Earlier this week, members of the Venture Capital Lunch Club met for their annual luncheon at a law firm in downtown New York City to make their predictions for what could be the hot areas for venture capital jobs and investment this year.
Number one on the list is “Big Data”, which involves ramping up the processing power of sorting through mountains of consumer data. Previously, it had been too expensive or had taken too long to sort through all this. But today’s new hardware, cloud architecture and open source software make it much more affordable. Companies like Walmart or Google and even smaller firms can now analyze the data to discover shopping patterns or create new products. And since they are working with actual customer data, it is presumably more accurate than using surveys.
Venture capital firms will be focusing on startups that are working with the predictive nature of Big Data, says Peg Jackson of Gridley & Co., a technology investment bank, according to an article in Entrepreneur.com
Target area number two is “Machine-to-Machine” communications. These new technologies include sensors on home fuel tanks that can signal to oil-delivery companies when they need refilling.
Target area number three is the “Internet of Things”, in other words, Internet-connected devices that collect data and communicate with other physical devices. One example are objects equipped with radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips that can be identified and inventoried by computers. Barcoding is another example. If more objects are equipped with these miniscule tracking devices, it can help with “just-in-time” manufacturing, recovering stolen goods and customer re-ordering of frequently-used items.
Attendees at the luncheon listed target area number four as Software as a Service, hardly a new development, but one that will continue to be a fertile area for venture capital investment.
Are there any key areas of venture capital jobs and investment for 2012 that you think didn’t make the list? Add your comments below.
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