U.S. venture capital funding drops 71 percent:Thomson Reuters

A bank employee counts one hundred dollar notes in a file photo.

PALM DESERT, California (Reuters) - Investment in U.S. start-ups dropped 71 percent in January from a year earlier, preliminary figures by Thomson Reuters showed on Monday.

Venture capital funding dropped to $1.3 billion in January from $4.5 billion in January 2008, and the number of companies which received funds dropped by more than half, to 203 from 466. Funding per company dropped on average to $6.6 million from $9.76 million.

The figures were compiled by Lawrence Aragon, editor of Venture Capital Journal.

(Reporting by David Lawsky; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)