Venture capital activity in the United States increased overall last quarter and last year, but that trend skipped Los Angeles and the Valley. There were 49 deals in Los Angeles County during the fourth quarter, with a total of $310 million invested, according to data released Friday by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. That’s a 12 percent dip from the same quarter the previous year, when there were $352 million invested and 56 deals. That also contrasts with the national figures, which were up. For the full year, VC investments in the Los Angeles area dropped 17 percent to $1.8 billion. The total number of L.A.-area deals also declined from 214 to 194. Nationally, VC firms invested $29 billion last year, up 7 percent from the 2012 total of $27 billion. Valley-area companies accounted for a small portion of the top firms that raised money. Transphorm Inc., a Goleta company that develops power conversion technology, raised $18 million; Solfo Inc, a Burbank company that builds local search sites, raised $6.35 million; DanceOn Inc., a Encino dance entertainment company, raised $4.1 million; and Cynvenio Biosystems Inc., a Westlake Village company that develops and commercializes cell isolation technologies, raised $1.4 million. Snapchat Inc., the Venice company behind the popular disappearing messaging app, raised the area’s largest VC investment with a $50 million Series C from Coatue Management. The second largest was for Santa Monica car price comparison site, Truecar Inc, which raised $30 million. Century City VC shop Upfront Ventures, soon moving to Santa Monica, and Los Angeles angel investor network Tech Coast Angels were the most active VC firms in the region last year, making eight investments each. Software was the leading industry for local VC investments, making up 29 percent of the total value of all deals. Media and entertainment was the second-largest sector, taking in 27 percent of venture capital invested in the Los Angeles area.