Venture
Update Vol V, #9, November, 2001
Durham - Amphora Discovery Corp., a new genomics startup, secured $25 million in funding with an option for $10 million more. Investors include Arch Venture Partners, California Public Employees' Retirement System, CW Group, MPM Asset Management, Orbimed Advisors, Venrock Associates and Versant Ventures. Contact: Bill Janzen (919.618.3693)
Raleigh - Intronn (www.intronn.com), a gene therapy company, completed a $7 million Series A preferred stock financing from AEA Investors of New York and Research Corp. Technologies of Tuscon, AZ. Intronn is also spinning off a new company, Veri-Q, that will also be based in the Triangle. Contact: Gerard J. McGarrity (gmcgarrity@intronn.com)
Charlotte - RBC Centura Capital (www.centuracapital.com), recently invested $7 million in Southern Assisted Living, which operates 46 assisted living communities, and Security Services of America, a security guard business. Southern Assisted Living of Chapel Hill received $2 million in subordinated debt from RBC and Venture Capital Solutions. RBC led the transaction. Security Services of America received $5 million in subordinated debt, led by Mellon Ventures, and including RBC and Argosy Capital. Contact: Rob Mitchell (rmitchell@centura.com)
RTP - MercuryMD (www.mercurymd.com), a hospital information systems integration company, announced it has completed its Series B round of financing for $4.5 million. A group of private investors participated in the second round, which exceeded the original target of $4 million. Contact: Alan Ying (1.877.917.5066)
Chapel Hill - Zoom Culture (www.zoomculture.com), a new media company specializing in digital video production for television and the web, secured an additional $4.5 million in new funding from a variety of sources including Intersouth Partners, Cordova Ventures, the Atlantis Group, Tristate Investment Group, Charlotte Angel Partners, and truePilot. Contact: Marty Lafferty (marty@zoomculture.com)
RTP - Kyma Technologies (www.kymatech.com), a semiconductor materials startup, landed $2.6 million in its first round of venture funding. Chief Executive Ed Pupa said the round was led by a consortium of past individual investors. Other contributors included new investor Precision Ventures and return investor RM Management. All past investors returned for the round. Kyma was formed out of technology licensed from North Carolina State University in 1998. Contact: Ed Pupa (919.789.8800)
Charlotte - DecisionPoint International (www.decisionpointint.com), a boutique investment bank, recently announced the closure of two Charlotte-based transactions. Pomeroy Computer Resources acquired, and will merge together, Ballantyne Consulting Group and System 5 Technologies, Inc. to create an expanded IT Services platform. Pomeroy provides complete IT integration solutions including comprehensive services, procurement and financial offerings. Contact: Donald Holbrook (704.248.1111)
Raleigh - Academy Funds (www.academyfunds.com), is currently raising a third fund, which is likely to be the largest yet with a target of between $140 million and $175 million. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies that have their roots in technology developed in university research labs. The new fund will focus on seven southern states. Contact: Glenn Kline (gkline@academyfunds.com)
RTP - Paradigm Genetics, Inc. (www.paragen.com), (Nasdaq: PDGM), recently announced that it closed its direct offering of 5.1 million shares for aggregate gross proceeds of $28 million - at a price of $5.50 per share - to selected institutional investors. JPMorgan H&Q served as placement agent for the offering, which was announced Oct. 17. The shares were offered through a prospectus supplement pursuant to the company's effective shelf registration statement. Contact: Melissa Matson (919.425.3000)
Wilmington - aaiPharma (www.aaipharma.com), recently announced that its NeoSan Pharmaceuticals business unit has completed an approximately $100 million purchase of injectable nutrition products from AstraZeneca AB, an affiliate of AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) of London. Under the terms of the deal, NeoSan will make payments totaling up to $100 million over the next three years for the product line, which targets patients who are unable to take oral nutrition. Contact: William Ginna (910.254.7000)
Durham - Triangle Pharmaceuticals Inc. (www.tripharm.com), announced that its stockholders have approved the sale of 18.67 million shares of common stock at $2.65 per share to a group of investors led by Warburg Pincus Private Equity VIII, L.P. Gross proceeds from the sale, which closed last week, totaled $49.49 million. The closing completes the previously announced financing led by Warburg Pincus in August with gross proceeds from both closings totaling $75 million. Contact: David Barry (barrydw@tripharm.com)
Raleigh - The North Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation recently to increase the amount of money available from the state's retirement system to invest in venture funds. Up to five percent of the pension assets will now be available for venture investments. Efforts by State Treasurer Richard Moore, the system's overseer, were instrumental in the bill's passage. Contact: Joe Stewart (919.508.5176)
RTP - Charles Hamner, CEO and president of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center (www.ncbiotech.org), is expected to retire on March 31, 2002. As part of its effort to develop the state's biotechnology industry, the organization established Eno River Capital, an evergreen fund that invests in biotechnology companies. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center will continue to make low-interest loans to biotech firms, though it takes no equity positions. The firm is conducting a search for Hamner's replacement. Contact: Barry Teater (barry_teater@ncbiotech.org)
ChemCodes
An adventure is how Dr. Pablo Scolnik describes his
entrepreneurial endeavor with ChemCodes, a high tech
chemistry company with an information technology
focus. While working for DuPont in Wilmington,
Delaware, Scolnik grew frustrated with the laborious
and inefficient traditional methods of chemical
synthesis and decided to do something about it.
Taking the entrepreneurial challenge in 1999, he got
a license to spin-off technology from Glaxo into
ChemCodes and moved to the Triangle. Today, more than
two years later, the company employees 32 people and
is already generating revenues.
"We are discovering new chemical reactions and speeding up the process dramatically. Our target is primarily the pharmaceutical industry," said ChemCodes' CEO Scolnik. "As of October, we have run and characterized more than 100,000 unique chemical reactions."
ChemCodes' approach is up to 100 times faster than traditional research methods and reduces the cost per experiment to as low as 1 percent of traditional research methods.
In October 2000, ChemCodes received a $2 million grant for continued technology development from the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP). The ATP program offers awards to fund technology projects that can have a significant impact on the U.S. economy. ChemCodes is only the third North Carolina-based company to receive an ATP award.
The company, which has already completed its first round of funding, is expected to close on a Series B round in the next few weeks from Durham-based Intersouth Partners and other venture capital firms.
Scolnik is happy with the ways things are going. "We would love to expand. We have quite a bit of capital coming in, and it's an exciting time."
Contact: Pablo Scolnik (919.806.3553)
SEBIO 2001
With 380 investors and life science entrepreneurs in attendance, the third annual Southeastern Biotechnology Investor Conference (www.sebio.org), held in Birmingham, Alabama October 16-17, 2001, was a great success. Dennis J. Purcell, senior managing partner, Perseus Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund L.P., served as keynote. In addition, Dennis Doughtery from Intersouth Partners served on a venture capital panel with Jesse Treu, Domain Associates; Jim Barrett, New Enterprise Associates; Jamie Coffin, IBM Life Sciences; and Lois Fischer, Silicon Valley Bank. North Carolina presenters included: Artecel Sciences, Inc.; BIOLEX, Inc.; ChemCodes, Inc.; Encelle, Inc.; MERIX Bioscience, Inc.; StemCo Biomedical; and Xanthon, Inc.
Money &
Markets 2002
January 25, 2002
The Sheraton Imperial
RTP, NC
Venture 2002
April 30 - May 1, 2002
The Friday Center
Chapel Hill, NC
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.