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Ryan Jacob is back -- older, wiser and a little chastened, but still very bullish on the Internet. more>>
Imagine if you could search through the information in your colleagues' heads and uncover unknown areas of expertise and serendipitous connections -- like a mutual interest in organic gardening or open source databases. more>>
Helion launches a bellwether for how to do venture capital in India.
Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) has acquired OsteoBiologics Inc., a San Antonio, Texas-based provider of bio-absorbable bone graft substitutes in Europe to repair cartilage defects in the knee. It also offers a bone void filler in the U.S. The deal is valued at $72.3 million in cash, even though OBI only had 2005 sales revenue of $3.3 million. OsteoBiologics had raised around $35 million in total VC funding since its 1993 inception, from firms like The Woodside Fund, PTV Sciences, Thomas, McNerney & Partners and The Vertical Group. endo.smith-nephew.com / www.obi.com
Hedge funds helped to finance some of the biggest venture-capital
deals in this year's first quarter, another sign of the frothiness
in some sectors in the start-up investing market.
If you ask ten funded entrepreneurs what happened during the VC
due diligence process, you will get ten different answers, according
to Vince Occhipinti of Woodside Fund. Some will say they lost valuable
months answering endless questions for VCs that never produced a
term sheet. Others may admit they gained valuable insights to their
business.
Electronic design automation company Athena Design Systems has
emerged from stealth and added James Hogan to its board.
For Woodside Fund, the risks of investing in India went way down
when it joined with Helion Venture Partners, a new $120 million
India fund started by Woodside Venture Partner Ashish Gupta, for
deals in the subcontinent.
At the Demo conference--American Idol for entrepreneurs--showmanship
and gamesmanship can make you rich.
Silicon Valley isn’t the only ecosystem of innovation anymore,
if it ever was. But it’s still the richest patch of talent,
ideas, and money around.
A just-released study that ranked San Jose 49th out of 50 metropolitan
areas in terms of small business vitality in 2003 provides perspective
on just how far Silicon Valley's economy sank before bouncing back
to life.
A stereotypical VC enters private investment after a tour of duty
at a global tech giant and a few stunning entrepreneurial triumphs.
Rick Shriner, a venture partner at Woodside Fund, took a slightly
different path.
Even as the amount of cash flowing into venture capital funds surges,
the number of companies securing early-stage funding is likely to
decline this year, say industry veterans.
Like the line “he doesn’t know the territory”
in the The Music Man, experts say the biggest mistake a company
can make is failing to take time to get to know the region.
The billion-dollar venture fund is making a comeback.
The venture fund's managing directors Tom Shields and John Occhipinti
say it’s a golden time for early-stage ventures. (Clicking
on the link will take you to the news article on Red Herring's site).
FOUR months to six months. Only a year or two ago, that was how
long start-up companies generally had to cajole, fret and act nonchalant
while waiting for venture capitalists to part with money - if they
proved willing to write a check at all.
Venture capitalists love to repeat a popular refrain: “I
invest in people, not business plans.” That may be, but they
still want to see a plan. Not that a business plan will secure millions
in funding on its own merits, of course; its real purpose is just
to get a VC to pay enough attention to your idea to call you back.
The wrong plan, though, could get you barred from the front door.
Want to start a company? We found 11 venture capitalists sitting
on business ideas they're dying to bankroll. All you have to do
is send them exactly the right business plan.
Remember Ashish Gupta? The co-founder of Junglee Corporation has
come a long way from 1998, when he made his first millions after
the web services company was acquired by Amazon.com for a whopping
$230 million.
When Neil Clark Warren and Greg Forgatch, founders of dating site
eHarmony, were making the rounds last fall looking to raise venture
capital, they weren't merely seeking money to bankroll a big TV
marketing blitz.
When Kewei Yang set up the Chinese office of his high-tech company,
Analogix Semiconductor Inc., he squeezed about a dozen employees
into a cramped high-rise apartment here.
How much time did you spend getting to know the last CEO candidate
you hired for one of your portfolio companies? And how much time
have you spent dealing with the challenges of firing a CEO?
Venture capital isn't for everyone--not all entrepreneurs need
$1 million or more for funding. But for entrepreneurs who want to
join the big leagues, a venture capital firm can invest the funds
to get you there.
Little more than a year after saying it probably wouldn't seek new funding, VeriWave Inc. has closed a $10 million Series B round with a new lead investor. more>>
Woodside Fund, an early stage venture capital firm, named Ashish Gupta venture partner. more>>
Venture capitalists across Silicon Valley are falling for China. more>>
Three VCs at Woodside Fund just got back from a five-day trip to
India. This was not one of those delegations of U.S. VCs who trundle
around Asia in a tour bus that might as well have a sign saying
"Rich White Guys on Board."
Due diligence is that part of the dealmaking dance when the venture
capital firm investigates the people, technology, and markets of
the company it's interested in funding.
The venture capital industry used to be such a noble profession.
Now, the gloves are off and players are getting down and dirty.
The headlines are increasingly filled with stories of hard-done-by
entrepreneurs filing lawsuits against their former investors, not
to mention VCs suing other VCs over down rounds, cram downs, and
washed out investments.
Early-stage investors and entrepreneurs are emerging from their
post-boom hibernation with a different approach to starting up.
Like many chipmakers, Aristos Logic faced a long research and development
battle and required substantial cash to get its product to market.
But with a last round of funding this fall and customers using its
chips, the company says profits are in sight.
WHEN members of the Early Stage Venture Capital Alliance gathered
here last month for its annual golf outing, the conversation turned
- as it invariably does when venture capitalists congregate these
days - to the resurgence of fierce competition among firms seeking
to invest in promising start-ups.
Analogix, a fabless semiconductor company that develops analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, said it has raised $9.85 million in a Series A round. more>>
Start-up Valuations Not at Bottom Yet It's hard to believe there's still air left in the Internet bubble, but that's what the latest venture capital data suggests. more>>
Daniel Ahn: Venture Capital Goes Back to Basics Daniel Ahn, Managing Director, Woodside Fund and Harvard Business School graduate, is profiled on Harvard Business School's Web site, "Working Knowledge". more>>
Top Valley Fundings These companies received the highest amounts of venture funding in the Bay Area during the 2001 fourth quarter. more>>
When Advanced Reality Inc., a one-year-old collaborative software startup, went hunting for first-round private financing last year, it didn't waste much time with traditional venture capitalists. more>>
What will venture capitalists look for in the coming year? How about companies with real products and rock-solid management. more>>
Venture capitalists are no longer the cult figures they were in the mid- to late-1990s, when Kleiner Perkins VC John Doerr made his famous remarks about the Internet bubble being "the greatest legal creation of wealth in history." more>>
Woodside Fund has led a $9 million investment round in Intalio, a trailblazing enterprise software vendor developing the first standards-based Business Process Management System. Other investors including 3i join Woodside Fund in this investment. more>>
Panel Moderator, John Occhipinti, Principal of Woodside Fund commented, ìDuring challenging economic times when early stage investing is experiencing low activity, business alliances become even more imperative. Alliances help startups drive momentum with new customers, suppliers and potential investors.î Woodside Fund is a leading early stage venture capital firm that specializes in developing companies focused in the areas of Internet Protocol infrastructure and enterprise software. more>>
Returns for venture capital funds fall 6.7 percent, the worst 12-month period ever, according to a report Venture capital funds struggled through their worst 12-month period, according to a report released Wednesday that suggests the blues continue for emerging technology companies. more>>
LOS ALTOS, Calif. (VENTUREWIRE) -- CPlane, which develops software
for the telecommunications industry, announced that it has received
a strategic investment of $3 million from Sun Microsystems. This
investment brings the company's Series C round, which had its initial
close in January, to $28 million. The round was led by new investor
Pequot Capital Management, with participation from new investors
Amerindo Investments and Woodside Fund. Previous investors CMEA
Ventures and Onset Ventures also participated in this round. The
company said it plans to dedicate the new funds to product development,
as well as for expansion of its engineering, marketing and sales
teams. Although a specific amount was not stated, CPlane's resident
and CEO Nelu Mihai said that the post-money valuation for this round
was "in the $100 million range," an up round. As a result of this
financing, Sun Micosystems has been granted a non-voting observer
seat on the five-member CPlane board that includes Susan Mason,
general manager of ONSET Ventures; Gordon Hull, general partner,
CMEA Ventures; and Michael Karfopoulous, senior vice president,
Pequot Capital Management/Private Equity. The company has raised
approximately $38 million to date from investors including CMEA
Ventures, Onset Ventures, Pequot Capital Management, and Woodside Fund.
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (VENTUREWIRE) --At a time when many venture firms are slowing the pace of investing, Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Woodside Fund is looking to invest more aggressively. According to Woodside Fund principal Daniel H. Ahn, the firm is shooting for eight new deals this year, two more than usual. "We're investing like gangbusters," Mr. Ahn said. While many firms have hit the brakes when it comes to new deals, in part because they're busy mending weak investments, Mr. Ahn believes now is the best time to buy because fewer investors means lower valuations. "When everyone is buying, everyone bids up prices and that's not the time to make deals," he said. Woodside, which has made four new investments this year, is close to closing on two new deals, and is in the process of examining two others. Mr. Ahn would not comment on the new investments, only to say they involved companies in the semiconductor and networking spaces. The companies Woodside has invested in this year include TrueSAN Networks, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of enterprise storage network services; Milpitas, Calif.-based General Nutronics, a developer of multi-petabit optical switches; and San Francisco-based Intelligent Markets, a maker of trading platforms for financial institutions. In other developments at Woodside, Mr. Ahn said all the firm's limited partners have agreed to reinvest in its next fund, which Woodside expects to raise early next year. "They're all re-upping between one and two times as much," he said. Woodside raised a $135 million fund in April 2000 and has about one-third remaining, Mr. Ahn said.
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (VENTUREWIRE) -- Woodside Fund, a venture capital fund with over $225 million under management, said it has appointed Tom Shields to the position of venture partner. Prior to joining Woodside, Mr. Shields was CTO, vice president of engineering, and co-founder of NetGravity, a provider of application software for Internet advertising. Woodside Fund's most recent partnership, Woodside Fund IV, which had its final close in March 2000, invests between $5 million and $12 million in early-stage ventures in IP infrastructure and e-commerce infrastructure companies in northern California and the West Coast.
"Dot-com investments may be drying up, but some new companies are still getting funded. Intelligent Markets Inc., which creates technologies for online-trading businesses, secured a second round of funding of $10 million from Woodside Fund, Oak Hill Venture Partners, and Pacific Venture Group."
INTELLIGENT MARKETS http://www.intelligentmarkets.com FUNDING: $10M THE HERRING TAKE: Two of the founders of this upstart hail from the infamous hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM). CEO Carl Huttenlocher was the formerly the head trader at LTCM, and CTO Jason Topaz designed the risk management tools for the fund. The lessons learned from LTCM's disastrous liquidity crunch in September 1998 led to the some of the features in Intelligent Markets's electronic trading software. The software helps institutional investors make large trades of complex securities, such as stocks, equity derivatives, and bonds. It also offers decision support, market surveillance, and automation tools. Those features help traders recognize opportunities early and improve the liquidity of their investments through electronic trading. Large trades are typically done over the telephone nowadays, says Mr. Topaz. Target customers include large institutional investors, money managers, hedge funds, and mutual funds. Mr. Topaz's sales pitch to customers: "we've been there." The LTCM liquidity crisis, you may recall, forced Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan to negotiate a $3.7 billion bailout for the hedge fund. The new funding should take the firm to profitability sometime next year. --S.S.
New Money SAN FRANCISCO (VENTUREWIRE) -- Intelligent Markets, a developer of trading platforms for financial institutions, said it has closed $10 million in Series B preferred financing led by Woodside Fund with participation from previous investor Oak Hill Venture Partners and new investor Pacific Venture Group. The company said the new funds would be used for product development and sales. There were two appointments to the five-member board: Daniel Ahn, Principal at Woodside Fund, and entrepreneur Kannan Ayyar. Myron Scholes of Oak Hill Venture Partners is also a director of the company. In January 2000 Intelligent Markets raised $3.2 in its Series A round led by Oak Hill Venture Partners with individuals participating. http://www.imarkets.com
SAN FRANCISCO, April 25 -- Intelligent Markets, Inc., the leading provider of comprehensive trading technology for global financial institutions, today announced that it has closed $10 million in second round preferred financing. The Series B round is led by Woodside Fund and is joined by Oak Hill Venture Partners, the lead investor in Intelligent Markets' Series A round, and Pacific Venture Group. more>>
By Matthew DeBellis The early-stage venture capital market has gone from sweet to sweeter. Valuations of companies just forming continue to drop and are near rock-bottom prices, early-stage VCs say. They continue to review new deals, dive into due diligence, and steadily make new investments in a market that's searching for stability. Equally important, early-stage VCs say that deal flow is better than they've seen in years, especially in the networking infrastructure, digital storage, and communications sectors. more>>
By Taran Provost If Woodside Fund's assessment of the market landscape is correct, a huge investment opportunity could be developing in the securities industry, where many transactions are still being performed with aging analog technologies. more>>
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (VENTUREWIRE) -- Woodside Fund, a venture capital fund with over $225 million under management, said it was the sole and the first investor in General Nutronics, a developer of a multi-petabit optical switch. The amount invested in the company was not disclosed. Woodside Fund partners, Robert E. Larson and Daniel H. Ahn, have joined the board of directors at General Nutronics. The money will be used to build a prototype, which is expected to be ready within six months.
Cisco Systems deepened the gloom that looms over the technology sector by disclosing plans Friday to chop thousands of jobs, which raised questions about when the high-tech hangover and the Nasdaq nose-dive might end.
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (VENTUREWIRE) -- Woodside Fund, an early stage venture capital firm, said Rick Shriner has joined the firm as a venture partner. Mr. Shriner was formerly the chief executive officer of HotRail, a telecommunications infrastructure firm and Woodside Fund portfolio company that was acquired by Conexant. Founded in 1983, Woodside Fund has over $200 million under management. The firm invests between $5 million and $12 million in early stage Internet protocol infrastructure and electronic commerce infrastructure companies.
Although venture capitalists have already bet heavily on communications startups, they say there's still plenty of opportunity to invest in new ventures and new ideas in the sector. more>>
More private investors want to put their gold in them thar East Bay startups. A growing number of venture capital companies have begun to open head offices in the East Bay. Collectively, they are ready to bet millions of dollars that Alameda and Contra Costa counties will prove fertile nesting grounds for strong companies of the future. more>>
In SOFTWARE SS8 NETWORKS http://www.ss8networks.com FUNDING: $25M THE HERRING TAKE: The central nervous system of the Internet. That's what CEO Henry Wong reckons his company will provide. Just as the signaling system 7 (SS7) protocol is used on the telephone networks to set up and tear down calls and provide services such as caller ID, local number portability, 800 numbers, and call forwarding, SS8's "service switch" will enable carriers to offer those services over the Net, he says. The gear will reside in the core of the network provisioning services and directing calls, Mr. Wong says. SS8 is targeting carriers with IP-based networks such as Cable and Wireless, Qwest Communications, and Level 3 Communications. The company's product is testing with four prospective customers right now, with shipments slated for the beginning of 2001. Volume shipments will begin in February. Mr. Wong reckons he'll be filing for a "big-time" IPO by the first half of 2002.
VC Fund News WOODSIDE, Calif. -- Early stage venture capital firm Woodside
Fund formed a partnership with Acuitive, a consulting firm that
provides strategic management and technical services for early stage
telecommunications and networking ventures. Acuitive will be making
its expertise and contacts available to Woodside and will also be
joining Woodside's technical advisory board. Woodside Fund IV closed
in April 2000 and invests between $5 million and $10 million in
early stage IP infrastructure and e-commerce infrastructure companies
located in Northern California and the West Coast.
AUTOMATED POWER EXCHANGE www.apx.com
Matt Bolton says he's always asked this question when he sits on a Venture Capital panel: "How is valuation determined?" more>>
Feeling like you'd have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting a term sheet from a VC?
Your odds might not be that far off. An established venture capital fund will receive more than 9,000 business plans per year. Of those, only .17 percent, or about 15 companies, will secure funding. more>>
SAN FRANCISCO-- USBuild.com, a company creating a supply chain for production homebuilding, completed a $12.4 million round of financing. Led by Woodside Fund and McCown De Leeuw & Co, the round includes key strategic investors Hanley-Wood, Pulte Home Corp. (NYSE: PHM) and Village Homes. The company is currently developing and testing its Internet scheduling and procurement management systems, and is establishing advanced fulfillment centers to provide just-in-time delivery to new-home job sites. It will pilot its systems in Denver beginning in late summer 2000.
In E-Biz USBBUILD.COM www.usbuild.com
USBuild.com, a company leveraging the Internet to create a supply chain optimized for production homebuilding, today announced the successful completion of a $12.4 million round of financing. Led by Woodside Fund and McCown De Leeuw & Co, the round includes key strategic investors Hanley-Wood, Pulte Home Corporation and Village Homes. more>>
New Money SAN FRANCISCO -- USBuild.com, developer of a business-to-business
exchange for the homebuilding industry, said it raised $12.4 million
in first round funding led by Woodside Fund and McCown De Leeuw
& Co. The round also included investments from Hanley-Wood, a Washington,
D.C.-based publisher of magazines for the construction industry;
Pulte Home Corp., a home construction firm with operations in the
U.S. and Mexico; and Village Homes, a Colorado-based homebuilding
company. The financing will support operations and the pilot launch
of the company's site in Denver, Colo. As a result of the funding,
USBuild.com named Phil Collins, a managing director at McCown De
Leeuw, John Occhipinti of Woodside Fund, and Michael Wood, chief
executive officer of Hanley-Wood, to its board of directors. The
company, which was previously backed by individual investors, provides
services enabling builders to order materials directly from manufacturers
and have them delivered to building sites when needed. USBuild's
pilot launch in Denver will occur in partnership with Pulte and
Village Homes.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Conexant Systems said it will acquire
San Jose, Calif.-based HotRail, a fabless semiconductor company
that develops switched fabric and chip-to-chip interconnect technologies,
in an all-stock transaction. Conexant will exchange 7.8 million
shares, worth about $394 million. HotRail is backed by Chase Venture
Capital, Charter Ventures, Needham Capital, Ontario Teachers Pension
Plan, Robertson Stephens, Selby Venture Partners, Sky Capital, Techfarm,
Techfund Capital, Wasserstein Adelson Ventures, and Woodside Fund.
Selling your company rather than presenting your company is the No. 1 pitch mistake, says Woodside Fund analyst Matthew Bolton. "Present with the passion and conviction that drove you to write your business plan." more>>
http://www.redherring.com/vc/2000/0609/vc-accel060900.html
"Occhipinti Named Principal at Woodside Fund," Announcement on John C. Occhipiniti
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/special/ebiz/docs/lede052100.htm#c
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,14409,00.html
http://www.redherring.com/vc/2000/0421/vc-money042100.html
VC Fund News WOODSIDE, Calif. -- The Woodside Fund said it closed a new fund
valued at about $135 million. The fund, which will be called the
Woodside Fund IV, will target early-stage technology companies on
the West Coast. Specifically, it will target business-to-business
and Internet infrastructure companies. Woodside's prior investments
include Automated Power Exchange, Digital Microwave, Intertrust
Technologies, and SS8 Networks. In addition to early-stage companies,
the fund will invest in select later-stage businesses to balance
its portfolio. The fund will invest between $5 million and $10 million
in each company.
Based on an interview with Woodside Fund managing director Vincent Occhipinti and principal Daniel Ahn, this article reports on the strong fundraising progress and investment strategy of Woodside Fund IV. more>>
New Money WOODSIDE, Calif. -- StreetFusion, an online provider of financial earnings, event information, and Web-casting for publicly traded companies, said it received $12 million in Series A funding from Blackstone Technology Group, Blue Chip Ventures, Iceburg Ventures, W.I. Harper, and Woodside Fund. Daniel H. Ahn, a principal at Woodside Fund, joined the company's board of directors. StreetFusion plans to use the funding for marketing and to hire personnel.
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Behind
the Curtain: VC Due Diligence Is No Mystery
EDA
Firm Athena Design Systems Launches, Adds James Hogan to Board
How
bad was it? San Jose 49th in small biz 'vitality'
Former
HotRail CEO Named Venture Partner at Woodside Fund
