Private Equity
1 min read · 13 April 2010
Tengion priced its IPO last Friday, becoming the 11th VC-backed company to go public on a U.S. exchange in 2010. It also was the sixth to do so since we last looked at the VC-backed IPO pipeline (the other newbies were Calix, China Lodging, MaxLinear, Meru Networks and SS&C Technologies). There also have been eight new additions to the pipeline in the past month. That works out to a total of 42 VC-backed companies currently in registration to go public on U.S. exchanges, representing more than $4.6 billion in targeted raise (a net increase of just over $100m). The full pipeline is after the jump...
10 min read · 12 April 2010
1 min read · 12 April 2010
I returned yesterday to the home office, after spending a few days as a judge for the VCIC Finals in Chapel Hill. For the uninitiated, VCIC is a competition in which teams of biz-school students form mock VC firms and are asked to make investment decisions. They conduct due diligence with real entrepreneurs, submit term sheets, negotiate with the entrepreneur and then get pummeled with questions by more than a dozen judges (all of whom are actual VCs or LPs save for yours truly). This year’s winner was the University of Chicago, which clearly stood alone among an extremely-talented field. In fact, I think five or six of this year’s teams easily would have won last year’s event. The UC crew was smart (asked the right questions), smooth (seemed prepared for most hiccups) and
2 min read · 12 April 2010
NVCA president Mark Heesen gave a “state of the VC industry” talk in Chapel Hill last Friday, and included discussion of Chris Dodd's financial reform. Specifically, Heesen said he was heartened that the proposal clearly distinguished between “venture capital” and “private equity.” As we’ve discussed before, however, the Dodd Bill doesn’t actually define either asset class – instead kicking that responsibility over to the SEC. It’s a tricky job, since hybrid firms would almost certainly try to game the nomenclature, in order to “become” whichever type of firm is less regulated. Moreover, enforcement of a firm’s adherence to definitional guidelines would be difficult without all firms agreeing to open up their portfolios to federal scrutiny.
1 min read · 12 April 2010
1 min read · 08 April 2010
Money can't buy you love, but shouldn't $15 million be able to help get you a date? Apparently not if you're Dylan Smith, the 24 year-old co-founder and CFO of Box.net. His company today announced $15 million in new VC funding, but it seems he hasn't been able to find the right "Scarlett Johansson type" in Palo Alto. Rather than continuing to woo through traditional channels -- or perhaps go hunting for a hooker with a heart of gold -- Smith turned to The Millionaire Matchmaker, a reality TV show that pairs the rich and romantically-inept with pretty young golddiggers. His episode aired last night, and you can watch it after the jump. For those who can't stomach it, here's the synopsis: Smith seems like a very nice kid who has spent a few hundred thousand too many hours in front of a computer. He gets a minor makeover, learns to dance (sort of) and meets a girl who later visits him in Palo Alto. Enjoy:
1 min read · 07 April 2010
Here’s some conventional wisdom on cleantech venture capital: Investors made lots of mistakes by backing capital-intensive companies in 2006-2009. Some of these deals were salvaged by government stimulus (e.g., A123), but the smart money has now moved into deals that look more like IT for the energy market than like energy for the broader consumer/industrial market. But there are exceptions to every rule. Today’s is a company called Orient Green Power, which develops small-scale renewable energy generation facilities in India. It also plans to file for an IPO within the next couple of weeks.
3 min read · 07 April 2010
Corefino, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based provider of outsourced accounting and financial solutions, is heading toward a divorce with its venture capitalists. The company raised $13.6 million in Series A funding less than two years ago from Bay Partners and Opus Capital, and quickly secured initial customers. Unfortunately, costs kept exceeding revenue, and the company now needs a financial restructuring and/or acquirer to keep ticking. Who’s to blame depends on who you ask.
1 min read · 07 April 2010
It’s the beginning of April, which means that a bunch of first-year MBA candidates are freaking out about not having summer internships lined up yet. But we’re here to help, with our annual Desperate Interns Drive. This is a lot like the Internship Rodeo from November, except that it’s later in the game for both employers and employees. So if your firm or one of your portfolio companies is looking to hire summer interns from the current crop of first-year MBA candidates, please drop me a note at daniel.primack@thomsonreuters.com. All postings can include as much or little information as you’d like to provide. Minimums are firm type (VC, LBO, I-Bank, etc.) and job location. If you’d like to keep your firm identity anonymous, just be sure to let me know. There is no fee for this service.
1 min read · 07 April 2010
