Venture capital funding is up 35 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2011 according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. On a regional basis, it wasn’t Silicon Valley boasting the biggest growth. No, it was Boston. In fact, Q1 this year in Boston marked the highest quarterly total since Q4 2009.

From the article:

“The San Francisco Bay Area was home to 190 deals in the first three months of the year totaling $2.24 billion, a 44% increase over the $1.56 billion on 180 deals a year ago, according to VentureSource data. While impressive, that lagged behind the Boston metro area, which posted $862.9 million on 71 deals in the quarter, a 71% increase compared to the $505.6 million on 60 deals one year ago.”

Healthcare and energy were the largest growth sectors in dollar volume here in the Hub in Q1, but the article cites strong gains across the board.

What about New York, you might be thinking? They also enjoyed their best quarter of growth since Q1 2008.

Click the link above to read the short WSJ article in full.