The turmoil on Wall Street didn't keep venture capitalists from investing a whopping $211.3 million in North Carolina companies in the second quarter.

It was the state's best second-quarter result since 2001 and ranked North Carolina sixth in the nation behind California, Massachusetts, New York, Washington and Texas.

About 75 percent of the funds raised went to companies in the Triangle, according to the MoneyTree report being released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.

"We call it a good quarter if we're in the top 10," said Laura Hoke, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Raleigh office. "Number 6 is fantastic."

Venture capital is the lifeblood of young, often unprofitable, companies. It allows them to hire workers, develop and market products, and expand.

Dozens of Triangle companies rely on venture capital.

The investment buys venture capital firms a piece of the businesses, which they aim to sell a few years later at a substantial markup. Initial public offerings of stock and acquisitions are the preferred ways to cash in. But a jittery stock market, the credit crisis and an ailing economy has dampened the appetite for IPOs and corporate shopping sprees this year.

Still, venture capital continues to flow.

Intersouth Partners, a Durham venture capital firm, participated in five of the 19 fundraisers Triangle companies completed in the second quarter.

"We wouldn't invest if we didn't think it was worth it," said Mitch Mumma, an Intersouth partner.

In the eight years since the tech bubble burst, venture capital firms have learned to stick with a company longer and set aside money for more than one funding round, Mumma said.

It's a strategic change that is especially important for biotech companies, which represent the Triangle's innovative backbone.

"The alternative would be to sell at the wrong time," Mumma said.

The average time it has taken venture-backed companies to go public or be acquired has more than doubled to seven or eight years since 2002, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.

SilkRoad Technology recorded the biggest haul among North Carolina companies with $44 million. The Winston-Salem software company had already collected $10 million in February. Fundraising was no problem, said Brian Platz, SilkRoad's chief operational officer.

But Platz acknowledged the software SilkRoad is developing is in demand by many companies that are struggling to find and keep employees. Also, SilkRoad generated about $30 million in revenue last year.

Argos Therapeutics of Durham collected the most among biotech companies, $34.8 million. But John Bonfiglio, Argos' chief executive, said "it was not an easy raise."

One potential investor pulled out because of the subprime mortgage crisis, Bonfiglio said. The fundraiser came together largely because of continued financial support from existing investors. "These are groups that really believe in what we're doing," he said.

Jeff Clark, a partner with Aurora Funds, another Durham venture capital firm, expected that companies still looking for money might encounter more problems in the second half of the year.

"I expect it to slow down," Clark said.

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