Florida venture capital industry boosters took heart from second-quarter numbers.

According to the MoneyTree report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, Florida companies attracted $156 million in the quarter, the best three-month investment tally since the third quarter of 2007, before the recession. The investments also went a long way toward improving on an anemic 2012, when only $199 million came into the state, Florida's worst annual showing since at least 1995. The quarter tally also put Florida in the top 10 states for venture investment.

The gap, though, between No. 1 California, with $3.3 billion in the quarter, and No. 8 Florida remains an abyss. The state also remains a long way from the dot-com days, when $982 million flowed in the first quarter of 2000 alone.

Access to capital for small and young businesses will be a topic at the Florida Chamber's Future of Florida Forum in October in Orlando.

Nationally, venture capital investment was up 12% to $6.7 billion in the second quarter compared to the first. Internet and biotech saw increases in particular but the software sector, which fell 7%, still took the highest level of funding. Sectors seeing decreases included networking and equipment, computers and peripherals and semiconductors.