3 percent make investments in-kind

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