Zero venture-backed IPOs for the quarter

As U.S. stock values fell and the cost of going public rose, small companies backed by venture-capital investors have stopped listing new shares on U.S. stock exchanges, an investors' trade group said. Start-up companies face a "capital markets crisis" after the number of initial public stock offerings, or IPOs, by venture-backed firms fell to zero in the last three months, according to the National Venture Capital Association.

"This is the first time this has happened in 30 years" for which the association has tracked IPOs, said Emily Mendell, the group's Philadelphia-based vice president. Venture-backed IPOs collapsed, from an average of more than seven per month last year, to less than two per month in the first quarter, to none in April, May and June, the association said in its quarterly venture-capital survey. Firms that feel shut out of the stock market are selling themselves to larger companies or to cost-conscious ...