Chris Witkowsky
To end your week, First Read brings you things to watch for in the upcoming jobs report today, gadgets at CES that you likely won't ever use, but are hilarious and here's the noise that emanates from a 30,000 foot deep hole in Germany.
Cheryl Maliwanag, a 16-year veteran at Pathway Capital Management, is no longer with the firm, according to a source familiar with Maliwanag, as well as a public document from the Alaska Retirement Management Board.
Covidien, Lightstone Ventures and New Enterprise Associates will jointly invest in a new company, FIRE1, launched by The Foundry, a medical device incubator. FIRE1, based in Dublin, Ireland, will focus on developing therapeutic devices.
Chromatin, an agricultural technology company, has held a first close on its Series E financing round, expected to total $36 million. Wood Creek Capital Management, led the round. Other participants included GE Capital, as well as funds that had participated in prior rounds, including BP Alternative Energy, IllinoisVentures, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board and Adventures IV. With the Series E round, Chromatin has raised more than $70 million.
Topspin Partners LBO has acquired HCOA Fitness, the largest operator of fitness clubs and personal training services in Puerto Rico. The sellers, TG Capital Corp, will remain significant equity holders and active partners in the business. Topspin completed the acquisition with debt financing from Brookside Mezzanine Partners. Brookside also invested alongside Topspin's equity in the transaction.
Pappas Ventures has promoted Scott Weiner, who joined the firm in 2006, to partner. Weiner played a key role in the firm's successful investments in TESARO, Achillion Pharmaceuticals and Athersys. Prior to joining Pappas, Weiner was with Silverback Asset Management's life science fund.
Bessemer Venture Partners has opened an office in Minecraft. The new facility is open to the public in Adventure Mode at mc.bvp.com. The facility establishes Bessemer Venture as the first VC firm with a presence in the growing region.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has held a final close on $2 billion for its KKR Special Situations Fund, which is focused on distressed and event-driven investments. The fund hit the market in 2012 and beat its $1 billion target. KKR's Special Situations platform launched in 2010 and is part of the firm's $20.9 billion credit business, which is expected to grow to about $29 billion with the closing of the announced acquisition of Avoca Capital.
New Enterprise Associates has hired Elliott Sigal as venture partner and senior advisor. Sigal is a former executive vice president and director for Bristol-Myers Squibb. He worked as the company's chief scientific officer and president of research and development from 2004 to 2013.
PlanSource, a cloud-based, on-demand technology company that provides administration, insurance exchange and payroll solutions to employers, has completed a $12 million Series B investment round. Existing investors Lemhi Ventures and Timucuan Asset Management participated in the round.