The past two years have been brutal for emerging technology companies seeking venture capital investments. But that's changing. Following a burst of initial public offerings late last year, venture capitalists are already loosening up their purse strings for the next batch of startups.

In the fourth quarter of 2003, venture capital firms raised $5.2 billion, almost half of what they raised in all of 2003. During the same period in 2002, they raised just $2.1 billion. And there are some clear indications about where venture investors are looking to spend their money. "There still seems to be a tremendous amount of interest in the wireless sector, in enterprise security applications and consumer electronics products," says Kenneth Lawler, a general partner at Battery Ventures in San Mateo, CA.