VCs put $5.9 billion into 863 deals in Q1, dropping 12% in dollars and 15% in number of deals from the previous quarter, according to the latest MoneyTree report from PwC and NVCA. Research head John Taylor says the venture industry has been raising less capital than it's been investing for several years, hence the falling investment dollars. Life sciences and clean tech took the hardest hits, while software was a bright spot (8% rise in dollars invested).Regions getting the most VC love: Silicon Valley, NY Metro, and New England. The DC Metroplex, which includes DC, Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia,saw $286.3 million invested in 30 deals, up 200% in dollars from the previous quarter when $96.8 million went into 36 deals.

Elise Whang of SNOBSWAP and Marty Bauer of RidePost were some of the DC-area startups that raised funds last quarter. (Both got $25k from Fortify.) The majority of the DC Metroplex dollars went to expansion and later stage deals, while early stage had the most deals but the lowest dollar amount at $18.2 million. LivingSocial's $110 million venture deal last quarter was a huge part of the DC Metroplex picture."Any way you slice it, this quarter was good news for this market," says PwC emerging company services director Brad Phillips. The region's share of venture capital invested nationally was 4.8% compared to an average of 2.7% for each quarter in 2012. Even without LivingSocial's funding, the region made up 3% of the national VC dollars invested last quarter.