Venture
Update Vol VI, #5, May, 2002
RTP - BioStratum (www.biostratum.com), a developer of therapeutics for diabetes and cancer based on research of basal lamina, raised $20 million in Series B funding. The private placement includes investors from both the U.S. and Europe. Institutional investors include HealthCap (Stockholm, Sweden), MP Bio hf (Reykjavik, Iceland), Equity Resources Group, Inc. (Cambridge, MA, USA), and BankInvest (Copenhagen, Denmark). In addition, the company acquired Stockholm-based biotech startup BioCrine. Terms of the all-stock acquisition were not disclosed. Contact: Claus Kuhl (919.433.1000)
Chapel Hill - Zoom Culture (www.zc.tv), which produces and distributes digital content that can be distributed via broadcast, cable, and satellite, raised $7 million in its Series B round. Funding participants include new investor Chrysalis Ventures and existing investors Intersouth Partners, Cordova Ventures, the Atlantis Group, Tristate Investment Group, and Charlotte Angel Partners. Over the past several months, the company has expanded distribution of its ZC.TV programming series with NBC and FOX. Contact: Marty Lafferty (919.960.9100)
Greensboro - The Todd Organization, Inc. (www.toddorg.com), provider of design, financing, and administration of executive benefits programs, raised more than $7 million in equity capital from individuals affiliated with the organization. Funding will be used for product development, IT, service, and marketing. Contact: Peter Salassi (336.299.2333)
RTP - Cropsolution (www.cropsolution.com), a company focused on discovering new agrochemicals to protect crops, closed $6.4 million in its Series A round of funding and has spun out of parent company Invenux, a Denver-based drug discovery firm. The round was led by The Aurora Funds, with additional investments from ATP Capital, Research Triangle Ventures, Charlotte Angel Partners, The Atlantis Group, and other individual investors. Cropsolution has 15 employees and laboratory facilities in RTP and Silicon Valley. Contact: Scott Uknes (919.654.0399)
Raleigh - CipherOptics (www.cipheroptics.com), which designs and manufactures data security applications for high-speed networks, closed $5 million in Series A funding commitments. The company's first institutional round was led by Kodiak Venture Partners of Concord, Massachusetts, a venture capital firm focused on seed and early stage investments in emerging communications, semiconductor and software companies. The company will use the round to build future generation security products and establish sales and partner channels for the CipherOptics Security Gateway. Contact: Michael Doss (919.818.1998)
Wilmington - SiteScape Inc. (www.sitescape.com) provider of Web-based business-to-business collaboration software and services, received a $5 million second round of venture capital led by Echelon Ventures. SAIC Venture Capital Corporation, the investment arm of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), participated in this round with Echelon, as both an investor and strategic alliance partner in SiteScape. The money raised will be used to strengthen sales and marketing initiatives. Contact: Timothy Butler (910.256.5038)
RTP - LiveWire Logic (www.livewirelogic.com) recently closed a $2.8 million round which, according to President and CEO Bill Warner, will be to expand sales and marketing efforts, increase customer traction, and achieve this year's revenue objectives. The round was led by Gray Ventures of Atlanta. Additional investors include A.M. Pappas, The Atlantis Group, Charlotte Angel Partners, Research Triangle Ventures, Tri-State Investment Group, truePilot and other individual investors. Contact: Bill Warner (919.234.2146)
RTP - ChemCodes (www.chemcodes.com), a developer of drug discovery technology, raised an additional $1 million from Maryland-based Emerging Technology Partners to bring its second round of venture capital to a total of $8.5 million. The company's first closing on its latest venture capital round came in November, when Durham-based Intersouth Partners and Atlanta-based Noro-Moseley Partners led a $7.5 million investment. Contact: Bob Bell (919.806.3553)
Durham - Aurora Funds (www.aurorafunds.com), a venture capital firm focused on IT and life science investments in the southeast, said it has raised $35 million in a first close of its Fund IV. The firm said it is looking to close on the remainder of its $75 million goal in early fall. Contact: Jeff Clark (919.484.0400)
Durham - Southeast Interactive Technology Funds (www.southeastinteractive.com) is in the process of raising a fourth fund according to LocalTechWire. The venture firm has commitments for $100 million from existing investors and expects to begin closing on funds within the next two months and to complete the round by the end of 2002. Its third fund totaled $135 million and still has approximately $40 million left which will be used for follow-on funding rounds for existing portfolio companies. Southeast's investments include Arsenal Digital Solutions, Nitronex and Waveguide. Contact: Steve Rakes (919.558.8324)
Durham - BlueBolt Networks (www.bluebolt.com), a developer of software for the interior design industry, was recently acquired by an investment group including BlueBolt's current management team for an undisclosed sum. As a part of this transaction, the company has also secured additional funding to fuel the development of a free browser version of its interior design software, BlueBolt Studio. Since its founding in 1999, BlueBolt has raised over $8.4 million in venture capital from Wakefield Group and Gray Ventures. Contact: Nate Kredich (919.865.2600)
2001 Venture Report Online - CED's 2001 Venture Report is now online. According to the Venture Report, $697 million in equity capital was invested in North Carolina in 104 deals last year. The Research Triangle was responsible for 85 percent of the dollars raised for the state and life science companies in NC raised the most money of any other industry sector with $210 million invested in 27 companies. To view all the 2001 data for NC, visit http://www.cednc.org/e-source/pubs/nc/venture/2001.pdf
Gentris Corporation
The fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. is
adverse reactions to commonly prescribed medications.
Patients are often predisposed to unfavorable
reactions because of their individual genetic makeup.
In 1999 alone there were 280 million prescriptions
written in the U.S. for drugs in which one out of ten
patients have a genetic predisposition to serious and
potentially fatal side effects. Morrisville-based
Gentris Corporation (www.gentris.com) is
developing the tests and products that will help
physicians determine whether their patients have an
inherited genetic risk prior to prescribing certain
medications.
According to Gentris co-founder, President and CEO Michael Murphy, "This is not a new science. This is a well-established field of study called pharmacogenomics which links our genetic makeup to how we respond to prescription drugs." Murphy should know. He has spent 19 years working in this area and was previously one of the co-founders of pharmacogenomics pioneer Intek Labs of Cary. Intek was acquired by Wilmington-based PPD for stock valued at $7.5 million. Intek Labs/PPD (PPGx) was sold to DNA Sciences in December 2001 for $47.8 million.
Gentris currently is performing tests to help pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations conduct more cost-effective trials. Gentris plans to ultimately use the knowledge gained through drug development testing to commercialize clinical diagnostics that will allow physicians to prescribe the correct drug at the proper dose.
Gentris received $1.5 million in Series A funding from Exelixis, a San-Francisco gene-based discovery company; local venture capital firm Research Triangle Ventures; and a number of angel investors. The company is currently seeking $10 million through a Series B financing round. Gentris' first products will be the much needed reference standards for pharmacogenomic testing to ensure reliable and accurate testing.
"The RTP region is a hotbed of both science and technology," says Murphy. "In our space - pharmacogenomics - you couldn't find a better place to start a genomics company than the Research Triangle, as witnessed by companies like Paradigm Genetics and Cogent Neurosciences."
Contact: Michael Murphy (muphym@gentris.com)
Springboard: Southeast 2002
CED officially launched the Springboard Southeast Venture Forum, showcasing high-growth women entrepreneurs, on April 16. Hugh McColl, former chairman and chief executive of Bank of America, will serve as honorary chairman for Springboard: Southeast 2002. Co-chairpersons for the Springboard: Southeast 2002 forum include Pamela S. Lewis, president-elect of Queens College in Charlotte and former dean of the McColl School of Business at Queens; Sallie Shuping Russell, partner, Intersouth Partners, Research Triangle Park; and Alan Taetle, partner, Noro-Mosely Partners in Atlanta.
Springboard: Southeast 2002, scheduled for Sept. 27, 2002, at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will showcase 20 women-led companies to an audience of corporate, venture and angel investors.
The presenter early application deadline is May 17, and the final application deadline is May 31.
For more information about Springboard: Southeast 2002 or for an application to present, please visit www.springboard2000.org.
Biotech 2002
May 20, 2002
The Sheraton Imperial
RTP, NC
Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards
June 4, 2002
Entertainment & Sports Arena
Raleigh, NC
Springboard: Southeast 2002
September 27, 2002
Kenan-Flagler Business School, UNC-Chapel Hill,
Chapel Hill, NC
For more information, visit the CED Web site (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.