In a year when fundraising was difficult for most venture firms, investors poured $32.6bn into US-based companies in 2011, a 10% increase over 2010.

The number of financings rose 5.8% to 3,209, the most since 2001, according to the latest data from VentureSource, a research unit of VentureWire publisher Dow Jones Business support services, consumer information services and software led the way. Healthcare investing overall was flat.