3 min read · 19 January 2011
Paul Capital promoted Jason Sambanju to managing director and co-head of its Asian operations, a role he will share with Managing Director Lucian Wu. Sambanju joined Paul Capital in August 2007 as a director in the firm's Hong Kong office. Paul Capital also hired Todd Miller as a New York-based principal on the firm's secondary investments team. Miller will be responsible for sourcing, analyzing, structuring and closing secondary private equity transactions. He was previously a partner at AEP Capital, which is an affiliate of Alpine Capital.
3 min read · 19 January 2011
The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) hired Mark Florman as chief executive, Reuters reported. He replaces Simon Walker who took the role three years ago. Florman was previously a senior principal at Doughty Hanson & Co. Ltd. He formed Africa-focused fund 8 Miles LLP with Bob Geldof in 2010. Florman will remain involved with 8 Miles after he joins the BVCA.
2 min read · 19 January 2011
Alibaba Group and its financing partners plan to spend $3 billion to $4.5 billion to set up a warehouse network in China to capitalize on the booming e-commerce market, Reuters reported. Some of the investment may be made through a fund to be set up with private equity and venture capital firms. Sources told Reuters in October that Alibaba Group is planning to expand its logistics network to reach 52 cities in two years from 20 cities currently.
3 min read · 19 January 2011
Komli Media Pvt. Ltd. raised $15 million. Norwest Venture Partners of Palo Alto, Calif., led the financing. Existing investors, Nexus Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partners, participated in the round. Komli Media is a Mumbai, India-based digital media network. It plans to use the capital for its expansion and to invest in its core businesses: digital media network and its audience measurement unit.
5 min read · 19 January 2011
Baird Private Equity promoted both James Pavlik and Benedict Rocchio to partner from principal at Baird Venture Partners. Baird Private Equity also promoted Aaron Rudberg to principal from vice president. Rudberg will remain director of investor relations for Baird Private Equity, which is private equity group of Robert W. Baird & Co.
3 min read · 19 January 2011
Internet publisher Cheezburger received $30 million in funding. Foundry Group of Boulder, Colo., led the investment with Madrona Venture Group, Avalon Ventures, and SoftBank Capital. Cheezburger plans to use the capital to hire more employees and fund other marketing and growth initiatives. Cheezburger is expanding its board to include Foundry Group’s Brad Feld , Madrona Venture’s Greg Gottesman and Avalon Ventures’ Rich Levandov.
4 min read · 19 January 2011
ThermoEnergy Corp. restructured its senior debt with a syndicate of lenders including Spencer Trask Specialty Fund, Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation and Boston Community Venture Fund. The lenders converted a portion of their debt into convertible preferred stock and extended the maturities of the remaining debt to Feb. 29, 2012. ThermoEnergy is a Worcester, Mass.-based supplier of wastewater recovery technology and systems.
3 min read · 19 January 2011
Sawari Ventures LLC of Cairo, Egypt, announced the launch and initial investments of its first fund. Sawari Ventures I will focus on early and growth stage technology companies. It is seeded by the partners and sponsored by Naguib Sawiris. The firm also made its first two investment, namely in ALZWAD Mobile Services and in vimov. ALZWAD provides content and mobile application developers with a platform to reach mobile users in the Middle East. Vimov develops iPhone and iPad applications.
3 min read · 19 January 2011
Aerohive Networks acquired privately-held Pareto Networks, which is a in cloud-based networking company. Aerohive is a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based maker of a cooperative control wireless LAN architecture.It is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Northern Light Venture Capital.
3 min read · 19 January 2011
