(UPI) -- High-tech entrepreneurs in the United States and elsewhere are finding that investors have turned off the venture-capital spigot, analysts said.
"This is the first time since the Internet bubble burst that Internet companies are facing serious challenges," Jessica Canning, global research director for Dow Jones VentureSource, told the Los Angeles Times.
New Web sites and other startups are finding that they must become viable within months.
"It's more cutthroat now," said Adeo Ressi, of thefunded.com, a site that tracks venture firms. "If you don't show hockey-stick growth, you don't make it in this market."
The downturn is likely to affect Los Angeles, a center for advertising and entertainment startups. Edgeio, BrightSpot, TripUp and FireBrand are all recent casualties, the newspaper said.
