Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) Led Acquisitions of Companies Backed by Ventures for 2010 with 10

Data from Dow Jones VentureSource shows that Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) led the field in the number of companies acquired that were backed and owned by venture capital in 2010.

Other companies among the top venture acquirers were Facebook, which was second with the acquisition of five companies; Zynga Game Network acquired four companies, as did IBM Corp. (NYSE:IMB).

Other companies buying up ventures, all of which acquired three, were Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL), Federated Media Publishing, Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK), Playdom Inc., Tibco (NASDAQ:TIBX) and Software Inc.

Last year's leader Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) wasn't in the running this year, having only acquiring two venture-backed companies this year, while last year purchasing five.

Google closed Tuesday at $602.12, losing $2.23, or 0.37 percent.