Venture
Update Vol V, #3, April, 2001
Charlotte - Beacon E-Commerce, developer of online industrial filtration marketplace eFilter (www.efilter.com), closed the final phase of its first round of funding with $2 million, bringing the round's total investment to $8 million for continued development of eFilter and two other sites: ePlantengineer and eCompressedair.com. Contact: Steven E. Moellers (704-398-7575).
RTP - Bloodhound Software (www.bhsoftware.com), an application service provider focusing on medical claims overpayment protection services, raised $11 million in Series C funding led by Noro-Moseley Partners with participation from Delta Capital Management, Eno River Capital, SSM Ventures and the Wakefield Group. Contact: Steven Bridges (919-991-1117 x127).
Raleigh - Encelle, Inc. , developer of a tissue regeneration technology, has closed $4 million of a $7 million third round. The rest is expected to close in April. The money will pay for clinical trials of an injectable treatment that helps rapidly heal skin ulcers with minimal scars. Contact: (919-877-8101)
RTP - Hatteras Networks (www.hatterasnetworks.com), developer of broadband network infrastructure systems, closed a $14 million Series B round. The company plans to use the money for product development. In July 2000, it raised $14 million in its Series A. Contact: Kevin Sheehan (919-991-5486).
Raleigh - LiveWire Logic, developer of CRM software, secured $2.7 million in first-round funding led by Atlantis Group, Gray Ventures in Atlanta and truePilot. The start-up named Bill Warner as CEO and Marge Nordstrom as vice president of business development. Contact: Shawn Ramsey Kroboth (919-806-4361).
Charlotte - MidGard Information Systems (www.midgardis.com), developer of inventory management solutions, closed a $2 million round of private equity financing from Centura Capital in Charlotte and Raleigh-based Oberlin Capital. The company plans to use the funds as working capital and to fuel rapid growth. Contact: Jay Rao (704-343-0057).
Charlotte - NuTech Solutions Inc.(www.nutechsolutions.com), maker of adaptive software to help companies make better use of their databases, received $3 million of a $10 million ongoing private round. The company expects to close the entire $10 million in Q2. Contact: Matt Michalewicz (704-549-4480).
Charlotte - Peak 10 (www.peak-10.com), an Internet data center and infrastructure provider, raised $18.5 million in its Series B round led by Seaport Capital of New York. The company will use the funds for the build-out of its technology gateway and to continue to improve its services in the Southeast. Contact: Beatrice Edwards (704-583-3197).
RTP - Red Hat (www.redhat.com), provider of software and services for the Linux operating system and other open source technology, acquired Planning Technologies, an Atlanta-based consulting firm that focuses on network infrastructure services for $47 million in stock. Contact: Melissa London (919-547-0012).
Raleigh - TogetherSoft (www.togethersoft.com), provider of software development technologies and services, raised $20 million in first round financing from TA Associates. The new funds will be devoted to strategic growth, sales and marketing, R&D, and product development. Contact: Alison Freeland (919-865-0576).
Durham - Triangle Pharmaceuticals (www.tripharm.com), developer of anti-AIDS and hepatitis B drugs, completed two private placements with total gross proceeds of $58.2 million. In a separate transaction, the company closed the sale of 200,000 shares of Series B preferred stock to institutional buyers for $12 million. Contact: Robin Fastenau (919-493-5980).
Cary - GadgetSpace (www.gadgetspace.com), a service provider that enables enterprise applications for wireless protocols, appointed Ron Berleson as CEO and Major Thomas as CFO. Former CEO and founder Dave Motsinger will remain chairman and CTO. Contact: Corey Williams (919-654-8231).
Durham - Inspire Pharmaceuticals (www.inspirepharm.com), will present positive Phase II results of INS365 Ophthalmic for the treatment of dry eye disease at the upcoming Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting. Contact: Kristen Hammer (212-696-4455).
Durham - Intersouth Partners, (www.intersouth.com), an early-stage venture capital firm, appointed Robert M. Bell as a venture partner. Bell was recently vice president of Research at Glaxo Wellcome. Contact: Andrea Straw (919-493-6640 x108).
Research Triangle Park - Industry visionary Dr. James Goodnight, cofounder and CEO of SAS, the largest privately held software company in the world, will keynote Venture 2001, April 17-18 - CED's 18th annual Research Triangle venture conference. Thirty-five companies ranging from seed to mezzanine have been selected to present. For details on presenting companies and registration, visit www.cednc.org/venture/2001, or call 919.549.7500.
Durham - Pinpoint Networks (www.pinpoint.com), a wireless broadband and search technology developer, appointed Tony Blake as CEO. Blake has more than 16 years of experience in the telecom industry. The company is raising $20 million in its Series B round of funding, after an initial Series A round of $5 million in 1999. Contact: Rufus Manning (919-251-7021).
Porivo Technologies, Inc.
RTP-based Porivo Technologies develops ways to use the downtime of corporate and personal PCs to improve the Internet's performance and scalability. Porivo's core technology hooks up idle processing power from individual users' PCs across the country and around the world - via the Internet - to work on tough computational problems requiring lots of processing power.
Its first product is peerReviewSM, a distributed Web performance testing application that provides real-world analysis of Web site performance from the end user's perspective. Users of Porivo PEER will help test the performance of high volume Web sites while they earn sweepstakes entries for cash and prizes. Porivo is the first company to develop real-world business applications offering a unique, "last-mile" perspective on Web performance.
"By allowing our customers to view Web performance from the actual PCs, Internet connections and configurations of their end-users," says CEO Will Holmes, "Peer-Review provides valuable data on the quality of experience delivered to users - leading to optimized site design, development and content delivery strategies."
Founded in 1999, Porivo targets a $4.5 billion market that is expected to grow significantly. The company is raising a $5 to $7 million Series B round of financing. Porivo secured $2 million in first round financing in from the Aurora Funds and a private investor, following a $200,000 seed round, also from the Aurora Funds.
truePilot
"There is no better place to build a company than
RTP, North Carolina," asserts Michael Brader-Araje,
CEO and founder of truePilot (www.truepilot.com),
an early-stage investment firm specializing in
Internet and wireless infrastructure companies.
He should know. Prior to starting truePilot in May 2000, Brader-Araje built RTP's OpenSite Technologies, which later sold to Siebel Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SEBL) for $542 million.
The truePilot name was inspired by a quote from Mark Twain: "Your true pilot cares nothing about anything on earth but the river, and your pride, your occupation surpasses the pride of kings."
The firm typically invests from $50,000 to $500,000, but Brader-Araje considers truePilot more than a venture capital firm. Instead, he positions it as "a powerful business accelerator" that provides consulting and other services to its portfolio companies. The firm has invested in four Triangle companies so far: FullSeven Technologies, Inc.; HowStuffWorks.com; WindWire; and Zoom Culture, Inc.
"I prefer to invest in local companies, so that my staff and I can work closely with them," he says of his decision to base operations in the Triangle.
"I also think that North Carolina offers entrepreneurs some very unique benefits: access to investors -- both VC and angel," he continues, "successful entrepreneurs willing to share experience and advice, a tremendous talent pool, and organizations like CED."
For more information about the programs listed below, visit www.cednc.org or call 919.549.7500.
Venture 2001 - The Southeast's Premier Venture
Conference
April 17 - 18, 2001
The Friday Center, Chapel Hill
Triangle Venture Breakfast Series
April 27, 2001
Marriott at RTP
7:30 a.m.-9:00 a.m.
Biotech 2001 - Moving Into the Biotech
Century
May 21, 2001
The Friday Center, Chapel Hill
8:15 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
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 Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Kilpatrick Stockton, L.L.P.
Research Triangle Venture Update is published by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), a non-profit organization located in Research Triangle Park, N.C.