Despite the dot-com bubble bursting, many venture capital firms in Los Angeles plan to invest more money this year than last, according to a Business Journal survey.

More than half of the 17 venture capital firms responding said they intend to invest anywhere from 10 percent to 100 percent more in 2000 than in 1999. Only one firm said it would invest less, and that by only 5 percent.

That’s a remarkable expression of confidence in an industry that set records for investing in 1999 $35.7 billion from venture funds was poured into businesses last year, $1.8 billion going to L.A. County alone, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Almost every VC firm that responded said they haven’t yet stopped investing in their portfolio companies, although some admitted that it was becoming a consideration. They hastened to add, however, that this type of ongoing reassessment isn’t out of the ordinary.

But the recent shakeout of technology stocks and its impact on companies hoping to go public has resulted in a decline in valuations by as much as 50 percent. “(We are) encouraging portfolio companies to plan for smaller capital requirements,” wrote Jon Funk, general partner at Media Technology Ventures.

Despite the reduced valuations, most respondents insisted that their investment strategies remain largely unchanged, and recited the mantra of investing in “proven, sustainable business models.”

L.A. trailed Silicon Valley and New England in the race for venture money in 1999, but was closing the gap before Internet retail companies, which describes most of the highest-profile startups in the area, fell out of favor. Venture capitalists feel that the area still has a way to go to catch up with other parts of the country, but they note that it is less expensive to do business here than in Northern California, and that conditions are improving.

“(L.A. has) great educational infrastructure; multiple models for success (and) increasingly good executive networks,” wrote David Cremin, a partner at Zone Ventures.

Los Angeles does have its drawbacks, though. Among those cited by respondents is a dearth of technology-savvy managers.

While the area clearly benefits from its relationship with the entertainment industry, from which a number of entrepreneurial ideas are springing, there is less management experience for running the startups in general, local venture capitalists believe. It isn’t a lack of talent, per se, but that the talent tends to be concentrated on content-related ventures rather than on infrastructure plays that currently are in favor for investment dollars.

“Los Angeles attracts content-oriented and b-to-c (business to consumer) companies which often burn a lot of cash and have less-defined paths to profitability,” wrote Todd Springer, managing director of Trident Capital in a typical response.

The survey was sent out this month to more than two dozen venture capital companies.