Venture
Update Vol III, #12, December, 1999
Research Triangle Park—SciQuest.com™, Inc. (www.sciquest.com), a developer of an Internet site for scientific equipment sales, raised $120 million by selling 7.5 million shares of its common stock in its initial public offering in November 1999. The stock, which were initially priced at $16 per share, rose as high as $38.875 per share. Contact: Michele Fasano (617.374.4207).
Raleigh—Total Sports Inc. (www.totalsports.com), an online sports news media company that provides real-time, event-centered sports coverage, received $35.5 million in Series D financing in November 1999. Investors included Access Technology, Asdale Limited, EGL Holdings, InterBrew/Labatt, Sycamore Venture, Technology Crossover Ventures, Trans Cosmos USA Inc., WinStar New Media and Zilkha Capital Partners. The company filed a Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 12, 1999, for a proposed $50 million initial public offering of its common stock. Contact: Meredith Geisler (919.573.8141).
Cary—XS Inc. (www.xsinc.com), an e-commerce exchange site for trading agricultural products, received a $20 million round of financing from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Private Equity in November 1999. Contact: Fulton Breen (877.497.2436).
Morrisville—Foveon Corp. (www.foveon.com), a developer of Internet data and software services which provides neutral third party reference data for e-commerce sites, received $16 million in venture financing in October 1999. Investors included ABS Ventures/DB Alex Brown, Canaan Partners and Draper Atlantic. Contact: Mike Munsch (919.465.1891).
Durham—ICAgen (www.icagen.com), a drug discovery company for small molecule drugs that target ion channels in the cardiovascular, central nervous and other systems, closed on $19 million in venture financing in November 1999. Investors included Alta Partners, Chase Capital Partners, Fugijin, Hoegh Invest AS, New Medical Technologies and Venrock Associates. Contact: Kay Wagoner (919.941.5206).
Durham—Inspire Pharmaceuticals (www.inspirepharm.com), a company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapeutics based on mucosal hydration and epithelial cell biology, received $12.4 million in venture financing in November 1999. Investors included New Medical Technologies and InterWest Partners. Contact: Gregory Mossinghoff (919.941.9777).
Morrisville—net32 (www.net32.com), a web-based seller of dental supplies, closed on $12.5 million in venture financing in November 1999. Investors included Acacia Venture Partners, C/max Capital, InterWest Partners and Sanderling Biomedical Ventures. Contact: Tom Cavanagh (919.462.9844)
Raleigh—MindLever.com (www.mindlever.com), a provider of global e-learning environments, received $4.075 million in first round financing in November 1999. Investors included Alliance Technology Ventures, Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds and the North Carolina Enterprise Fund. Contact: Salim Bhatia (919.875.0033).
Raleigh—Performaworks (www.performaworks.com), a developer of a Web-based program to evaluate employee performance, closed on $3 million in venture financing from Pequot Capital Management in October 1999. Performaworks was formerly named Mediappraise. Contact: James Perry (919.836.9986).
Cary—Virtus Corp. (www.virtus.com), a developer of interactive 3D software for the desktop, received $21 million in venture financing in November 1999. The company will use the financing to create two new companies that will use the Virtus technology. Contact: Mark Baric (919.467.9700).
Raleigh—StreamServe (www.streamserve.com), a developer of e-communication software solutions, purchased San Jose-based SigForms, a services provider of output management solutions, in October 1999 for a trade in stock. Contact: Ron Eagar (919.786.7315).
Morrisville—Tavve Software (www.tavve.com), a provider of network management software, formed an agreement with Unisys in November 1999. Under the three-year agreement, Unisys will have access to Tavve's core technology of performance monitoring and fault management software products. The agreement is projected to generate as much as $30 million in revenue. Contact: Michael Tschirret (919.460.1789).
New Developments
Durham—Analytical Sciences (www.asi.com), a
contract research organization, won a five-year
contract worth $7 million from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Under the contract,
Analytical Sciences will collect reports on the
adverse side effect arising from vaccinations.
Charlotte—Wakefield Group (www.wakefield.com), a venture capital firm that invests money from the Spangler family, has announced plans to open an office in the Research Triangle Park area. Capital currently invested by Wakefield combined with capital set aside for future investments exceeds $100 million. Contact: Thomas Nelson (704.372.0355).
Chapel Hill—Southern Assisted Living Inc. (www.carolinahouse.com) a developer and manager of assisted-living centers, announced plans to purchase 27 facilities in central and western North Carolina from Hunt Assisted Living in Virginia. Contact: Chris Hollister (919.932.1015).
Research Triangle Park—Council for Entrepreneurial Development (www.cednc.org) Executive Director Monica Doss was named the national "Supporter of the Year" at the1999 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards conference in Palm Springs, Calif. on November 13. The awards were sponsored by Ernst & Young, CNN, USA TODAY, NASDAQ/AMEX, CNNfn, and the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Research Triangle Park—The Council for
Entrepreneurial Development held the STREAK luncheon
on Nov. 30, 1999. The STREAK Quarterly Luncheon
showcases STREAK's premier emerging companies to the
entrepreneurial and investment communities. It is the
capstone event of STREAK's monthly program, CED's
mentoring program for young, high-growth companies
seeking equity investment. Presenters at the luncheon
were:
Blue Bolt Networks, a developer of an
e-commerce solution for the interior decorating and
design industry.
Centrigen Inc. a developer of an e-commerce
solution for contractors that simplifies and
streamlines the process of equipment acquisition and
fleet management.
On The
Up
NEOBUTLER INC.
At one time you had to have a boatload of money to
have a butler. Today, all you need is access to the
Internet. neoButler Inc. is a pan-Web navigation
service that resides on the browser and accompanies
you as you surf the Web. Your personal servant
provides content tailored to your interests and
performs automated tasks for you - even when you're
not on the Net.
"neoButler Inc. is leading a fundamental shift in how users of the Internet access information from site-based navigation, which requires users to go to a portal, vortal, or specific site of interest, to a horizontal, pan-Web navigation service that resides with the user, working on their behalf to help guide them through the information chaos that exists," explains CEO Roger Lingle.
The three founders, Lingle, David Quan, CTO, and Vik Chandra, vice president of research and development, are experienced having previously served at IBM, Cisco and Ganymede. One day at lunch, they explored fundamental business problems that might be solved with their expertise and hit upon a major problem: the combination of exploding content on the Internet and the declining skill level on average of Internet users. Thus, neoButler was born in July 1999.
By September, the company closed its first round of funding, securing $1.15 million from Draper Atlantic and angels. The my.neoButler service leverages strategic partnerships with leading Internet companies to provide value to their subscribers. Draper Atlantic's investment will be used to fund the expansion of business development activities and distribution channels in coordination with the launch of the my.neoButler service.
Executive Series: Session 1: The Art and Science
of Valuing Your Company
December 9, 1999
7:30 - 10:45 a.m.
CED Entrepreneurship Center, RTP
Mergers
and Acquisitions Seminar
January 11, 2000
Noon - 5:30 p.m.
Washington/Duke Hotel, Durham
Executive Series: Session 2: Negotiating Skills
and Strategies
January 27, 2000
7:30 - 10:45 a.m.
CED Entrepreneurship Center, RTP
Conference on Entrepreneurship
February 5
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
The R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center,
Duke University Campus
IPO
2000
March 7
Washington/Duke Hotel, Durham
Venture
2000
May 10 - 11
UNC Friday Center, Chapel Hill
Biotech
2000
May 31
UNC Friday Center, Chapel Hill
For more information about these events or to register, visit the CED Web site at www.cednc.org or call 919.549.7500.
CED is a private non-profit organization supported, in part, by corporate contributions, including funding from Atcom Business Telephone Systems, Carolina Power & Light and Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc.
Research Triangle Venture Update is published by
the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), a
non-profit organization located in Research Triangle
Park, N.C.
Editor Carolyn Foy, CED
P.O. Box 13353
RTP, NC 27709
Phone: 919.549.7500
Fax: 919.549.7405
Email: mcfoy@cednc.org