Venture Capital News

Thomas Monath, M.D. To Join Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Representatives of -Kleiner Perkins Caufield & have announced Dr. Thomas P. Monath, M.D. will join the KPCB team as a Partner on June 26, 2006.

Dr. Monath has been Chief Scientific Officer with Acambis and its predecessor companies since 1992. Having previously served as Vice President, Research and Medical Affairs, he was appointed Chief Scientific Officer and a member of the Board in March 2002. During that time, he has overseen the development of many of the products within Acambis' pipeline of vaccines.

Prior to joining Acambis, he worked as Colonel and Chief of the Virology Division of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease. During almost 20 years as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Vector-Borne Infections Diseases, he was instrumental in building the division into a key centre for research into arthropod-borne infections, such as encephalitis viruses, yellow fever, and bubonic plague.

Tom was responsible for direction of Acambis' programs to develop vaccines against infectious diseases such as smallpox, Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, West Nile, and Clostridium difficile and led the development of Acambis' proprietary ChimeriVax(TM) technology. During his career, he has published more than 300 scientific papers and six books, including a seminal work on flaviviruses. Among other external positions, he is Adjunct Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, and served as President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and as a member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee.

Since its founding in 1972, KPCB has backed entrepreneurs in 450 ventures, including AOL, Align, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computer, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Genprobe, Google, Hybritech, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Lotus, Nuvasive, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Verisign and Xilinx. KPCB portfolio companies employ more than 250,000 people. More than 150 of the firm's portfolio companies have gone public. Many other ventures have achieved success through mergers and acquisitions.

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Founder of StorageNetworks and Stowe Capital Joins Highland Capital

Representatives of Highland Capital Partners announced that Peter Bell has joined the firm as a Venture Partner. In his new role, Bell will actively identify and lead technology investment opportunities for the firm.

Bell has extensive operating and investment experience across all stages of company growth. Prior to joining Highland, Bell was the founder and Managing Director of Stowe Capital, LLC, which specialized in providing capital and management expertise to emerging growth companies. While at Stowe, he invested in and worked with companies in the information security, e-commerce, data center infrastructure, enterprise software and communications industries.

Before starting Stowe Capital, Bell was the co-founder and chairman of StorageNetworks, Inc., a Waltham, Massachusetts based information storage software and services company. He served as Chief Executive Officer of StorageNetworks from its founding in 1998 through 2002. Under his leadership, Bell took the company from pioneering concept to over $120 million in annual revenue in three years, leading to a successful initial public offering in June, 2000.

A veteran of the information technology industry, Bell began his career at EMC Corporation in 1986, when the company had less than 100 employees. During his tenure at EMC, he held positions in marketing, operations and sales. He played a key role in building and managing the Open Storage Group at EMC, a major growth engine for the company. In 1996, Bell became Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at NetXchange Communications, Inc., a pioneer in the field of Internet telephony software. In 1997, he joined Andataco, a provider of information storage products and services, where he led the company's worldwide sales organization.

Bell earned a BS, summa cum laude, in accounting from Boston College's Carroll School of Management, an MBA from Harvard Business School and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Babson College. In addition, he currently serves as a Distinguished Executive in Residence at The Carroll School of Management at Boston College and is a Senior Lecturer at The Sloan School of Management at MIT. Bell currently serves on the board of directors of Healthbase, PeerApp, Prospectiv and WeiTai Technology LTD, and is on the board of advisors of Personeta.

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Nanosphere, Inc. Closes $57 Million Financing

Representatives of Nanosphere, Inc., a nanotechnology-based molecular diagnostics company founded upon technology discovered at Northwestern University, announced that the company has closed US$57 million in a Series D financing, led by Bain Capital LLC. The company will use the proceeds to commercialize the Verigene System, a platform for user-friendly, cost-effective direct genomic testing that eliminates the need for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and to continue development and commercialization of its proprietary Biobarcode(TM) technology for ultra-sensitive detection of proteins and nucleic acids. The investment from Bain Capital LLC was comprised of funds from Bain Capital Ventures and Brookside Capital. Other investors in the round include Allen & Company and founding investor Lurie Investments.

Nanosphere is redefining molecular diagnostics with a revolutionary nanotechnology-based platform, the Verigene System, which will enable earlier detection and treatment of disease. The company's ultra-sensitive protein detection and direct genomic-testing technologies permit the development of new biomarkers--early molecular indicators of disease--and the measurement of existing markers at concentrations undetectable by today's technologies. Nanosphere's technology enables the creation of new or better medical diagnostics and streamlines the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases.

The Verigene System is comprised of two core technologies. Nanosphere's Biobarcode technology enables the ultra-sensitive measurement of protein biomarkers as well as nucleic acids. This offers the potential to advance the diagnosis of and development of treatments for cancer, cardiovascular and neurological disorders, infectious diseases, as well as biowarfare agents. Nanosphere's direct genomic detection technology simplifies genetic testing to eliminate the need for sophisticated labor, cost-prohibitive instrumentation, and dedicated lab space. It will enable broader access to genetic testing technology, therefore decentralizing molecular testing from a few sophisticated academic laboratories to the point of care.

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Imperva Raises $17M In Series C Financing

Representatives of -Imperva, the leader in data security for the data center, announced the company has raised $17 million in a Series C round of venture capital financing. The funds will be used to expand direct and channel sales infrastructure on a global basis to capitalize on the rapidly expanding market opportunity for its data security, data assurance, and regulatory compliance products.

The round was led by Greylock Partners, and supported by previous investors Accel Partners, US Venture Partners, and Venrock Associates. The company has raised a total of $33.7 million in three rounds of financing for the SecureSphere product line, which addresses the issues of insider abuse and criminal activity targeting corporate databases and sensitive e-commerce applications. Imperva founder and CEO Shlomo Kramer was a founder of firewall giant Check Point Software Technologies.

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GridPoint Raises $16 Million In Series B Financing

Representatives of GridPoint, Inc.(TM), a provider of intelligent energy management (IEM) products, announced that it recently closed a US$16 million Series B financing to fuel sales and marketing efforts, as well as broaden the company's product offerings. The round was substantially oversubscribed. The lead institutional investor is the Altira Group, a leading capital provider to innovative energy technology companies. Additional institutional investors include Contango Capital Management and Advantage Capital Partners.

GridPoint has also built a syndicate of distinguished private investors, including former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley and noted technology author Esther Dyson.

GridPoint also announced that Jim Newell, a Partner with Altira, has joined the company's board of directors. Mr. Newell, a CPA, has more than 25 years' experience as an investor, entrepreneur, and financial executive in the energy, venture capital, software development, manufacturing and banking industries. Mr. Newell has served or currently serves on the boards of directors of Altira portfolio companies Coherence Technology Company, Davidson Instruments, Enerpulse, Fideris, Pixxures, RigNet, Southwest Windpower, Varidigm, WindLogics and WorldTelemetry.

GridPoint's IEM products provide clean, reliable backup power, integrate renewable energy sources and automatically manage energy efficiency for the home or business. The GridPoint Connect Series was recently named winner of Green Builder(R) Magazine's Most Innovative Product Award and serves as the hub for solar technologies in the BASF Better Home, Better Planet Initiative: Near Zero Energy House, unveiled last month in Paterson, N.J. The Washington Business Journal has recognized GridPoint as one of the region's 50 best places to work.

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The South Florida Technology Alliance Presents Key Financing Strategies for Growing Companies: Options & Alternatives

The South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA) presents a seminar on financing strategies for growing businesses, on May 25 from 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm at the The Westin Ft. Lauderdale

Located at 400 Corporate Drive off I-95 & East Cypress Creek Road in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

This seminar is geared towards entrepreneurs seeking information on ways to obtain financing, from angel investors to venture capital, private equity and debt; to buyout and strategic exits.

Five industry experts will explore key issues regarding financing including:

• How to view your company and the financing marketplace
• When to seek external funding, and in what stages
• How potential investors and other types of fund providers are likely to view you and your company
• What your needs will be to make your case
• What can go wrong in the process

The South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA) is the cornerstone membership organization where technology leaders connect to grow the region's IT community with a focus on improving the industry's qualified workforce, business growth and growth capital. SFTA members are an ideal resource of information for expert industry analysis and quotes. For more information contact Marli Lutz at 954-938-4763 or visit The South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA) website.