It’s no secret that the cloud is hot.  Steve Bengston, director of consultancy and financial services provider PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has shared some statistics that show exactly how hot.  According to PwC, in 2011 venture capitalists (VC) shelled out $6.9 billion to fund “internet-specific” start ups, and most of these companies provide cloud related services and products. That’s 68 percent more than the amount invested in the previous year, and investment continues to grow.

In Q4 2011, investments  in cloud based technology reached $1.8 billion. That’s tens of millions more than the $1.3 billion invested on biotech or $883 million invested into cleantech on the same year. It’s not just the investment dollars increasing; the sheer number of deals is also climbing. PwC’s data reveals that  VC firms funded 1000 cloud based start ups.

PwC is not alone in their predictions. Cisco released its first Global Cloud Index study in November 2011 that examined cloud growth from a usage perspective. Cisco predicts cloud traffic will multiple by 12 within the next 3 or so years at 66 percent, a compounded increase per year to 1.6 zettabytes, compared to today’s 130 annual exabytes. Microsoft and IDC looked at the cloud in terms of employment and forecast that the cloud computing industry will create an estimated 14 million jobs globally by the year 2015

The cloud is a fiercely competitive space that has matured a great deal over the past few years in terms of technology and market size. VCs may be enamored with the cloud, but as the the market grows new entrants will be challenged to perform and differentiate their offerings even more to attract investor (and consumer) attention.