It's a good time to be an open source startup looking for financing. According to 451 Group analyst Matthew Aslett, open source vendors were able to raise a record $203.75 million in the first quarter of 2008.

The 1Q08 figure is more than double the $100.40 million raised by open source vendors during the first quarter of 2007. The previous record for open source VC financing was set back in the fourth quarter of 2006 at $193.7 million.

Aslett said 20 open source deals took place during the first quarter of 2008, with an average size of nearly $12 million.

"Given the slowdown in funding in the second half of 2007, I don't think anyone would have predicted the growth we saw in Q1," Aslett told InternetNews.com. "But with the surge of activity in January it was quickly obvious that we were in for a good quarter."

More Here