By Russ Garland

The venture capital fundraising picture in the U.S. didn’t change in the third quarter as most money continued to flow to a handful of funds.

Thirty-seven funds held closings, down from 46 in last year’s third period, but they raised $4.73 billion versus $2.45 billion a year ago, the latest data from Dow Jones LP Source show.

Fundraising for the first nine months of the year is running well ahead of last–$17.51 billion versus $12.68 billion–but only a few more funds have had closings–120 compared with 110 a year earlier. (LP Source is a service of VentureWire publisher Dow Jones & Co.)

Of this quarter’s $4.73 billion, $2.73 billion went to five firms, all of which raised funds well north of $300 million. Sequoia Capital raised the most, rounding up $950 million for its fifth growth fund. New Enterprise Associates, which wrapped up the final installment of its $2.6 billion fourteenth fund, was among the top five. The others were GGV Capital, Tenaya Capital and Mayfield Fund.

Two backers of Zynga Inc. ZNGA -2.02%, an online gaming company that staged a closely watched IPO last year but whose stock price has since tumbled, also raised substantial amounts during the third quarter. Foundry Group closed its third fund at $225 million and Avalon Ventures raised $201.6 million toward its tenth fund, which has a cap of $250 million.
Health-care specialist Burrill & Co. rounded up $192 million, the final piece of its $505 million fourth fund.

Last’s year’s fourth quarter was much stronger than the third, but the outlook for the remaining three months of this year is uncertain. Exit prospects for most VCs are iffy with acquisitions slow and the IPO market volatile, a situation that isn’t going to ignite limited-partner interest in the asset class. While recent LP Source data showed 330 open U.S. venture funds looking to raise about $26 billion, 2012′s final total likely will be determined by how many more heavy hitters decide to shop for fund commitments before the holidays.