Private Equity
You’re just as skeptical as we are about the merits of a VC or PE firm adding a celebrity to its roster. In this week’s poll, 27% of peHUB readers said celebrity hires produce real ROI for VC and/or PE firms, but 73% said such hires are little more than publicity stunts. “I think this collision of pop culture and VC produces great PR and thus probably some great deal flow, but actual returns? Hard to see the direct connection,” wrote Lisa Suennen, founding partner of venture firm Psilos Group Managers and a peHUB contributor. “I did write about this very topic recently on VentureValkyrie when MC Hammer joined up with venture incubator NewME.” Three others who wrote extended comments said the real benefit of bringing on a big name is that it helps with
2 min read · 01 July 2011
Moda Operandi said Monday that it has raised $10 million in Series B funding led by New Enterprise Associates. New Atlantic Ventures (NAV), the lead investor from the Series A round, also invested. Moda Operandi is an online luxury fashion retailer.
3 min read · 27 June 2011
Digital Assent said Friday that it has received $7.5 million in Series B funding. Sanan Private Equity, BIP Opportunities Fund and Buckhead Investment Partners led the round. Imlay Investments and BLH Venture Partners, who led the Series A funding earlier this year, also contributed. Digital Assets provides the PatientPad, a patient check-in and patient education solution.
3 min read · 24 June 2011
David Teten, founder of one company that mines social networks for deal leads, another that mines social networks for recruitment leads, another that connects hedge fund managers with industry executives, and another one (alas, now defunct) that provided investment banking services to buyers and sellers of domain names, has landed a gig as a venture capitalist. Teten has become the second partner at New York-based ff Venture Capital since its inception in 1999. The firm holds stakes in such notable companies as Klout Inc. (mine is 50, thank you very much) and Hashable Inc., a company that stands at the crossroads of CRM and, yes, hash tags. Having known Teten for nearly a decade, and admired his mastery of the social networking scene, I thought I’d catch up with him with five questions to find out more about his new firm.
4 min read · 22 June 2011
Boston Technologies has raised $2.5 million in debt financing from Bridge Bank and Gold Hill Capital. Boston Technologies provides trading technology and software for institutional and retail brokerage firms trading in foreign exchange and other over-the-counter instruments.
3 min read · 22 June 2011
CincyTech said it raised $4.4 million for its second fund. CincyTech Fund II received $2.4 million from Southwest Ohio partners and another $2 million from Ohio Third Frontier. Fund II will invest in companies focused on information technology, bioscience and advanced manufacturing that are based in or willing to move to Southwest Ohio.
2 min read · 22 June 2011
Proton Media has closed $4.5 billion in series B venture financing led by Kaplan Ventures. Landsdale, Pa.-based Proton Media provides a social collaboration platform.
4 min read · 20 June 2011
2 min read · 18 June 2011
CryoXtract has closed a $3 million round of funding led by Allied Minds. Arlington, Va.-based CryoXtract develops laboratory automation services for the biobanking community.
3 min read · 15 June 2011
Five venture capital firms are going to wake up stinking rich on Wednesday, thanks to the successful IPO of Pandora, which operates an Internet music sharing service. As a group, the five firms own 105.6 million shares, which are worth $1.69 billion at the IPO price of $16 per share. And they're not the only ones. The Hearst Corp. is sitting pretty, too, as are Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren and several other insiders. Of course, this is all theoretical, since the VCs and Pandora's officers and directors are locked up from selling any shares for 180 days. Assuming the stock holds steady when the lock up ends in six months, here's how Pandora's top 10 largest shareholders will make out.
3 min read · 15 June 2011
