IRVINE, CA—Increased venture-capital funding for fledgling companies, many of which are software firms, allows them to grow and take down larger swaths of office space in Orange County, JLL's SVP Curtis Ellmore tells GlobeSt.com. The firm recently found that high-tech investment volume has grown in this market in five consecutive quarters, with the software industry attracting the highest amount of venture-capital funding. With $467.6 million raised last year as of the end of Q3, total year-to-date funding for that time period in 2015 was 120.1% higher compared to the same time period the previous year, with VC funding concentrated in the Airport Area and South County submarkets. We spoke exclusively with Ellmore about VC funding in the software industry and how it relates to commercial real estate.

GlobeSt.com: Why is the software industry attracting the most VC funding in Orange County?

Ellmore: The software industry as a whole nationally is attracting a lot of capital everywhere, and Orange County is not too dissimilar from other major markets. The software world is moving so quickly, evolving and changing with new apps being developed to be applied to mobile platforms, and on top of that, the industry is trying to keep up with the whole universe of the Internet moving to the cloud and cybersecurity concerns. There's a lot of movement in the software industry as a whole; everything is new and cutting edge. Venture capitalists are attracted to these software companies for deals that can provide them with better returns on their investments.