Venture Update: Vol V, #5, June, 2001
Charlotte—Access Coverage Corp Inc. (www.coveragecorp.com), seller of Internet-based insurance software for financial institutions, raised an $8-million second round. Led by Capital Z Partners, the round included a strategic investment from The Hartford Financial Group of Atlanta. Other investors were Selective Insurance Group and LC39 Ventures. The new funding will be used to take Access to positive cash flow later this year. Contact: Fred Waite (704.940.4313, fred.waite@coveragecorp.com)
Cary—ArgoMed Inc. (www.argomed.com), developer of water-induced thermotherapy systems, received an undisclosed amount of equity funding from Quintiles Transnational (NASDAQ: QTRN) as part of ArgoMed's current Series E round. Under the arrangement, Quintiles' corporate ventures group, PharmaBio Development, will provide a convertible line of credit to establish a sales force to launch and promote the Thermoflex System in the United States. The arrangement also calls for Innovex, a Quintiles' unit, to deploy its sales force in regions designated by ArgoMed. In addition, PharmaBio has agreed to make an equity investment in ArgoMed as part of the $10 to $20 million round it hopes to close soon. Contact: Richard Klein (919.678.5063, dklein@argomed.com)
RTP—MDeverywhere (www.mdeverywhere.com), developer of solutions to electronically capture real-time patient information, raised $15 million in a Series C round led by new investor Schroder Ventures Life Sciences. Other new investors are InvestCare Partners and Trellis Health Ventures. The company's past investors, Acacia Venture Partners, Advent International and Monarch Partners, also participated. Contact: Lori Poston (919.361.8240, poston@MDeverywhere.com)
Raleigh—PharmaNetics (NASDAQ: PHAR, www.pharmanetics.com) received a $17.4 million investment by Bayer AG to buy 1.45 million shares of common stock at $12 a share. The companies have been working together since 1998 to develop and distribute tests measuring how quickly blood clots form and dissolve in response to drugs. Contact: Michael Riddle (919.582.2701)
RTP—WinCom Systems (www.wincomsystems.com), designer, manufacturer and deployer of networking systems, raised $32.9 million in a second round of funding from Crosspoint Venture Partners and Texas Pacific Group Ventures. The investment will be used to further develop technology and to fund sales and marketing activities. Conact: Paul Chang (919.484.3111)
Charlotte—YOUcentric (www.youcentric.com), maker of Internet-based Java CRM software, closed on $17 million toward its third funding round led by current investor ABS Capital Partners, with another current investor, First Union Capital Partners, also contributing. Other investors include BEA Systems, J. & W. Seligman, Rainmaker Systems and Technology Crossover Ventures. Contact: Blount Swain (704.401.1206, bswain@youcentric.com)
Durham—The Aurora Funds (www.aurorafunds.com), an early-stage venture fund, announced the addition of Douglas Gooding as a life science associate. Previously, Gooding was in business development at Paradigm Genetics. Aurora's portfolio consists of more than 30 companies, including Blackboard, HAHT Commerce and Norak Bioscience. Contact: Douglas Gooding (919.484.0400, dgooding@aurorafunds.com)
RTP—FullSeven Technologies (www.fullseven.com), developer of software used to enhance day-to-day email, named Barrett Joyner as CEO. He replaces founding CEO Don Rua, who will assume the role of president. Joyner, president of SAS North America, most recently headed e-services at SciQuest. FullSeven is pursuing a $4 to $6 million Series B round. Contact: Chris Hooper (919.316.1112, chooper@fullseven.com)
Cary—HiddenMind (www.hiddenmind.com), developer of wireless software connecting mobile workers to home-office databases, announced that British Telecom's Ignite Solutions will beta test HiddenLogic, a Java-based software that allows company representatives to access CRM and sales force automation applications via wireless devises. BT Ignite has 27,000 customers in 92 countries and annual revenue of more than $1.5 billion. Contact: Laura Smith (919.829.1933, ext. 2177, info@hiddenmind.com)
Durham—Intersouth Partners (www.intersouth.com), an early-stage venture capital firm, announced that Selby Wellman joined the firm as its fourth technology venture partner. Wellman was recently senior vice president and general manager of the InterWorks business division and the Research Triangle Park, N.C., corporate site executive for Cisco Systems. Contact: Mitch Mumma (919.493.6640, mitch@intersouth.com)
Charlotte—Osprey Systems (www.ospreyus.com), provider of online business consulting and technology services, appointed Tom Wilson as president and COO. Wilson was formerly with IBM. Osprey Systems is funded by BA Venture Partners, Bank of America Capital Investors and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Venture Partners. Contact: Dave Rizzo (704.943-1300, www.ospreyus.com)
RTP—Porivo Technologies (www.porivo.com), developer of Web performance testing applications based on peer-to-peer distributed computing technologies, appointed Gordon Kass as president and CEO. He served as an executive vice president and chief technology officer at NBC Internet and replaces co-founder Will Holms, who is now vice president of strategic development. Porivo is backed by $2.2 million from The Aurora Funds and individual investors.ich develops Web performance testin
Icagen
Ion channels are present in every human cell and
affect such vital functions as nerve transmission and
muscle contraction. Discovering drugs that increase
or decrease the flow of ions by selectively blocking
or opening specific channels could aid in the
treatment of many diseases such as sickle cell
anemia, memory loss and heart disease.
That's what's driving Icagen, an RTP-based pharmaceutical discovery and development company. "We are one of the first companies to go from gene to clinic in this post-genomics era," notes founder, president and CEO, Kay Wagoner.
Currently, Icagen has five products: one in clinical trials for sickle cell and four other products in pre-clinical testing, Icagen's potential treatments for urinary incontinence and atrial fibrillation are being developed through collaborative drug discovery and development agreements with Abbott Laboratories and Bristol-Myers Squibb. The company maintains commercialization rights for all other products in its drug discovery pipeline.
Icagen also has a partnership with Yamanouchi Pharmaceuticals, as well as ongoing development programs for its own clinical compounds. "In the next six months we'll be moving new potential drugs into the clinic which treat atrial fibrillation, urinary incontinence and epilepsy.
In March, Icagen closed on more than $22 million from current investors such as Abbott Laboratories, New Medical Technologies, Alta Partners and Venrock, and new investors - the China Development Industrial Bank and Quintiles Transnational. Proceeds will be used to continue to expand the Company's ion channel drug discovery pipeline and advance its clinical development programs.
Contact: Kay Wagoner (919.941.5206, kwagoner@icagen.com)
Southern Capitol Ventures
"In today's market, VC's are back to the basics when
determining investment opportunities," says Ben
Brooks, managing director of Southern Capitol
Ventures. That means a renewed focus on a strong
management team, proprietary technology or a unique
market position and the ability to eventually lead
within the industry. "And finally," he says, "a good
opportunity to realize a substantial financial
return."
With those criteria in mind, SCV has invested in five RTP companies. It invested $250,000 last year in FullSeven Technologies and in four others - OpenMind Publishing Group; LiveWire Logic, Inc.; Batanga; and BlueBolt - via a $500,000 commitment to The Atlantis Group. The Company is actively seeking both seed and A round financing opportunities.
"There is a huge hole in the current market for this level of funding," Brooks says. "Many of the VCs and institutions serving this market have become so large that it is difficult for them to write checks for anything under $5 million. A perfect scenario for us would be an emerging technology company with a $3 million valuation, proprietary technology, a niche, and a management team that is eager to scale the business."
SCV is raising $15-20 million to provide seed and early stage funding to local companies. The firm completed one closing and expects to have its second soon. SCV's advisory board includes Jim Skinner, CEO of Xanthon; Tim Buckley, COO of RedHat; and Jeff LeRose, chairman of Internet Commerce Corporation. Contact: Ben Brooks (919.858.7580, ben@southerncapitolventures.com)
June 7th
2001 CED Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards &
Family Festival
Time: 5:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.
Location: CED Entrepreneurship Center, 104 T.W.
Alexander Dr., Bldg. 1, RTP
Fees: $20 per person / $40 per couple or family
For more information about these events or to register, visit the CED Web site at www.cednc.org or call 919.549.7500.
CED is a private non-profit organization supported, in part, by corporate contributions, including funding from Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Kilpatrick Stockton, L.L.P.
Research Triangle Venture Update is published by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), a non-profit organization located in Research Triangle Park, N.C.