Evan Vitale

Accounting Professional

Evan Vitale – Google VC Director Resigns

by

By Evan Vitale

Let’s take a look at what venture capital stories are making headline this week.

According to Financial Times,  Bill Maris, the executive who built Google’s venture capital arm into one of Silicon Valley’s most prolific backers of start-ups has quit, in the latest sign of turnover among the internet group’s longest-standing leaders.

The full story is here: http://on.ft.com/2b17K12

Bloomberg is reporting that venture capital is the worst performing asset for Calpers – California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

Returns for VC holdings at the nation’s largest public pension fund were 7 percent over the last five years and 5.6 percent over the last decade, according to a presentation prepared for the board. The investments lagged behind all other private-equity assets for Calpers, partly due to “modestly decreased” activity in venture-backed initial public offerings, the presentation said.

The details are here: http://bloom.bg/2aV4uF6

Do you need some venture capital tips? The Telegraph Connect has some, thanks to Hernandez Gallardo with White Star Capital.

The article is here: http://bit.ly/2aPbO5f

Alafair Biosciences, an Austin-based medical device startup, announced recently it has received $2 million in venture funding.

The story, in “Silicon Hills,” which covers technology news in Austin and San Antonio, says ATP Fund led the Series A investment with participation form existing and new investors including the UT Horizon Fund. To date, the company, founded in 2011, has raised $5.9 million.

The latest funds will help Alafair Biosciences expand its sales and marketing efforts and help with product development. As part of the deal, ATP Fund managing partner and representative Kyle Cox has joined Alafair’s board.

The full report can be found here: http://bit.ly/2b18Sll

Finally, in Nashville, Tennessee, a study shows that more of Nashville’s venture capital funds are being pumped into health care. In all, over the last 10 years, $1.6 billion has been poured into local startups – 60% of that went into health care.

Read the story here:  http://bit.ly/2b18Nhp

 

Evan Vitale – VC News Update!

by

By Evan Vitale

We’ve reached the half-way point in 2016 (can you believe it?), so let’s see what stories are making headlines in the world of venture capital.

The Cincinnati Business Courier has published an article announcing Blue Chip has launches a new venture capital fund.

Blue Chip Venture Co. has raised a $20 million fund to make follow-on investments to fuel growth at companies in which it has already invested.

Blue Chip Managing Director Jack Wyant calls the fund “the only two-year venture capital fund in existence.” Most venture capital funds have a 10-year time horizon. Blue Chip launched its last two funds – the fifth and sixth in its 26-year history – with five-year plans to return all capital to investors. Blue Chip has invested about $1 billion since 1990.

The article can be seen here: http://bit.ly/297lx6a.

Forbes has released an interesting infographic showing which industries attract the most venture capital. Can you guess which ones?

Echoing all of those success stories, software receives the largest slice of the VC pie by a considerable distance, accounting for 36.2 percent (nearly $12 billion) of all investment over the past year. Biotechnology was in second place with 17.3 percent ($5.7 billion) while media and entertainment rounded off the top three with 9.5 percent ($3.2 billion).

Check it out here: http://bit.ly/294C4KC

And, according to Quartz (http://qz.com), a new career in Silicon Valley might be in store for President Barack Obama.

In seven months, Barack Obama will leave the White House as president of the United States. He’s going to need a job. In an interview with Bloomberg on June 13, he hinted at the possibility of joining entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley.

Obama said “had I not gone into politics, I’d probably be starting some kind of business,” said Obama. “The skill set of starting my presidential campaigns—and building the kinds of teams that we did and marketing ideas—I think would be the same kinds of skills that I would enjoy exercising in the private sector. … The conversations I have with Silicon Valley and with venture capital pull together my interests in science and organization in a way I find really satisfying.”

The story is here: http://bit.ly/2989zsb

Evan Vitale – Venture Capital Headlines

by

By Evan Vitale

What’s new in the world of venture capital news? Here are some of the top stories making the rounds over the past week or so.

Finsmes reports that _Underscore.VC, a Boston, MA-based and newly formed venture capital firm, has closed its $75 million inaugural fund.

The fund – backed by Limited Partners including children’s hospitals, academic institutions, and global foundations – will invest in in Seed-to-A venture rounds of Cloud Intelligence startups.

Co-Founded by John Pearce,  Operating Partner, Michael J. Skok, Investing Partner and C.A. Webb, Community Partner, the firm is built on what it calls “_Cores“, which are curated communities of founders, entrepreneurs, and operators, who are motivated to give back beyond the investment opportunity.

You can catch up on the news here: http://bit.ly/1ty82Ua

Stephen McIntyre will be replaced by Mark Little, the former RTE journalist and presenter, founder and former CEO of Storyful.

He is currently Twitter’s Vice-President of Media for Europe and Africa.

Stephen McIntyre is to join Frontline Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm founded by Shay Garvey and Will Prendergast with offices in Dublin and London.

The story is here: http://bit.ly/24SKC7i

According to the Register-Guard, a new venture capital fund wants to increase money flow to Eugene-Oregon area start-ups.

Early stage venture capital, which has been scarce in the Eugene-Springfield area, may start becoming a bit more plentiful this summer because of a new fund that is trying to reach entrepreneurs in underserved areas in the Pacific Northwest.

In January, entrepreneur and investor Nitin Rai launched Elevate Capital, a Portland-based venture capital firm. The firm’s Elevate Capital Fund aims to raise $10 million from investors in the next 12 months. About $1 million of the $10 million will be raised from Willamette Valley investors, with plans to plow most of it back into the Willamette Valley, said Rai, Elevate Capital’s managing director.

On Thursday, Elevate Capital announced that Meyer Memorial Trust had stepped up as lead investor in the venture fund by investing $2 million.

You can read the rest of the story here: http://bit.ly/1Pw68aO

Evan Vitale – Latest VC News!

by

By Evan Vitale

Here’s the latest news in the ever-changing world of venture capital.

HealthcareITNews is reporting that Apixio raises $19 million in venture capital to advance cognitive computing for healthcare.

Cognitive computing, along with its technological brethren artificial intelligence and machine learning are wading into the provider space now. IT consultancy IDC, in fact, predicted that by 2018 nearly one-third of healthcare systems will be running cognitive analytics to extract real-world evidence from patient data that can inform personalized treatment.

A raft of technology stalwarts and startups are rushing into the fray, including IBM Watson and rivals Dell and Hewlett-Packard, as well as Luminoso, Alchemy API, Digital Reasoning, Highspot, Lumiata, Sentient Technologies, Enterra, IPSoft and Next IT, according to a 2015 report from Deloitte.

You can read the entire article here: http://bit.ly/22qeus0

TechCrunch has published an interesting article on “The reality of augmented and virtual reality venture capital.”

AR/VR is the new hotness. VCs invested $1.7 billion in the 12 months leading to March 2016, $1.2 billion of that in the first quarter of this year alone. There are four AR/VR unicorns already (Magic Leap, Oculus, Blippar, MindMaze). Big numbers, very exciting. But as DFJ Partner Bubba Murarka says, “not all VCs have taken the red pill yet.”

The article is here: http://tcrn.ch/1TwXY8Y

The New York has published a piece on “Inside the Venture-Capital Arm of Sesame Street.”

In February, the Sesame Workshop launched Sesame Ventures, a fund that will work with established venture-capital firms to invest in what the company refers to as “mission-aligned” education-technology startups. (That mission is to make kids “smarter, stronger, and kinder.”) Its first such partnership is a joint fund, Collab+Sesame, created in conjunction with Collaborative Fund, an early-stage investor based in New York City. On Monday, Sesame Ventures announced a partnership with Reach Capital, a seed fund, based in Palo Alto, that focuses on educational technology.

The article can been seen here: http://bit.ly/1WP2AIK

Evan Vitale – Latest VC News!

by

By Evan Vitale

Here’s what’s new in the fast-paced world of venture capital:

According to the New York Times, Xfund, a beleaguered venture capital firm that has put money into start-ups like the genetics company 23andMe and the real estate outfit Zumper, is breaking new and belligerent ground in the normally discreet world of technology investors.

A complaint filed on Friday in Santa Clara County Superior Court in California by Hugo Van Vuuren, one Xfund founder, against Patrick S. Chung, the other founder, and the fund itself, includes accusations of secret contract amendments, bullying and schoolyard name-calling.

Mr. Chung called Mr. Van Vuuren a “spiteful moron” and “a trivial person pursuing trivial things” in emails, according to court documents. Mr. Chung also wrote that working with Mr. Van Vuuren was “like working with a retarded person” and that Mr. Van Vuuren would be worth more “dead than alive once we have key-man insurance.”

You can read the rest of the mid-slinging here: http://nyti.ms/27Db8FN

The St. Louis Business Journal, More money is being invested in startups developing blockchain technology, which is behind the bitcoin digital currency.

The amount of money venture capitalists have invested in the first quarter of 2016 — $173 million spread across 39 deals — eclipsed the sum of capital invested in similar companies over the entire second half of 2015.

Some of that money found its way to St. Louis.

Read more about it here: http://bit.ly/1WDu5Fb

Bloomberg.com asks the question: “Is There a Venture Capital Bubble in China?”

Find out here: http://bloom.bg/1NzZbKn

The Financial Post is reporting venture capital surged to a new record in the first quarter while private equity investment contracted modestly on the back of declining oil and gas activity, a new report from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association says.

The value of venture capital investments made in Q1 surged to $838 million, nearly double the amount recorded during the same period last year. Growth was driven by large deals in British Columbia and Ontario, plus the $58 million investment made in Manitoba firm, Farmer’s Edge. That deal involved a group of companies led by Japan’s Mitsui & Co.

More details are available here: http://bit.ly/1sBfRIj

 

 

Evan Vitale – Latest VC Headlines

by

By Evan Vitale

Here are the latest stories and headlines that are making the rounds in venture capital news!

According to the Wall Street Journal, venture-capital firms are raising money at the highest rate in more than 15 years, even as the values of some once-hot startups have begun to cool.

With the quarter nearly over, U.S. venture funds have collected about $13 billion, which would be the largest total since the dot-com boom in 2000, according to preliminary data from Dow Jones VentureSource.

Many prestigious venture firms have raised new billion-dollar funds in recent weeks, including Accel Partners and Founders Fund. Other big-name firms like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Andreessen Horowitz are also looking to raise funds in the coming months, according to people familiar with the matter.

The full story is here: http://on.wsj.com/1RpO4TZ

The New York Times is reporting that despite a turbulent market and dwindling investor appetite for stakes in private start-ups, the robo-adviser firm Betterment has received $100 million from venture capital investors, pushing its valuation to $700 million, nearly double its value this time last year.

The Swedish investment firm Kinnevik led the investment round, which also included the previous investors — Bessemer Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, Anthemis Group and Francisco Partners.

Betterment says it will use the money to increase product development and expand its business. It is its largest investment round yet.

The full story can be found here: http://nyti.ms/1RHKQXy

What are the latest trends in angel and venture capital investments?

The Upstate Business Journal says the Angel Resource Institute and the National Venture Capital Association recently released their annual reports for 2015, and the South Carolina Secretary of State recently reported 2015 numbers for the state’s Angel Investor Tax Credit.

A quick study of the data reveals several insights and trends worth noting for those of us working to improve the environment for early stage capital formation in the Upstate and beyond.  By many measures, 2015 was a record-setting year – but beneath the surface, disturbances began to create waves that entrepreneurs and investors shouldn’t ignore.

Catch the report here: http://bit.ly/236aWM6

Evan Vitale – What’s New In VC News?

by

By Evan Vitale

Well-known sports agent Leigh Steinberg is launching a venture capital initiative. Steinberg Ventures will invest in emerging companies and startups in sports and entertainment.

Steinberg Ventures is a partnership with private equity firm Alpha Strategies, led by founder and President Jay Rodgers. It will leverage relationships and opportunities sourced primarily through the Steinberg Sports & Entertainment agency, led by Steinberg and Chief Operating Officer Chris Cabott.

You can read the rest of the story here: bit.ly/202u228

The Riverside Company (formerly VSS Riverside) has added PRIMA Eye Group to its Independent Doctors of Optometric Care (IDOC) platform. PRIMA provides consulting services and purchasing programs to independent optometrists in the U.S.
Based in Atlanta, PRIMA serves nearly 400 practices representing almost 900 optometrists. PRIMA is a consulting firm and alliance devoted to helping independent optometrists through every stage of their optometric business, providing one-on-one consulting from a team of experts in marketing, human resources and practice financial analysis to help grow practice revenue.

The full story is here: bit.ly/1JlOdGe

A recent Wall Street Journal blog suggests that biotech venture investors are expecting a slowdown this year despite coming off a record 2015 investing season.

The blog, written by Brian Gormley, says “while fourth-quarter venture capital funding slid in most industries amid fears of an economic slowdown, biotechnology investment sprinted ahead.

The question is how long the run can last.

“Total U.S. venture funding reached $72.30 billion in 2015, its highest level since 2000, despite fourth-quarter investment declines in consumer services, information technology, and other markets, according to industry tracker Dow Jones VentureSource. Biotech was an exception, capturing $2.47 billion last quarter, a 25% jump from Q4 of 2014. A record, $8.95 billion pumped into biotech for the year drove total medical investment to a new peak of $16.10 billion. That was 34% above the previous high of $12.04 billion, reached in 2014.”

Read the entire blog post here: on.wsj.com/1RVvEvh

Evan Vitale – What’s New in VC News?

by

By Evan Vitale

Good news is coming out of Washington, DC as venture capital deals have hit their highest point since 2001.

According to the Washington Post, a few large deals during the fourth quarter, helped 2015 become a big year for investors and startups. In all, 29 DC firms received over $550 million in venture capital last quarter, a 53% increase from 2014, according to a report released recently by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the National Venture Capital Association.

During 2015, DC companies were able to secure 169 deals totaling $1.41 billion – up from 197 deals totaling $1.09 billion in 2014.

You can read the full Washington Post article here: bit.ly/1WqBC6B

* * *

Meanwhile, companies in Wisconsin raised $87.8 million of venture capital in 2015, according to a national report printed recently by the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.

In all, 23 Wisconsin companies pulled in $87.8 million, which is only a fraction of the $58.8 billion in venture capital that went into high-potential companies across the United States.

While Wisconsin’s numbers were better last year than in 2014, the state’s share of the national venture capital continues to remain low.

Biotech and medical device companies raised a combine $56.8 million, or 64% of all the state’s venture funding in 2015.

You can read the story here: bit.ly/1ZJHo8V

* * *

According to The Seattle Times, the state of Washington – which generally ranks among the top five states in venture capital investments – dropped to No. 12 during the fourth quarter of 2015.

Startups in Washington raised $167.7 million with 25 deals during the quarter – a 57% drop from the same period a year ago, when $389.6 million was invested in 29 deals, according to the MoneyTree report released recently from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.

You can read the full article here: bit.ly/1U9csYQ

Evan Vitale – Venture Capital News

by

By Evan Vitale

Let’s take a look at recent Venture Capital (VC) news!

According to GeekWire.com, there was good news and bad news for venture capital activity in the Pacific Northwest. Here, venture capital activity was down 59% in the fourth quarter. However, overall, VC activity was up for 2015.

Last year, a record $2.4 billion was invested in 374 Pacific Northwest startup firms – up from $2.3 billion in 2014 and $1.4 billion invested in 2013.

Not bad!

From the Wall Street Journal, Healthline Media Inc. has raised $95 million from Summit Partners to compete with WebMD.com in the market for consumer-health information. Healthline.com was launched 2006 and provides health information to users through content licensed from third parties. The company was relaunched in 2012 with original content.

Also from WJS, a wine app called “Vivino” has raised $25 million in a Series B round of venture funding. Vivino Inc. is a mobile app for wine reviews and shopping. It lets users scan the label on a bottle of wine using their smartphones and access user-generated ratings and reviews. The new round of funding was led by SCP Neptune International. Other investors included Balderton Capital and Melo7 Tech Partners.

From the Houston Business Journal, a new venture capital fund has launched in Houston, Texas. Digitech is a crowdfunding-meets-private-equity style of venture capital where unaccredited investors will invest $50 to $100 per month. Digitech is targeting both software and technology-based companies, as well as biotech and healthcare. You can read the full article here:

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/2016/01/exclusive-new-venture-capital-fund-launches-in.html

KidPass, Inc., according to the Wall Street Journal, has started to sell $49 monthly subscriptions that give families access to many children’s activities, including sports, music classes, indoor play spaces, museums, and more. The idea, says co-founder and chief executive Solomon Liou is to give parents a “starting point whenever they are looking for any kind of activity for their children.”

You can check out KidPass here: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2016/01/11/seed-funded-kidpass-launches-childrens-activity-subscription-service/

Evan Vitale – VC Money Tight in 2016?

by

By Evan Vitale

The venture crystal ball, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, reveals that investors are predicting fewer unicorns and tighter purse strings for the upcoming year.

TechFlash Editor Cromwell Schubarth says most of the investors he interviewed at the conclusion of 2015, says the booming trend of venture capital funding is slowing down. Perhaps, we’ve been on a good ride for such a long time, that it’s likely things are going to calm down a bit.

You can read the entire article here:

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/blog/techflash/2015/12/vc-crystal-ball-investors-predict-fewer-unicorns.html

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal says the Federal Reserve’s quarter-point rate increase will have very little immediate impact on the startup fundraising environment. However, gradual tightening is expected over the next 12 months. Will this leave companies short of startup cash before they start to see a profit?

Check out what capital investors are saying about this potential cash crunch here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/12/17/vc-mailbag-startup-funding-crunch-is-likely-in-2016/

However, once you dig down far enough, you’ll always be able to find some positive news from a venture capitalist.

According to CNBC, New Enterprise Associations general manager Rick Yang says 2016 will be a big year for companies working in virtual reality, edtech and e-commerce.

VC money might be tight, he says, in the first part of 2016 as compared to 2015, but he doesn’t see early-stage companies slowing down. Facebook and Apple, he predicts will look to “acquire more startups to maintain growth and obtain new technologies,” Yang says.

“I don’t think that any of the big tech companies are scared of acquiring companies right now, they still have quite a bit of cash on the balance sheets. And as I kind of mentioned in one of the previous questions, I do think they’re looking to other services outside of their core products for growth in the next year,” he said.

You can read the full article here:

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/31/one-venture-capitalists-predictions-for-2016.html