The state of Florida landed into the nation's top 10 for venture capital funding during the second quarter of this year. The Orlando area played a significant role in the upturn, according to the latest National Venture Capital Association and The MoneyTree Report. The MoneyTree Report is run by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The southeastern state received around US$156 million from 14 professional venture deals in the latest quarter, according to the new survey.. The figures are up in excess of 10-fold compared to the first quarter of the year, .

Consequently, Florida now ranks eighth among all the other states in terms of dollars invested. In the first quarter, the state was at 29th place, according to the report's figures. Nationwide, venture capital firms devoted up to US$6.7 billion inthe second quarter, a 12% improvement from the previous quarter.

"You have to be careful about reading too much into one quarter. But it has been so dry for so long here, this is just a great sign that venture money is coming in again. It does appear to be an indicator that the rest of the world has Florida, and Central Florida in particular, in its sights," an Orlando investment banker said.