Sept 2011
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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.
China mulls more venture capital tax breaks to help SMEs | Reuters
SHANGHAI | Wed Aug 3, 2011 8:59pm EDT SHANGHAI Aug 4 (Reuters) - China's tax office is considering a plan to offer more tax incentives to venture capital companies when they invest in local small-and-medium enterprises, the China Securities Journal reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources. Venture capital firms already enjoy tax deductions of 70 percent of their investments when they put money in unlisted small-and-medium scale high tech firms, but the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) is considering widening the criteria to include investments for non-tech companies, the paper said. The paper separately cited a senior official at the National Development and Reform Commission as saying there was a need to improve current tax policies since they do not offer enough support to venture capital firms. Excessively stringent criteria also makes it difficult for the firms to claim deductions.Kaiser Permanente’s Kaiser Permanente Latest from The Business Journals Slideshow: Record crowd honors 100 Women of Influence Hospitals boost robotic surgery but training lags Bitter union dispute still dragging on Follow this company secretive Kaiser Permanente Ventures Kaiser Permanente Ventures Latest from The Business Journals Torax Medical gets FDA panel OK UT to spawn more startups Kaiser's venture capital arm adds unnamed partners Follow this company venture capital arm said Tuesday it has added two unnamed “external health plans” as limited partners, boosting the size of its VC fund to $170 million. The Kaiser unit didn’t identify the new limited partners or say how large the fund was before the recent mysterious cash infusion in its less-than-revealing press release . (And click here for background on the mystery fund .)
Kaiser Permanente’s mysterious venture capital arm adds unnamed partners, says fund is now $170M - San Francisco Business Times
Venture group building a $50M fund for new biotech investments - FierceBiotech
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.
TaskRabbit Has a Great Idea; Can It Work in This Economy?
It’s easy to appreciate the logic of the modern-day temp agency TaskRabbit . Through its Web platform, the three-year-old San Francisco-based company connects the unemployed or underemployed with busy people who can afford some extra help – to pick up dry cleaning, say, or assemble furniture. In fact, TaskRabbit was able to raise a $5 million Series A in May round led by Shasta Ventures to move beyond San Francisco and Boston — its test markets — to Los Angeles and Orange County. The service launches in New York next, then Chicago, then Seattle.
Alex Kinnier (Reuters) – Partners Jim Kim and Alex Kinnier will depart Khosla Ventures Aug. 15, leaving the firm short of two partners just months after it said it was raising a $1.05 billion fund, Reuters has learned. Both specialized in renewable energy, a focus of Khosla Ventures, but one that has been slow to reap big returns. Kinnier will start his own company, a move founding partner Vinod Khosla called “standard.”
Reuters Exclusive: Khosla Loses 2 Partners; Alex Kinnier to Do Startup, Jim Kim’s Plans Unknown
Hopen Life Science Ventures , a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based life science venture fund, has announced a first close of $25 million for it second fund, which has a $50 million target and will remain open to new LPs through January. The fund, which is expected to support between 8 and 12 investments, has already been used to invest in four companies, including the medical device makers NeoChord and Transcorp Spine.
Hopen Life Science Ventures Fund II Reaches $25M First Close
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.
Detroit Venture Partners charges ahead with 8 VC investments
Guggenheim Venture Partners Becomes Alara Capital | Business Wire
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. “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” 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.
Q: What did you think of Specific Media buying Myspace for $35 million ? A: I was surprised the price was so cheap. Thirty five million isn’t a lot if you can execute and take advantage of the asset. [They've] gotten a fair price.
New Canaan GP Warren Lee Talks Myspace, Twitter and Bubble in Social Media
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.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.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.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.