EUROPE – Investment in European private equity has grown to e1.26bn a month in January, according to a preliminary report by Tornado-Insider Group, a data and news provider on Europe’s new economy. The total includes e409m invested in US companies by investors including European venture capital firms.

Some sectors have fared better than others in the last twelve months. “Software and technology companies received a total of about e150m more in investment in January than December. This increase was at the expense of investments in internet companies, a sector which showed a decline of about e125m between December and January,” says Liz Barth, Tornado’s director of research.

On the other hand, the share of investment in ‘wireless’ companies has increased in January to around e350m. Tornado defines the wireless sector as comprising software developers, content providers, and hardware and device manufacturers operating in the wireless market.

January’s deal flow is on track with investment patterns of the past six months: monthly investment in European companies has averaged about e1bn since August according to the report.