Intel Capital to Launch $300M ‘Ultrabook’ Fund. Intel Capital is set to unveil a $300 million investment fund for startups developing technology for its new “ultrabook” category of computers. The chipmaker showed off the computer design this May at the Computex trade show in Taipai, describing it as a cross between a lightweight laptop, such as a MacBook Air, and a tablet. The company hopes to be a supplier of microprocessors for the machines. On Thursday, its venture capital arm, Intel Capital, is set to announce the creation of the fund.
The fund is expected to back startups developing new user experiences, longer battery life, slimmer components and new platform technologies. It expects the fund to be invested in three to four years. The ultrabook is Intel’s latest attempt to play a bigger role in the emerging category of low-power, super slim computing devices – including tablets – expected to dominate the PC market in coming years. China mulls more venture capital tax breaks to help SMEs. Kaiser Permanente’s mysterious venture capital arm adds unnamed partners, says fund is now $170M. Venture group building a $50M fund for new biotech investments. A life sciences venture fund with a keen eye for Midwestern biotech companies has rounded up $25 million for its new fund. And Hopen Life Science Ventures in Grand Rapids, MI says it's keeping the fund open for now as it shoots for $50 million by the end of the year. Hopen rounded up its first fund in 2006 and later invested in seven biotechs, including Metabolic Solutions Development and Intervention Insights, a bioinformatics company in Grand Rapids.
It's hoping to add 8 to 12 more early-stage life sciences companies to the portfolio with its second fund. "Similar in focus to our first fund, Fund II will target early-stage life science companies with remarkable innovations that lead to improved healthcare outcomes and/or reduced healthcare system costs. Detroit Venture Partners charges ahead with 8 VC investments. Detroit Venture Partners is moving aggressively to invest in local companies. The downtown Detroit-based venture capital has funded eight start-ups and has another two under contract. More deals are in the offing. "We expect to do 12 investments this year," says Josh Linkner, CEO of Detroit Venture Partners. "Most of them are local. Detroit Venture Partners started late last year with money and resources from three primary investors, Linkner (chairman of ePrize), Dan Gilbert (CEO of Quicken Loans) and Brian Hermelin (Rockbridge Growth Equity).
Among the companies Detroit Venture Partners has invested in are hiredMYway (a staffing firm) and Are You a Human, a tech firm that is reinventing CAPTCHA technology. The co-founders of Detroit Venture Partners started the company as a way of helping fulfill Gilbert's Webward vision of creating a concentration of technology-based companies in the lower Woodward corridor between the Detroit River and Grand Circus Park. McNamee Promises to Make Seed Investments from Buyout Shop Elevation Partners. What’s up with Roger McNamee and Elevation Partners?
This 29-year investment veteran and Elevation co-founder vows he will go seed stage. Yup, that’s the same private equity firm presently making “large scale investments in market-leading media, entertainment and consumer-related businesses.” So what’s afoot? McNamee discussed his new approach late last month during an address to the Paley Center for Media, a Los Angeles-based forum.
He acknowledged having changed his focus several times during his career. Apparently the time is right to shift again. “I’m doing another 180-degree turn,” said the Elevation managing director, who also co-founded buyout shop Silver Lake Partners and plays rhythm guitar in the rock band Moonalice (he’s third from the left in the photo). Of course that also means a 180-degree turn for the Sand Hill Road firm, or at least a 90-degree one. PeHUB sought comment from McNamee, but has not heard back. Guggenheim Venture Partners Becomes Alara Capital. NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alara Capital, formerly Guggenheim Venture Partners, which was an affiliate joint venture of Guggenheim Partners, LLC, has spun into a new private equity and venture capital firm unaffiliated with Guggenheim. “We are grateful to Guggenheim for helping us start our first fund and for the firm's help with the spin out and launch of new funds as Alara” The entire GVP team has moved to Alara Capital including managing directors Mike Burns and Eric Rothfus, who will lead Alara’s operations.
“We are grateful to Guggenheim for helping us start our first fund and for the firm's help with the spin out and launch of new funds as Alara,” said Rothfus. “Guggenheim has enjoyed its association with Mike and his team and we look forward to Alara Capital's future success and expansion as a leading venture firm,” said Guggenheim Vice Chairman Dominic Curcio. About Alara Capital About Guggenheim Partners. CMEA, Redpoint and USVP Look to Cash in on Intermolecular’s IPO. (Reuters) – Intermolecular Inc. filed with U.S. regulators on Friday to raise $200 million in an initial public offering of its common stock. The company develops proprietary technology and intellectual property through paid collaborative development programs with its customers in the semiconductor and clean energy industries. Intermolecular said in its S-1 filing that it has engaged in paid programs for 17 customers, including GlobalFoundries, SanDisk and Toshiba.
The San Jose, Calif. -based company told the U.S. Intermolecular, which was founded in 2004, has raised $73.5 million in venture capital from CMEA Ventures; Redpoint Ventures; Symyx Technologies Inc., which merged with Accelrys Inc. The company’s S-1 filing shows that Redpoint is its largest shareholder, with 15.19 million shares (or 20.9% of the total), followed by CMEA, with 15.1 million shares (20.77%); USVP, with 10.75 million shares (14.80%); Symyx Technologies, with 7.94 million shares (10.92%); and ATMI Inc. Emergence Capital Raising Third Fund. The San Mateo-based venture firm Emergence Capital is in the process of raising its third fund with a target of $200 million, according to a regulatory filing.
The form says that the first sale has yet to occur. VentureBeat first reported on the filing earlier this afternoon. Emergence raised its first, $125 million, fund in 2004, with backing from investors including CalPERS, Fairview Capital Partners, and the University of Michigan. Of the companies the firm backed from that fund, most have not yet had an exit. However one company, the on-demand-performance outfit SuccessFactors, carried out a successful public offering in 2007. Two other companies, Adapt Technologies and Krugle, were acquired for undisclosed amounts. (The companies raised $9.8 million and $8.38 million, respectively.) Among the startups in that second fund is Yammer, a three-and-a-half-year-old whose tools allow companies to create internal social networks. Emergence has also backed YouSendIt out of its second fund.
Virgin Green Fund to Launch Fund II. Virgin Green Fund, a private equity firm affiliated with Sir Richard Branson, the media and airline mogul, plans to launch a second fund, the Virgin Green Fund II LP, shortly, a person familiar with the plans told Buyouts, peHUB’s sister magazine. The new fund will target $300 million and is expected to close by the end of 2011, the person said. The San Francisco and London-based growth capital firm invests mainly in renewable energy companies and enterprises that develop efficient ways to use resources.
It invests primarily in North American and European firms that have already achieved a measure of growth, helping to distinguish it from the many venture capital firms that operate in the renewable energy space. Like Virgin’s debut fund, Fund II will be earmarked for investments of between $10 million and $30 million. Branson is a significant investor in the firm’s initial fund, which raised $220 million and closed in 2008. Bill Ready Joines Accel Partners. Bill Ready has joined Accel Partners as an executive in residence. Ready joined Accel from iPay Technologies, a division of Jack Henry and Associates, where he served as president. Accel Partners, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital and growth equity firm, today announced the addition of Bill Ready as an Executive in Residence. Bill brings a wealth of leadership and executive experience from operating and advising high growth technology companies in the financial technology space.
Bill joins Accel from iPay Technologies, a division of Jack Henry and Associates, where he served as President, guiding the company through a period of rapid revenue and earnings growth and its eventual sale to Jack Henry for $300M. Previously, Mr. “Bill will be a tremendous addition to Accel,” commented Ryan Sweeney, Partner, Accel Partners. “In addition to working with Todd during our time at iPay, I have enjoyed getting to know the partnership at Accel over the last year,” said Ready. Scoop: Benchmark’s Lasky to Ease Out of VC, Back into Entrepreneurship.
Benchmark General Partner Mitch Lasky is dialing back his role with the venture firm and likely will not work all the way through its most recent fund, peHUB has learned. LPs in Benchmark’s seventh fund (raised earlier this year) were told Lasky will likely not be around for the full life of the fund and won’t be back for fund VIII, sources familiar with the situation told peHUB.
To be clear, Lasky is a fully participating GP in Benchmark’s seventh fund and will remain in that capacity for between 18 and 24 months, the sources said. A Benchmark spokesman said the firm has a policy of not commenting on LP-related issues. It is likely that Lasky will return to the gaming business, said a source familiar with Lasky’s plans.
Lasky is the third GP to begin transitioning out of Benchmark this year. “I just want to have more flexibility than the role of a managing general partner would provide,” Kagle told peHUB at the time. Benchmark’s seventh fund closed with $425 million earlier this year. Mark Suster: Understanding the Changes in the Software & Venture Capital Industries. Vendors who are part of the IAB TCF15Reject allAccept all Purposes (Consent):Store and/or access information on a deviceDevelop and improve servicesFeatures:Match and combine data from other data sourcesLink different devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automaticallyCategories of data:IP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersProbabilistic identifiersAuthentication-derived identifiersBrowsing and interaction dataUser-provided dataNon-precise location dataPrecise location dataUsers’ profilesPrivacy choicesYour Consent:Consent expiry: 180 daysCookie expiry may be refreshed during the lifetime.Tracking method: Cookies onlyShow details.
Pehub. Big companies such as Cisco Systems and Lockheed Martin consider cybersecurity to be top strategic sales priorities. So will venture-backed startups benefit as these corporations look for new products and technologies? Allegis Capital founder Robert Ackerman believes the answer is yes. Ackerman (pictured here) points to at least 10 venture-back companies that have been acquired in the past 100 days as buyers large and small went shopping.
He predicts more deals will follow and says many will receive premium valuations because of the strategic needs of the acquirers. Security is becoming the fourth leg of the IT stool after computing, communications and storage, Ackerman says. He could be right. In the years since 9/11, cybersecurity breaches have become greater threats. In August, Gartner pointed to security software as one of the fastest growing areas of the enterprise software market. Vendors appear to recognize the shift. The opportunity could spill over into venture. Alta Communications. May the radiant smiles of David Retik and Christopher Mello continue to brighten the lives of others..... Dave Retik and Chris Mello were both passengers on American Airlines Flight #11 that was involved in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Alta Communications created the David E. Retik and Christopher D. Mello Foundation (a 501(c)(3) organization) to provide a permanent legacy in honor of our lost friends and colleagues. Dave and Chris can never be replaced, but we can perpetuate the love, generosity and energy of these talented young men by contributing to the Retik-Mello Foundation. Donations can be sent to the David E. Attn: Kathy Flaherty Alta Communications 100 Federal St., 30th Flr.