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Venture capitalists flexed their formerly atrophying investment muscles in the second quarter, as cash infusions into Maryland companies soared.

VC investment in the state shot up in the second quarter to $101.4 million, up 52.7 percent from the first quarter and more than double the $50.6 million from a year earlier, according to new data from the PricewaterhouseCooper and National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Survey.

"People are feeling better about the overall public markets, even though they're still volatile," said Julia Spicer, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association in McLean, Va. "Venture investing is similar. We all like some stability and some predictability."

All told, 26 venture capital deals were made in Maryland in the quarter, according to the survey. That's the most since the fourth quarter of 2008, when 32 deals were reported.

The largest investment sector was bioscience, with 10 companies receiving a total of $29.3 million. Among them was a $15 million deal involving startup Corridor Pharmaceuticals of Baltimore and a $10 million investment in Sensors for Medicine and Science of Germantown.

The financial services sector was next, with $24.7 million in a single deal, to Brown Investment Advisory & Trust, from ABS Capital Partners and Woodbrook Capital, all of Baltimore, according to published reports. Brown Investment officials did not respond to a phone message.

The software sector accounted for five deals totaling $10.5 million.

Montgomery County companies had the most deals, nine, totaling $26.3 million. But Baltimore city had the largest total: $47.3 million in four deals.

One of the state's largest deals that closed in the second quarter was not included in the MoneyTree Survey. Virtustream of Bethesda in May closed a $40 million round of equity financing that was announced in September.

With more merger and acquisition activity and more companies going public, VC firms are gaining more liquidity, Spicer said.

"There's more positive motion — either IPOs or M&A — anything that looks like an exit," she said. That activity is prompting investors to reinvest in their portfolios or add to them.

The greater Washington region's strength in the bioscience and software sectors bodes well for future investments, she said. And clean energy, which has historically been stronger on the West Coast, "may become better situated for our market."

The state increase this spring mirrored the national trend. Second-quarter investment was up 34 percent in 22 percent more deals from the first quarter, according to the survey. And for the first six months of the year, VC investments nationwide totaled $11.4 billion in 1,646 deals, up 49 percent and 23 percent, respectively, from the first half of 2009.

"As the exit market begins to show signs of life, venture capitalists are now able to look increasingly at new investments outside their existing portfolio," Mark Heesen, president of the venture capital association, said in a statement. "This dynamic translates into momentum in the seed and early stage sectors where valuations remain reasonable and opportunities are great. Investment in the clean technology and life sciences sectors, which are generally longer term and more capital intensive in nature, are balanced by smaller deals within the information technology sectors creating a diversity of opportunities for success for entrepreneurs, VCs and limited partners alike."

"Venture capitalists are feeling more positive about the economic outlook for investment, based upon the jump we saw in VC funding this quarter," said Tracy T. Lefteroff, global managing partner of the venture capital practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in the statement.