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This is Going to Be Big (I Think): A Look at Numerate
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In recent weeks, I’ve heard a few VCs talk about the promise of “biocomputational” startups, biotechs that are more quickly than ever collecting, processing, and making use of genomic data. Gene Security Network, which produces a test used to screen chromosomes during the in-vitro fertilization process is one that’s raised $10 million in the last couple of years, including from Sequoia Capital, Claremont Creek Ventures, and Alafi Capital. Another that looks to hold potentially even more promise is a drug-design technology firm called Numerate, whose technology — from what I gather — is far enough along that it will be exceedingly hard for competitors to catch up. That’s largely because the company been tinkering with that technology for seven years; it emerg... |
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The NewsMarket, a New York-based video platform for distribution to news organizations, has agreed to acquire Medialink Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLK). The deal is valued at $1.28 million, or $0.20 per Medialink share. The NewsMarket has raised over $17 million in VC funding, from firms like Ascend Ventures, Atlantic Coastal Ventures, Apax Partners, Boldcap Ventures, CEI Ventures, Hearst Corp., High Peaks Venture Partners, NYCIC, Softbank Capital Partners and Village Ventures. Read more » |
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StyleCaster, a New York-based fashion-lifestyle website, has raised $4 million in Series A funding led by Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball club. Read more » |
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(Reuters) - Biopharmaceutical company CombinatoRx Inc (CRXX.O) said it agreed to merge with privately held Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Inc in an all-stock deal. CombinatoRx would issue about 36 million new common shares to Neuromed stockholders with each party owning about 50 percent of the voting power of the combined company upon deal closure. The deal, which is expected to close during the fourth quarter, values Neuromed at about $28.8 million based on CombinatoRx’s Tuesday closing price of 80 cents. However, relative ownership of CombinatoRx will be adjusted based upon the outcome of the regulatory review of Neuromed’s lead drug candidate Exalgo, a pain drug currently in late-stage clinical trials. Upon closing, the combined company will have the |
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Novast Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a Chinese generic pharmaceutical maker, has raised $25 million in Series C funding, according to VentureWire. SAIF Partners led the round, and was joined by return backers New Enterprise Associates, Qiming Ventures, Eli Lilly & Co. and BioVeda Capital. Novast does not have a website. Read more » |
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Bling Nation, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based provider of mobile payment solutions, has raised $8 million in Series A funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round with $6.3 million, and was joined by Meck Ltd. and CampVentures. Read more » |
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peHUB First Read
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 * David Callaway: Time to worry. Banks are recommending each other's shares again. * Q2 data dump: 32 pages of M&A and private equity deal data, league tables, etc. * Morning Call: U.S. futures lower ahead of June jobs data, London falls early, European shares drop, the Nikkei closes down 0.6% and Chinese stocks hit 13-month high. * New photos of the Madoffs at play. Could be worse, I guess. At least they're not nude photos of the Madoffs at play. * The EVCA has released a new code of conduct for placement agents. Here you go. * Kip Kirkpatrick's decision to run for Illinois State Treasurer won't trigger a keyman vote at Water Street Healthcare Partners, the private equity shop he co-founded and is now leaving. Apparently the only listed keyman is fellow co-founder Tim Dugan. Kinda odd, but ok. Still doesn't mean all LPs are thrilled that Read more » |
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The Woburn, Massachusetts, company’s shares opened at a 25 percent premium over the IPO price, and rose as much as 31 percent on Nasdaq before ending 2 cents above the $20 start price. LogMeIn, whose backers include chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O), sold 6.7 million shares for $16, the top of the e |
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Symetis SA, a Lausanne, Switzerland-based developer of percutaneous valve replacement solutions, has raised CHF 23 million ($21.2m) in new VC funding. Wellington Partners and Vinci Capital–Renaissance co-led the round, and were joined by Banexi Venture Partners and return backers Truffle Capital, Novartis Venture Fund, Aravis Venture and BiomedInvest. Read more » |
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Six Quick Questions with Navin Chaddha of Mayfield
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 The 38-year-old got his start as an entrepreneur at the age of 25 and successfully co-founded three VC-backed companies that were eventually acquired or went public: VXtreme, a VC-backed streaming media software company; iBeam Broadcasting, an Internet streaming media provider; and Rivio, which provided Web-based services to optimize operations for small businesses. Chaddha made the shift to venture in 2003, joining Mobius Venture Capital as an EIR, then transitioning to venture partner. A year later, he became a general partner at Gabriel Venture Partners, then joined Mayfield as a managing director in September 2006. Read more » |
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Vibrant Corp., an Albuquerque, N.M.-based provider of nondestructive testing services for the aerospace manufacturing and maintenance markets, has raised an undisclosed amount of new VC funding led by Verge Fund. Read more » |
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Cleantech: What GE’s Skillern Said
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 GE has also been active in investing alongside venture capitalists in promising startups, backing 33 companies over the past five years, according to Thomson Reuters (publisher of peHUB). Among the more notable is A123 Systems, the battery maker that recently filed to go public. It's easy to understand why GE would be excited about the company, especially if you talk with Kevin Skillern, the managing director of GE's venture capital operations. Kevin Skillern, managing director of GE's venture capital operations, last week spoke at VCJ's Financing the Cleantech Vision event in Palo Alto last week. He talked about how best to approach his corporate parent, and was kind enough to send over his notes, which you can get after the jump. Read more » |
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Global PE Fundraising Rises in Q2
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 That total comes from 82 funds from all over the world, including vehicles focused on buyouts ($33.9b), natural resources ($9.9b), real estate ($8.9b), secondaries ($8.4b), venture capital ($4.7b), fund-of-funds ($7.7b) and mezzanine ($1.2b). Sounds kind of impressive on first glance, but the topline number should not overshadow what is mostly a nnegative report. Among the downers: - The Q209 tally is off more than 60% from the $213 billion raised in Q208 (which was an all-time record). - The number of funds currently seeking capital has dropped by 10% over the past three months. This includes some of the 30 abandoned fundraising efforts so far in 2009, which matches the entire 2008 total. Read more » |
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Sensus has acquired the assets of Telemetric Corp., a Boise, Idaho-based provider of communication solutions for smart grid systems. No financial terms were disclosed. Telemetric had raised around $4 million in VC funding, from firms like Akers Capital, Highway 12 Ventures and Village Ventures. Read more » |
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ActiFio Inc., a Weston, Mass.-based stealth storage startup, has secured $4 million of an $8 million Series A round, according to a regulatory filing. No investors are listed, but the company’s only listed executive is Ash Ashutosh, a partner with VC firm Greylock and former StorageWorks chief technologist. Listed as a board member is James Goldstein, a partner with North Bridge Venture Partners. www.actfio.com Read more » |
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Pro-Organico S.A.P.I. de C.V., a Mexican grower and exporter of USDA-certified organic produce, has raised $3 million from IGNIA Fund I. Read more » |
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Instead of cashing out via the hoopla of an initial public offering — which CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said was a few years out — equity holders in the social networking website get to sell their shares to a Russian investment firm. The move marks a new trend among start-ups to raise funds by selling shares in private placements instead of going publ |
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SkyCross Inc., a Viera, Fla.-based developer of wireless antenna solutions, has acquired Chinese antenna maker Shanghai Universe Communication Electronics Co. Ltd. No financial terms were disclosed. SkyCross has raised around $60 million in VC funding from firms like BEA Systems, Investor Growth Capital, Milcom Technologies, Gabriel Venture Partners, Intel Capital and TL Ventures. Read more » |
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eCardio Diagnostics, a Texas-based provider of arrhythmia monitoring services, has raised an undisclosed amount of VC funding from Sequoia Capital. It is the company's first institutional round of funding, since itsd 2004 founding. Read more » |
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StrongMail Systems Inc., Redwood shores, Calif.-based provider of email delivery software, has acquired PopularMedia, a San Francisco-based provider of private-label viral marketing solutions for major brands. No financial terms were disclosed. StrongMail has raised around $28.5 million in VC funding, from firms like DAG Ventures, Evercore Partners, Globespan Capital Partners and Sequoia Capital. PopularMedia had raised around $18 million from DAG Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Steamboat Ventures. Read more » |
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iSend LLC has raised $2 million in Series A funding. Gray Ghost Ventures was joined by seed backers Village Ventures and NextLevel Venture Partners. The Watertown, Conn.-based company facilitates international electronic payments from the United States to Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean Read more » |
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TGap Ventures has closed its second fund with $50 million in capital commitments, according to VentureWire. The Kalamazoo, Mich.-based firm focuses on early-stage opportunities in the Midwestern U.S. www.tgapventures.com Read more » |
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SPG Holdings LLC, a Novato, Calif.-based provider of photovoltaic power systems and products, has raised $13 million in equity funding from the Global Environment Fund and Robeco. Read more » |
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Elie Dekel has joined Saban Capital Group as a Los Angeles-based managing director, with a focus on licensing, merchandising and IP opportunities. He previously was head of licensing and merchandising for 20th Century Fox. Read more » |
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peHUB First Read
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* Another PE pro enters politics: Kip Kirkpatrick, co-founder of Water Street Healthcare Partners, is running for Illinois State Treasurer. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point higher, London rises early, European shares climb, the Nikkei dips and Chinese shares lose 0.2%. * Barry Ritholtz: Why does UBS still employ Phil Graham? * Joe Nocera to Madoff victims: Get over it. * Om Malik: What went wrong with Joost, the (heavily) VC-backed online video company that is cutting up to 90% of its workforce. Read more » |
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NEA: Lonely at the Top, and on Sand Hill Road
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Recently, New Enterprise Associates went ahead with plans to lease a stunning 25,000-square-foot office on Sand Hill Road for its 45 West Coast partners, associates, and administrative staffers. It was a notable upgrade for NEA, which had been leasing roughly 13,000 square feet in two buildings across the street, where most of the venture firms in Menlo Park — including Kleiner Perkins, Benchmark Capital, and Sequoia — are housed in a sprawling mass of low-slung and nearly identical buildings. Yet it appears that NEA is the only private equity firm that’s right now willing and able to upgrade to such a colossal office – one that’s part of a newly completed, $200 million, 21-acre, Stanford University-owned development featuring four 25,0... |
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Software maker LogMeIn Inc (LOGM.O) shares priced at $16 each in its initial public offering on Tuesday, at the top of its estimate range, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said. The Woburn, Massachusetts company, whose backers include chipmaker Intel Corp (Read more » |
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Dollars Tick Upward for Clean Tech Investments
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Thanks in part to the roughly $92 billion dollars that clean tech startups are hoping to wring out of President Obama’s economic-stimulus bill of earlier this year, VC investment into so-called “green” technologies jumped meaningfully between the second and first quarters of the year, according to Greentech Media, which covers the industry exclusively. In a newly released report, Greentech counts $1.2 billion in 85 deals in the second quarter of 2009, up from $836 million in 59 deals in the Q1. Yet again, capital-intensive solar companies saw the lion’s share of the funding, or roughly $330 million, in the second quarter. They were followed by automotive technology companies and energy storage startups, which raised roughly $202 million and $... |
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Ventiva Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of tiny fans for the insides of consumer electronics, has raised $8 million in VC funding from DCM and Foundation Capital, according to VentureWire. The stealth-mode company does not yet have a working website. Read more » |
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ProCertus BioPharm Inc., a Madison, Wisc.-based developer of drugs to treat the side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy on cancer patients, has raised $2.1 million in new VC funding. Return backers include Novartis Venture Fund and Venture Investors LLC. Read more » |
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Catalyst Biosciences Inc., a South San Francisco-based developer of engineered proteases, has signed an exclusive worldwide collaboration agreement with Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), related to Factor VIIa products to treat hemophilia and other bleeding conditions. Under terms of the deal, Catalyst will receive a $21 million up-front payment, with the potential to earn over $500 million via research funding and milestone payments. Catalyst previously had raised around $83 million, frfom firms like Burrill & Co., Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, HealthCare Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., Morgenthaler Ventures, Novartis BioVentures and Sofinnova Ventures. Read more » |
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Vivacta, a UK-based developer of a blood-drop test for thyroid functionality, has raised $4.5 million in new VC funding. Return backers included AGF Private Equity, HBM Bioventures, Spark Ventures and Viking Technologies. Read more » |
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Social Network TeeBeeDee Shutting Down in Two Weeks
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 A Message I Didn’t Want to Send June 29, 2009 2:55 p.m. I regret to have to inform you that TeeBeeDee will be shutting down by July 13, 2009. We thought we had raised sufficient money to get us to a sustainable business, but many factors changed in the 2 years since our launch. As you have no doubt noticed in the past few months, we lacked the resources t... |
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VC-Backed IPOs Rise Infinitely in Q2
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Five venture-backed companies went public in the second quarter of 2009, which is an infinite improvement from the prior two quarters' grand total of zero. Moreover, the $720 million raised by those five companies was the highest quarterly tally since Q4 2007, when 31 VC-backed companies raised $3.04 billion.
Each of the five offerings was trading above its offering price, as of today's market open, with an average increase of 22.35 percent. Here is your quintet: Read more » |
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Sense Networks Inc., a New York-based provider of real-time location analytics, has raised $6 million in Series B funding led by Intel Capital. Read more » |
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MojoPages, a Solana Beach, Calif.-based local search startup, has raised $5 million in Series A funding. Austin Ventures led the round, with venture partner Mike Dodd joining the MojoPages board of directors.
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GridPoint Inc., an Arlington, Va.-based smart-grid company, has acquired Lixar’s Ottawa-based energy management business. No financial terms were disclosed. GridPoint has raised around $220 million in total VC funding, from firms like Goldman Sachs, New Enterprise Associates, Susquehanna Private Equity, Perella Weinberg Partners and Robeco. Read more » |
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High Gear Media, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based publisher of automotive digital media, has raised $5.5 million in Series B funding. DAG Ventures led the round, and was joined yb return backers Accel Partners and Greylock Partners. The company previously raised a $6.5 million Series A round in November 2007.
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