Venture capital - a key marker of how entrepreneurial an economy is - is prospering in Asia and on some measures is now ahead of North America.

The Asian venture capital industry is going from strength to strength in terms of transactions completed, and is ahead of the US for the first time, according to second quarter 2016 data from Preqin, the research firm tracking alternative investments such as private equity. The data suggests that venture capital, a source of future liquidity events that wealth managers track, is becoming a greater driver of future wealth in the region.

The quarter saw $19 billion of transactions completed, up from $17 billion in the first quarter and $600 million above the previous record level of $18.5 billion in Q3 2015, the firm said.

The amount of venture capital invested in Asia was greater than the aggregate value of deals in North America ($17.5 billion).

Greater China attracted the vast majority of venture capital investment in Asia over the quarter. It saw $17 billion worth of financings - 87 per cent of the aggregate deal value in the region. This represents a record quarter for the Chinese venture capital industry, up from the previous record aggregate deal value of $14 billion, which was seen in the previous quarter.

That Asia is now leading on some measures of VC activity, ahead of North America, is yet another marker of how the economic and entrepreneurial centre of gravity is shifting eastward, fuelling the rise of an affluent middle class. Venture capital exits are also important liquidity events that wealth managers need to track.

The total value of VC transactions in India ($1 billion) saw a slight dip in Q2, down from $1.6 billion in Q1 and well down on the record $4.2 billion seen in Q3 2015. The rest of Asia saw venture capital deals worth $1.3 billion take place over the quarter, up from the $1.1 billion seen in Q1, and approaching the record $1.9 billion seen in Q2 2015.

The two largest venture capital deals of the first six months of this year were financings for Didi Chuxing and Ant Financial, at $4.5 billion each. All the top-five largest Asian venture capital deals in 2016 so far have been for Chinese companies.

The second quarter saw a slowdown in VC exit activity, with 41 exits completed for a combined $700 million, a significant decrease from Q1 when 66 exits were concluded for $4.6 billion. Overall, 107 venture capital-backed companies have been exited in H1 2016, down from 153 in the first half of 2015.

Venture capital performance in Asia showed that median net internal rates of return (IRRs) for 2011-2013 vintage funds outperformed North America- and Europe-focused funds. Asia-focused venture capital funds of vintage 2010-2012 have median net IRRs above 15 per cent. (IRRs capture the complex timings of deals.)