The United States remains the primary destination for investments from domestic venture firms.
But 2008 saw these partners and general partners continue to place more money overseas as the industry follows the general economy and globalizes.
China investments were up 50% last year
According to Dow Jones VentureSource, U.S. VCs increased their investing overseas by 5 percent last year, putting more than $13.4 billion to work in deals in Europe, Israel, China and India.
That represented about 32 percent of the money they spent. (Domestic startups got $28.8 billion, VentureSource says.)
The growth was particularly strong in energy investing, which accounted for more than 10 percent of overseas dollars. In Europe, for instance, energy startups attracted 89 percent more money than in 2007, or $816 million.
In China, VCs set a record by investing $4.2 billion last year, up 50 percent. Information technology startups got a significant share –$1.6 billion.
Investment growth was slower in India, where $864 million went into 80 deals, a 3 percent increase.
Posted by Mark Boslet 
