New York: The public market showed a strong appetite for U.S. venture capital companies in the first quarter but corporations did not as the pace of acquisitions slowed dramatically. Around twenty companies held IPOs during the first quarter making it the most active quarter for IPOs since the fourth quarter of 2007 and the most active quarter since 2000.

According to Dow Jones VentureSource, ninety-four companies were acquired for $18.1 billion during the same period, the second-straight quarter of declining deal volume for M&As. “Greater stability in the public markets, more corporations opening venture units to work closely with startups without acquiring them, and a continued disconnect between entrepreneurs’ asking price and what corporations are willing to pay have contributed to a steady decline in M&A activity,” said Jessica Canning, global research director for Dow Jones VentureSource.

With small and mid-cap IPOs taking the center stage, twenty companies raised $1.4 billion through IPOs in the first quarter, significantly more exits and capital than the 11 IPOs that raised $768 during the first quarter of last year. Currently 50 U.S. venture-backed companies are in IPO registration and thirteen of these filed during the first quarter. However, it took companies a median of $68 million and 7.7 years to reach an IPO, which represents a 22 percent drop in capital raised but an increase in time from 6.2 years during the same period a year ago.

With 12 acquisitions, Google was the most active acquirer of venture companies in 2011. But it did not buy any company in the first quarter of 2012. Groupon, however has been snapping up venture companies at a pace that rivals Google’s in 2011.

To reach an M&A or buyout, companies raised a median of $13 million in venture financing, 13 percent less than in the first quarter of 2011, and took a median of 4.9 years to build their company.