There has been almost zero venture capital invested in private launch systems (at least relative to investments in government launch systems). Other than Kistler, I'm not really aware of any. All other attempts have been with angels. And no one has raised significant funds of any type for a vehicle for tourists. That may change if someone wins the X-Prize in the next couple years.
It's not a technology problem--it's a financing problem.
I though about this some last night, and realized that my venture capital perception came from the amount of news coverage that was given to the upstart launch company (name escapes me right now) that was working out of Matagorda Island. Giving it some thought, I realized they probably didn't receive any of the money that the news showed them pitching for. There are several small venture capital groups in the NASA/Clear Lake area south of Houston (they appear to be small, but I don't know their holdings) that specialize in space ventures, which were shown on the news to be interested in investing. They probably ended up spending one of the founder's personal fortunes
It's not a technology problem--it's a financing problem.
I agree, with the caveat that the lack of financial resources is a direct result of a lack of demonstrable profitability. I think we both look forward to someone winning the X-prize. Probably not so much for the actual dollars themselves, rather it will be the demonstration providing a boost that the private sector needs to draw in much larger investment.