The latest numbers from the "The MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA)" based on data from Thomson Reuters show that networking and equipment companies grabbed $111 million in venture funding in Q1, down from $138M in Q1 last year and $114M in Q4. However, there were 15 deals, up from 14 in Q1 last year and 12 in Q4, with companies such as garnering $13.8 million in funding. 

Telecom startups had a similarly mediocre showing, with $142M in funding, down from $254M in Q1 last year and flat with Q4.

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Some $1.1 billion was invested in software firms, up from the $809M invested in Q1 last year and down from the $1.2 billion put into such companies in Q4. Much more funding for network-related companies is going into software and services and Internet companies, these days. An example: Software-as-a-service company pulled in $48 million in fresh funding during Q1. What's more, some of the venture firms (Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners) that have traditionally invested heavily in U.S. tech companies have been closing new $1B-plus funds focused largely in investments outside the U.S., such as India and China.

One caveat, too, is that categorizing companies for the purpose of this survey is tricky, with some companies that could really fit into more than one category.