Private Equity
Bessemer Venture Partners has made three promotions: Vishal Gupta (Mumbai) has been named managing director; Alex Ferrara (Larchmont, NY) has been named partner; and Umesh Padval (Menlo Park) has been named partner.
2 min read · 01 February 2010
Marten Mickos, former CEO of MySQL AB, has joined Index Ventures as an entrepreneur-in-residence. He also serves in a similar position with Benchmark Capital.
2 min read · 01 February 2010
Will Kohler is leaving Prism VentureWorks after a six-year run, in order to join the Boston office of Summerhill Venture Partners as a partner. He informed his portfolio company CEOs of the move last week, and plans to begin at Summerhill in late February. While with Prism, Kohler has led or co-led investments in such companies as Sonian, The Receivables Exchange, Conduit Labs, Six Degrees Games, Sparkplay Media and ExpoTV. "We're happy for Will, because he gets to become a general partner," says Prism partner Woody Benson. "But we're obviously sad to see him go."
2 min read · 31 January 2010
Matt McCall has joined New World Ventures as a partner. He previously was a co-founder and managing director of DFJ Portage. McCall's investments with Portage included EverDream, Feedburner, Imago Scientific, Lefthand Networks, Siimpel and TicketsNow. New World also announced the promotion of Adam Koopersmith to partner.
2 min read · 27 January 2010
Sean Moriarty and Rajeev Chawla have joined Mayfield Fund as entrepreneurs-in-residence. Moriarty is the former CEO of CEO of Ticketmaster, while Chawla is the former CEO of Neopath Networks (acquired by Cisco).
2 min read · 25 January 2010
Rhode Island already has a private equity pro running for Governor (Rory Smith of Nautic Partners), so why not a venture capitalist running for Treasurer? That venture capitalist is Gina Raimondo, a general partner of Point Judith Capital. She helped found Providence-based Point Judith in 2002, after having spent three years running fund development and leading a handful healthcare deals for Village Ventures (Point Judith is part of the Village Ventures network). Her Point Judith portfolio companies include GetWellNetwork, NABsys, Novare Surgical and Spirus Medical. "I can think of no one I would rather have as the steward of the public's capital," says Matt Harris, a managing general partner of Village Ventures.
2 min read · 21 January 2010
Vance Vanier has joined personalized genomics company Navigenics as president and CEO. He previously was a partner with Navigenics investor Mohr Davidow Ventures. Navigenics has raised over $25 million in VC funding, from MDV, Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital.
3 min read · 21 January 2010
Element Partners, a Philadelphia-based VC firm focused on the cleantech and energy markets, has promoted Sam Gabbita to the position of partner. He joined the firm in 2006 as a senior associate, and leads the firm's investment efforts in the alternative fuels space.
2 min read · 21 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
Institutional Venture Partners has promoted Jules Maltz to the position of principal, with a focus on Internet and software companies. He joined the firm in 2008 as a vice president, and has worked on such deals as Spiceworks, Twitter and Yext.
2 min read · 13 January 2010
