Venture Capital News
Venture Capital Fund-raising On Rise
U.S. venture capital fund-raising continued to increase in the third quarter with a 16 percent boost over last year, reflecting a strong appetite for venture investments. Some 27 funds were raised during the quarter, equaling about $5.91 billion, according to VentureOne, a unit of Dow Jones Newswires.
In the third quarter last year, 26 funds raised about $5.11 billion.
So far, some $15.93 billion has been raised this year. At this pace, commitments to U.S. venture capital funds for 2005 could easily surpass the $18.43 billion raised in 2004.
The numbers are fairly stable, the venture capital industry seems to have reached a certain level of sustainability. According to VentureOne, venture capital funds invested $5.49 billion in the U.S. in the third quarter.
There is a possibility that large funds heading back to market might accelerate a rise in valuations and ultimately affect returns. Valuations of U.S. venture-backed companies hit a four-year high in the second quarter, according to VentureOne, driven especially by increases among later-stage companies. Across all rounds, the median pre-money valuation rose to $15.6 million from $13.5 million in the same quarter a year ago.
VentureOne data also show that the size of funds has grown considerably throughout 2005. More than 30 percent of the funds that have closed so far in 2005 were in the $250 million to $499 million range, compared with 20 percent last year.
A host of small funds that sprung up during the Internet bubble have either closed shop after the burst or have survived and matured and are now raising bigger funds.
Despite the larger funds, fund raising has yet to come anywhere near the levels raised during the 1998 to 2001 time frame. Commitments to U.S. venture capital funds peaked in 2000 with $83.05 billion raised that year.
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Oncomethylome Sciences Raises €15 Million in Series B
Representatives of ONCOMETHYLOME Sciences (OMS) announced Wednesday the closing of a € 15 million (US$17.7million) Series B financing round led by Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Paris, France. Existing investors ING Belgium, Life Sciences Partners, PolyTechnos Venture-Partners, Meusinvest and Technowal also participated in the round. Raphael Wisniewski of Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners will join OMS´ Board of Directors.
The new proceeds will be used to accelerate the development of ONCOMETHYLOME Sciences´ diagnostic and pharmacogenomic solutions for early detection and individualized treatment of cancer. This latest Series B financing round brings the total capital raised to date by ONCOMETHYLOME Sciences to € 29.2 million (US$34.5million).
Since its foundation in 2003, ONCOMETHYLOME Sciences has established a solid research and development organization and has built a valuable network of clinical research collaborations with leading oncology institutions and companies in Europe and USA, such as Johns Hopkins University, Fox Chase Cancer Center and EXACT Sciences Corporation. The Company’s broad product pipeline is based on patent protected DNA methylation technology, and spans major cancer indications that include prostate, colorectal, lung and breast cancer. Initial OncoMethylome Sciences products have been partnered for commercialization with global partners such as Veridex LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company, and Chemicon International, a Serologicals company.
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Nanopoint Gets Financing for Microscope
Nanopoint closed its Series-A round of financing this week, raising US$2.15 million.
The company plans to use the money to build and test a working model of the high-resolution microscope it has been developing -- also called Nanopoint -- within the next year. The technology would allow researchers and scientists to see inside living cells at resolutions not possible today. Normally it would be necessary to kill cells to see inside them as the Nanopoint microscope will allow.
Hawaii Biotech and Queen's Medical Research Center will test the microscope before it hits the market.
Nanopoint's lead investor was Advantage Capital Partners, based in Washington, D.C. Other investors included Japan-based Global Venture Capital, Sulfur Creek Ventures out of the San Francisco Bay area, and the UH Angels, a local angel investment network.
Doug Beekman, from Advantage Capital Partners, will now sit on Nanopoint's board. Beekman also was recently appointed to the board of local technology company AssistGuide after Advantage invested in that company. AssistGuide specializes in hosting Web sites for long-term health-care and disability-related businesses.
The funding round, which began in January, came in above the target of $2 million. Nanopoint was spun off from local multifaceted technology company Oceanit in 2004.
Nanopoint plans to move out of the offices it shares with Oceanit in the American Savings Bank tower in downtown Honolulu and into new offices in the basement of Pioneer Plaza at the corner of Merchant and Fort streets on Dec. 1 to focus on further developing the company.
Oceanit also plans to leave the American Savings Bank tower and will move into the University Center at 828 Fort Street Mall in January, at which point that building will be renamed the Oceanit Center. Another Oceanit spinoff, Hoana Medical, also will move into those offices.
The move will consolidate Oceanit and Hoana, a medical-device company that makes a bed to monitor vital signs, into one large office from the four smaller ones the two companies currently inhabit. About 90 people will work in the new 20,000-square-foot office. The four old offices totaled about 13,000 square feet.
Nanopoint currently has one full-time and four part-time employees, but plans to expand that to five full-time employees soon after the move, said President Cathy Owen. By the end of next year, Nanopoint plans to have 10 to 15 employees, she said, including software and hardware engineers, biomedical researchers to show customers how to use the microscopes, project managers and people to manage finances.
Since being spun off in 2004, Nanopoint has developed a technology to manufacture nanoprobes for use in its microscopes. They function essentially as tiny flashlights that poke cells to see inside them.
Owen said Nanopoint has gotten significant attention from venture capitalists at an early stage. Venture capital firms typically wait until later rounds of financing to invest. The company is working quickly to commercialize nanobiotechnology, meaning it has biological and mechanical components at the microscopic level. She said that while many nanotechnology companies are moving forward, few include a biotech component, putting Nanopoint near the front of its field.
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Les Brownlee, Former U.S. Army Acting Secretary, to Work with American Capital
Representatives of American Capital Strategies Ltd. announced that Les Brownlee, former Acting Secretary of the Army, has become an advisor to American Capital with a mandate to identify investment opportunities in the federal contracting market and to work in support of those investments. Brownlee joins an ongoing effort led by David Ehrenfest Steinglass, Managing Director in the Bethesda, Maryland office of American Capital. Together, Steinglass and Brownlee will build upon American Capital's track record of successful government services investing, which includes investments in Weston Solutions Inc., PaR Systems Inc., Texstars Inc., Compusearch Software Systems Inc., MATCOM International Corporation, Transcore Holdings Inc., Soil Safe Holdings Inc., Schoor DePalma Inc., Global Dosimetry Solutions Inc., T-Netix Inc. and DigitalNet Inc.
Brownlee retired from government service in December 2004, having served since November 2001 as the 27th Under Secretary of the Army. From May 2003 to November 2004, he served concurrently as the Acting Secretary of the Army for eighteen months. Brownlee previously served on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1987 until March 1996, when he was named Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Armed Services by then Chairman Strom Thurmond (R-SC). In January 1999, he was selected to continue as Staff Director for the Committee's current Chairman John Warner (R-VA), where he served until November 2001, when he became the Under Secretary of the Army. Brownlee is a retired Army Colonel. He is a distinguished honor graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger Course, an honor graduate of both the Infantry Officer Advanced Course and the Command and General Staff College, and a graduate of the Army's airborne course as well as the U.S. Army War College. Brownlee served two tours in Vietnam, and his military decorations include the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Purple Heart.
The government services initiative is one of several being pursued by the Bethesda deal team - others include all elements of business process outsourcing (BPO) including, but not limited to, logistics and transportation, transaction processing, marketing services, education and training, installed base software and IT services. Other areas of interest include consumer products, environmental and engineering services, financial services, health care services and medical devices.
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AREVA Announces the Closing of the Sale of FCI to Bain Capital
Following the agreement signed on September 19, 2005, with the private equity firm Bain Capital, representatives of AREVA announced the closing of the sale of its connectors subsidiary, FCI.
The closing occurred after the approval from the antitrust authorities and the decree following the recommendation of the French “Commission des Participations et des Transferts”.
The disposal of FCI allows AREVA to focus its resources on its core business, energy.
The connector maker reported 2004 sales of 1.29 billion Euro, or $1.54 billion, down 4 percent from $1.6 billion in 2003.
