Start-up backers this year are on track to invest the largest sum since 2001.

Venture capitalists invested $7.1 billion in U.S. start-ups in the second quarter, up 3% from a year earlier, according to data released Monday. The amount invested was spread across 977 deals, the most completed during a three-month period since the third quarter of 2001. Venture capitalists more recently have been hustling to find promising ideas that could lead to lucrative payoffs in two to five years, either through an initial public offering of stock or a start-up’s sale to a larger company. Much of the recent investment has been flowing to start-ups focused on software, biotechnology, medical devices, the Internet and alternative energy.

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