This is excellent data that shows a clear trend of increasing competition for Venture Capital.

The trend could be driven by many factors but apparently a decreasing pool of money is not the main driver. Increased competition is suggested as a cause.

However, this does beg the question: Why is there only a "relatively constant" inflow of capital? Either it's because the quality of the applicant start-up has gone down OR the VC funds are not getting access to capital at a rate that is in-step with the market.

The first option seems improbable to me which would suggest that this would be a good time to invest in VC funds.