The significant increase in investment, outlined in PricewaterhouseCoopers' MoneyTree Survey, demonstrates how much the size of venture-capital deals in Utah has grown in recent years, said Joe Strain, a PricewaterhouseCoopers spokesman.

The largest deal in 2005 was Amp Resources LLC in Draper, which received $45 million in the first quarter of the year, according to the report. The next largest was Omniture Inc. in Orem, which received $40 million in the second quarter.

Josh James, Omniture's chief executive officer, said the Web analytics firm's investment will be used to facilitate even more growth at the 10-year-old company. Omniture has raised about $70 million since 1998, including the $40 million invested last year.

"A lot of venture-capital companies have made their first investment in Utah in the last 10 years, have had a good experience and they are willing to make even more," James said.

The third-largest Utah investment in 2005 was Tandem Labs of Holladay, which received $18.8 million, the report said.

"The number of deals increased in 2005, but not as much as the average deal size," Strain said.

According to the report, 27 venture-capital deals were funded in 2005, up from 24 in 2004 and 22 in 2003. The average deal size was $9.2 million, up from $7.8 million in 2004 and $4.8 million in 2003.

"You talk to venture-capital firms and they will tell you that Utah has some quality companies," Strain said.

Dinesh Patel, co-founder and managing director of vSpring Capital in Salt Lake City, agrees, saying an increase in investment by Utah venture-capital firms in quality Utah-based businesses in recent years has not gone unnoticed.

"Out-of-state venture-capital companies are really taking notice of what's going on here," said Patel, whose company focuses on companies in life sciences and technology industries.

Venture-capital investment in the state peaked at $708 million in 2000, but plummeted to $198 million in 2001 and $89 million in 2002 after the dot-com industry boom collapsed. Venture-capital investment climbed to $107 million in 2003 and $188 million in 2004 as more venture-capital firms stung by the downturn became more active once again.

Nationally, venture-capital investment in 2005 reached $21.7 billion, according to the MoneyTree report, produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association. Utah's share of the U.S. total rose last year to a four-year high of 0.92 percent.

lesley@sltrib.com