Leveraged buyout's pain could be venture capital's gain.

With the credit crunch stifling leveraged buyouts, investors shifted their attention to venture capital and mezzanine funds, according to a first-quarter fund-raising survey released Monday by Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst.

The survey found that 81 U.S. private equity funds raised $58.5 billion, an increase of almost 32 percent over the $44.3 billion raised by 68 funds in the 2007 quarter. Thirty-two venture capital funds raised $4.97 billion, a 29 percent increase over the $3.84 billion that went to 22 funds in the year-ago period. In both periods, however, venture capital accounted for about 9 percent of total funds raised.

Leveraged buyout funds, which were the toast of Wall Street in the first half of 2007, saw fund-raising tumble 22 percent to $27.6 billion in 33 funds. That compares with $35.2 billion raised by 34 funds in the first quarter of 2007.

The biggest shift came in mezzanine fund-raising. Four mezzanine funds raised $22.3 billion versus one fund that raised $67 million in the previous year's quarter. The magnet for almost all the mezzanine financing was Goldman Sachs Capital Partners' GS Mezzanine Partners V LP. That fund was the largest of any kind for the quarter and raised $20 billion, the most ever for a mezzanine fund, according to Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst. Mezzanine financing typically is a combination of debt and equity used to expand a company's operations.

Funds of funds also gained, with six funds raising $2.35 billion versus seven that raised $999 million in the prior period. Secondary and other funds accounted for $1.23 billion in new funds raised, down from $4.2 billion in the 2007 quarter.