Earlier this month, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), a trade association representing the U.S. venture capital industry, released the results of its MoneyTree Report on venture funding for 2013. The report, which is prepared by NVCA and PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP using data from Thomson Reuters, indicates that venture capitalists invested $29.4 billion in 3,995 deals in 2013, which constituted a 7% increase in dollars and a 4% increase in deals over the prior year (see chart below, which shows total venture funding from 2004 to 2013; data from MoneyTree Reports).