“Venture capitalists (VC) first discovered open source during
the dot-com bubble at the turn of the millennium. When the bubble
burst, open source was connected closely enough with its general
failure that all but a handful of VCs lost interest. In the last
few years, however, investor interest has started to return, due to
growing acceptance of open source software and the success of
existing open source companies. What now attracts investors to open
source companies, VCs say, is the higher probability of innovative
ideas and quicker time to market, as well as the ability to develop
niche markets that were previously too small to develop profitably.
If they see that the fundamentals for any successful business are
in place, investors are finding firms founded on open source well
worth considering…”