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- peHUB Wire: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Random Ramblings
- peHUB Wire: Thursday, June 10, 2010
Random Ramblings
- VC-Backed IPO Pipeline Remains Clogged
It's been a slow month for VC-backed IPOs, with just three new companies filing and three going public. In fact, only two even bothered to ammend their proposed pricing terms. The newbies were ZipCar, TripeWire and NuPathe, while the recently-listed were Accretive Health, JinkoSolar and TeleNav. That means the VC-backed IPO pipeline remains static with 43 total registrants, but also a bit lighter since the filers are seeking less money than were those that priced. Overall, VC-backed companies in registration to go public are aiming to raise nearly $4.5 billion. The full pipeline is after the jump...
- Enphase Energy Adds $23 Million
Enphase Energy Inc., a Petaluma, Calif.-based developer of micro-inverter systems for the solar industry, has raised $23 million in new funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and undisclosed strategic backers. This is the second close of a $63 million round. The initial $40 million infusion was announced in March, with Bay Partners leading and being joined by Horizon Technology Finance, Bridge Bank, Third Point Ventures, RockPort Capital Partners, Madrone Capital Partners and Applied Ventures. The company previously raised over $25 million.
- It’s On: With New Funding, A Battle Escalates Within the Textbook Rental Market
Back in January, online textbook rental service Chegg sent a lawyerly letter http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/01/chegg-bookrenter-com-trademark-war/ to rival Bookrenter, insisting that it stop referring to itself as “#1 in Textbook Rentals” -- a title to which Chegg had laid claim. At the time, Chegg had already raised a stunning $144 million in cash and debt, including from Kleiner Perkins, Foundation Capital and Insight Venture Partners. BookRenter only had collected $6 million, from Storm Ventures and Adams Capital Management. Given their respective sizes, the decision to bear down on Bookrenter seemed ill-conceived, to say the least. (When I interviewed Chegg CEO Dan Rosensweig /65964/he’s-back-dan-rosensweig-on-becoming-ceo-of-chegg-and-how-he-feels-about-yahoo-today/ back in March, he made a point of explaining that he “hadn’t even started at the company” when that letter was sent.) Today, BookRenter is fighting back, both with a fresh, $10 million round /73353/bookrenter-raises-10-million/ and a new direction that’s picking up traction. Unlike Chegg, which is placing an expensive bet on developing its own brand and competing with college bookstores, BookRenter thinks it can capture more market share by working with the universities. Whether it works longer-term remains to be seen, but since launching the platform in April, 75 schools around the country, including the University of Texas at Austin and the University of San Diego, have
Onetime Soccer Ref Gives VC Yellow CardMn Services’ Jos van Gisbergen is still a fan of venture capital, but he is very selective about the teams he backs
- KP Partner Murphy sees frothy market
Matt Murphy, manager of the iFund, says that the firm receives 50 to 200 business plans a day
- A123 Systems and the Public Market Rollercoaster
Yesterday, Dan reported /72060/silver-spring-networks-delays-ipo/ that the Silver Spring Networks has delayed its much-anticipated IPO until Q4 of this year. The smart grid company had been expected to file its S-1 last month and to price sometime this summer. If, as widely believed, Silver Spring postponed its plans owing to PG&E, which has encountered various sets of troubles during its wide-scale deployment of smart metering technologies, the delay looks smart, particularly considering the recent woes of A123 Systems. The lithium-ion battery maker enjoyed a splashy IPO last September, when its shares, offered at $13.50, jumped 50% in their stock market debut to close at roughly $20 a piece. But the news wasn’t so rosy last week, when A123 disclosed that it had missed analysts’ first-quarter expectations, which sent its share price price down $9.60. Today, the company’s $1.04 billion market cap is roughly half what it was back in September.
- Top 10 VC Recipients of 2010 (So Far)
BrightSource Energy today announced $150 million in new VC funding, which it will use to develop utility-scale solar thermal power plants. A couple of readers emailed to ask if it was the largest venture financing of 2010, or even if it should count as a VC deal (as opposed, say, to project finance). The answer to the first question is "no" (it's number four) and the answer to the second question is "yes" (it's equity being contributed by, among others, traditional venture firms). But it reminded me that it's been a while since we updated our list of the year's top VC recipients (so far). Fairly liberal with the term "venture capital," but that's why this is an interim list rather than an official/final list. Get it after the jump...