Private Equity
1 min read · 19 January 2010
1 min read · 19 January 2010
Masdar and Deutsche Bank have held a $265 million first close on a fund that will invest in expansion-stage and late-stage cleantech and renewable energy companies. Limited partners include Siemens, Japan Oil Development Co., Nippon Oil Corp., Development Bank of Japan and GE.
3 min read · 18 January 2010
Maybe it’s his new grandson, or perhaps it was the warm fish tacos we dipped into Tuesday at Fog City Diner in San Francisco. But Stewart Alsop seems more at ease these days, including with his role in the VC universe. “People don’t take things personally enough in venture capital,” the the ex-journalist-turned-investor, told me. “They act like it’s this analytical process when in reality, it’s completely subjective. There shouldn’t be this distance that exists between investment professionals and their investment decisions.” There’s no question that Alsop -- who spent nearly eight years at New Enteprise Associates -- is happier since striking out on his own five years ago with former In-Q-Tel chief Gilman Louie. It’s plain, just by looking at him. Also clearing up is the immediate future of Alsop Louie Partners, which, despite the overall contraction in VC, recently held a first, $20.25 million close, on its second fund. (Alsop refused to discuss fundraising, but you can find the Form D they filed with the SEC here.) I assume the target is around $75 million -- which is what Alsop Louie's first fund closed in in 2005 -- though the filing doesn't specify.
3 min read · 14 January 2010
1 min read · 14 January 2010
Buerk Dale Victor, a Seattle-based venture capital firm, has changed its name to Montlake Capital.
3 min read · 12 January 2010
Fidelity this afternoon announced that the U.S. team of Fidelity Ventures was spinning out into an independent, Boston-based firm called Volition Capital. The new group will continue to manage 20 Fidelity Ventures portfolio companies in the U.S., and jointly manage six European portfolio companies with what is now being called Fidelity Growth Partners Europe. Volition's four managing partners are: Larry Cheng, Andy Flaster, Roger Hurwitz and Rob Ketterson. Other staffers include Geraldine Alias, Sean Cantwell, Don Haile, Anne Mitchell and Jill Roosevelt. I spoke briefly with Larry Cheng, who tells me that the move was made for two reasons: (1) The Fidelity Ventures team was itching to run their own show; and (2) An independent firm would make it easier to raise third-party capital (Fidelity Ventures as solely funded by its parent).
3 min read · 11 January 2010
Benchmark Capital will not raise a third fund focused on Israel, according to an Israeli press report. Silicon Valley-based Benchmark launched its Israeli affiliate in 2001 with a $260 million fund, and raised a $250 million follow-up in 2005. In a June 2008 interview with Private Equity Week, Benchmark partner Steve Spurlock said that Benchmark Israel would return to the fundraising market in 2009. This was despite the Israeli affiliate's then-recent loss of two founding partners: Mark Kremer and Nachman Shelef. It's unclear if Fund III launched and stalled, or never began at all.
2 min read · 10 January 2010
1 min read · 06 January 2010
Portland, Oregon's Marquam Hill is known to outsiders for its Sky Bridge, a 666-foot wonder that is believed to be the longest suspended pedestrian walkway in North America. To locals, however, the simply known as "Pill Hill." It's that latter reference that a new VC firm called Marquam Hill Capital is hoping to exploit (in a good way, of course). MHC was launched earlier this year by John Hull, a former partner with OVP Venture Partners, and Javier Fernandez, a former partner with Guggenheim Venture Partners and TL Ventures. Their goal is to invest in oncology-related startups, presumably including spinouts from the Oregon Health & Science University (which is located on Marquam Hill, alongside a couple of hospitals).
2 min read · 04 January 2010
