It's not very surprising that new investment into funds would tick down a bit in 2009, the year they are discussing. These investments aren't made on the spur of the moment, and the planning period of 2008-2009 was dead in the middle of the largest economic downturn in 80 years. All sorts of people took money off the table while they watched to see what would happen. It's actually more surprising that they point out various metrics that "hadn't been this low" since 99/97 etc - those were of course grand days for venture capitalists.
The article notes an uptick in 2010. With all of the stories about money chasing deals, big early valuations and term sheets being brought to first meetings, I'd bet that uptick is probably a bit more than slight.
The effect of individuals bypassing funds and investing directly in early rounds shouldn't be overlooked. The article is very dismissive of the practice, but it is taking its queues from research done by an association with venture capital in it's name...