Los Angeles is gaining on Silicon Valley as ground zero for the current Internet boom.

Information services companies in Greater L.A. reaped $167 million in venture capital investment during the second quarter, according to a report scheduled for release today by Ernst & Young and Dow Jones VentureOne.

The region, which includes Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, trailed only the high-tech hub to the north, which pulled in $262 million.

Los Angeles has emerged as a Silicon Valley south, said Teena Touch, a spokeswoman for L.A.-based Reunion.com. The company, whose website helps people find lost friends and family members, raised $25 million to fund its marketing activities.

“It’s so crowded in Silicon Valley, it’s hard to find an identity,” she said. “In L.A., you’re not competing with all the dot-coms.”

Southern California continued to rank second nationally in overall venture funding, receiving $1 billion in 2006, up from $625 million a year before. The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes Silicon Valley, received $2.5 billion. The New England region, which ceded the No. 2 spot to Southern California late last year, received $795 million.

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