Venture Capital News

Red McCombs Announces New Private Lending Enterprise

Texas entrepreneur Red McCombs announced the recent formation of a new business venture, Propel Financial Services, LLC, which is a full-service private lender. Jack Nelson will serve as the company's Chief Executive Officer.

According to Nelson, Propel seeks to identify markets currently underserved by banks and private lenders as well as attractive individual loan opportunities. Propel's primary focus will be asset-based lending, and it will be considering new types of assets like Edwards Aquifer water rights. Property tax lending is another niche market on which Propel will focus. Nelson added that Propel makes loans to well-managed companies in need of growth or operating capital, such as a current deal that would allow a large billboard company doing business in Central and South America to expand its operation.

Nelson formerly practiced law with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, one of the world's largest law firms, where his practice focused on complex commercial litigation and administrative law disputes.

Red McCombs is the owner of Red McCombs Enterprises that includes various business enterprises including Propel Financial Services, LLC.

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Calvert Holdings Announces Formation of Calvert BioCapital, A New Investment Limited Partnership

Representatives of Calvert Holdings, Inc. announced that it has initiated formation of the Calvert BioCapital Fund I, LP, a new venture capital limited partnership that will be dedicated to acquiring and developing early stage biopharmaceutical compounds and technologies by utilizing a unique business model.

The strategic goal of Calvert BioCapital will be to acquire, develop and eventually sub-license preclinical and early clinical stage compounds to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for further clinical development and commercialization. Once an asset that is acquired and developed by Calvert BioCapital is sold to a biopharmaceutical partner, Calvert BioCapital will then distribute net proceeds from the sale to its investors. Calvert BioCapital will be a stand-alone entity. Calvert Holdings will provide the initial seed investment for Calvert BioCapital and will seek additional capital from potential limited partners who wish to co-invest in the Fund.

Calvert BioCapital will facilitate advancement of promising pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical compounds by leveraging key strategic resources available to Calvert Holdings, Inc. Calvert Holdings, a privately held company, owns and operates the following business units:

• Calvert Laboratories, Inc., a worldwide leader in providing GLP pharmacology and toxicology services to the biopharmaceutical industry for the past two decades;
• Calvert Research Institute, LLC, a business unit comprising a combination of in-house expertise and outside strategic partners specializing in preclinical and clinical research, formulation and drug delivery, GMP manufacturing and pharmaceutical project management;
• Calvert Enterprises, LLC., a business development organization focused on the formation, acquisition, growth and investment in non-life science companies spanning various industries;
• Carolina Securities, Inc., an innovative boutique broker/dealer that offers young companies seasoned service and advice as well as entry into the professional capital markets.

Calvert Holdings also announced that Michael A. Recny, Ph.D. has joined Calvert Holdings as Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Calvert BioCapital.

Dr. Recny is a veteran entrepreneur with a career spanning more than 23 years in the biotechnology industry. He was most recently Vice President of Corporate Development at Trimeris, Inc., where he played a key role in helping to grow the company from an early stage, venture-backed startup to a profitable, public biotechnology company that achieved nearly $250 million in 2006 worldwide sales of FUZEON, Trimeris' first-in-class HIV antiviral drug. Recny was primarily responsible for identifying and negotiating strategic partnerships and business alliances to augment Trimeris' product portfolio, including Trimeris' landmark 50-50 collaboration with F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd in 1999 for the co-development and commercialization of FUZEON. Throughout his career he has negotiated and closed multiple transactions encompassing complex R&D collaborations, marketing and product commercialization agreements, technology and compound licenses with academic institutions, and GMP drug supply agreements. He was also responsible for managing Trimeris' external public relations with Wall Street analysts and investors.

Recny attended the University of Rochester as a Joseph C. Wilson Scholar and earned a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and conducted postdoctoral work through joint academic appointments at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA and at Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining Trimeris in 1995, Recny held positions of increasing R&D management responsibility in a number of biotechnology companies located in Boston, MA and the San Francisco Bay area. He has served as a Board member or business advisor to several early stage health care companies located in North Carolina. He has also been invited to speak at numerous local and international conferences, in addition to lecturing at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business, the Fuqua School of Business, the N.C. State College of Management and the Kellogg School of Management.

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Wood Creek Capital Management Names Glenn Pease as Chief Financial Officer

Representatives of Wood Creek Capital Management, LLC announced that Glenn H. Pease has joined as Chief Financial Officer. Wood Creek is a joint venture of Norfolk Management Group, LLC, an investment holding company specializing in alternative investments, and Babson Capital Management LLC, a leading national investment management firm.

Pease has more than 25 years of financial services experience and joins the firm from The Phoenix Companies, Inc. where for more than 22 years he held a series of senior financial management positions, including most recently Vice President, Finance of the asset management division and Vice President, Strategic Development. In these roles he was involved in a variety of activities including accounting, strategic and financial planning, taxes, investments, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Prior to Phoenix, he worked as an auditor at Ernst & Young, LLP and is both a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU).

Pease earned his B.S. in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University, his M.S. in Taxation from the University of Hartford and his MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

Wood Creek Capital Management, a joint venture company of Norfolk Management Group and Babson Capital Management (a division of The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company), was established to develop and invest in niche and emerging alternative strategies, with a primary focus on non-financial security based strategies. Wood Creek Capital Management oversees the Wood Creek Venture Fund, a fund focused on seeding managers in niche alternative strategies. Wood Creek is headquartered in New Haven, CT with additional offices in New York and Norfolk, CT.

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Cleantech Network Projects 2007 Cleantech Investment in China Will Total $580 Million and More Than $720 Million in 2008

Representatives of The Cleantech Network, a Cleantech Group company, announced that Chinese cleantech venture capital investment is expected to rise dramatically in 2007 to US$580 million and will surpass US$720 million in 2008. Additionally, the company's China Cleantech Venture Capital Investment Report states that cleantech investment in China increased 147% from 2005 ($170 million) to 2006 ($420 million) and that Q1 2007 cleantech investment in China totaled $154 million. These findings and more can be found in The China Cleantech Venture Capital Investment Report, which was released today and can be downloaded for free at http://cleantechnetwork.com/index.cfm?pageSRC=Whitepapers.

Cleantech Network provides comprehensive, in-depth information for entrepreneurs, executives, investors, policy makers and thought leaders interested in the advancement of clean technologies to assist them in making informed decisions.

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Bay Area Venture Capitalists' Confidence High with Active IPO Market

The Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index for the second quarter of 2007 registered 4.15 on a 5 point scale, indicating positive sentiment among Bay Area venture capitalists for the near term local entrepreneurial environment. This quarterly index report is based on a June 2007 survey of 31 San Francisco Bay Area venture capitalists.

Authored by Professor Mark Cannice of the University of San Francisco School of Business and Management, the quarterly VC Index measures and reports the opinions of Silicon Valley venture capitalists in their estimation of the entrepreneurial atmosphere during the next six to 18 months.

High multiples and valuations during exits are also complementing the improved IPO environment. "The current climate is characterized by a high amount of activity and liquidity, and upward pressure on valuations. I would expect this to continue for at least six to 12 months," commented Steve Harrick of Institutional Venture Partners.

While the level of VC confidence was down marginally from last quarter's three year high of 4.38 (due to some concern about overly high valuations and the staying power of the private equity market), overall the VC confidence is very healthy and bodes well for the balance of 2007.

The full VC Index Report for Q2 is available at www.EntrepreneurshipProgram.org (click on the publications tab).

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StepStone Group Announces Five New Hires

Representatives of StepStone Group LLC announced five additions to its investment team: Scott Hart as a Senior Associate, Erika Streck as an Associate, John Coelho as an Associate, John Kettnich as an Analyst, and Anthony Cusano as an Analyst. All five will be members of StepStone's research and due diligence team. StepStone Group provides customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional investors.

Mr. Hart, Senior Associate, was previously an Associate with Texas Pacific Group ("TPG"), where he participated in all aspects of investment evaluation. While at TPG, Hart was involved in the analysis of some of the largest buy-out transactions in US history. Prior to TPG, Hart was an Analyst at Morgan Stanley in the firm's Investment Banking, Retail and Consumer Group.. Hart earned a BBA in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Notre Dame, summa cum laude. He is on the leadership board of the Joy of Sports Foundation, an organization that teaches critical life success skills to at-risk children through sports.

Ms. Streck, associate, was previously an associate at Allied Capital Corporation in Washington, D.C. where she focused on direct private equity investments. Prior to Allied, she was a financial Analyst at Edgeview Partners, a boutique investment bank. Streck holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead Scholar. She is on the board of Breakthrough Collaborative, an after-school summer enrichment program in the District of Columbia.

Mr. Coelho, associate, was previously an Assistant Vice President with ATEL Capital Group, a middle market lending institution. Prior to ATEL, Coelho was an Associate with Plantagenet Capital Management, where he focused on direct private equity investments. Before that, he was an Associate in the Investment Banking Group at Piper Jaffray & Company. Coelho received his MBA and BS in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley.

Mr. Kettnich, analyst, was previously an analyst with Pacific Corporate Group, where he focused on direct private equity investments and portfolio analytics. Mr. Kettnich received his BBA from the University of San Diego, summa cum laude, in Business Administration where he focused his studies on Private Equity and Venture Capital.

Mr. Cusano, analyst, was previously an analyst with the Meridian Value Fund (where he advised the fund on its growth strategy) and Cornell Capital Partners (where he analyzed hedge fund investments in public and private securities). Cusano received his MBA in Entrepreneurial Finance from the University of California San Diego, and his BS, summa cum laude, in Business Administration with a concentration in Financial Management from California Polytechnic State University.