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The First Titsups of Spring

April is the cruellest month

The dotcom funeral march continued in April, with 55 Internet companies shutting up shop during the month.

The number of fatalities was higher than in March, when 44 dotcoms closed down, according to a report from net evaluator Webmergers.com.

It also compared miserably to the days of April 2000 - when investors couldn't throw enough money at new media start-ups, and only one major Web outfit shut its doors during the month.

Most casualties in April 2001 were e-commerce outfits, such as urban delivery merchants Kozmo.com. But they also included nine Internet professional services companies and seven ISPs in their ranks.

The first quarter of this year saw a record 147 dotcoms go out of business, with 54 deaths in January and 58 in February, bringing the year's total so far to 211.

Investment in April also fell from the previous month. Buyers spent around $2.6 billion to snap up 115 Internet companies, compared to $5 billion and 143 acquisitions in March. ®

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Webmergers report

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