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| January 31, 2008 | Volume 12 Issue 5 |
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Editor: George Lipper | |
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It's Alive; the NetNews Archives Are Live. Long Live NetNews Thanks to Sam DeNies and our dedicated IT staff we're pleased to fulfill the wish of what so many of our readers have requested time and time again. We have created a 17,000-plus searchable database of the stories and studies that have made up NetNews back to 2001. It is searchable by category, by state by date or even by key word. Try it. You'll like it! One caution: some of the links track back to the genesis of NetNews and may have expired. Others may take you to a newspaper's archive, where they ask for money before granting access. But try it; and please tell us what you think: NetNews Achives (Please scroll down for the full story) -- Third Quarter Was a Moneymaker for VCs -- TheFunded Exposes Deal Terms, Including the Dreaded Liquidation Preferences -- Michigan Governor Proposes Additional Venture Fund & Business Tax Incentives -- Pfizer, Washington University Announce New Research Partnership -- UC San Diego Project Lauded for Startup Help -- Cleveland Clinic Has its Eyes on Becoming a Global Brand -- Regents: Create a Louisiana Innovation Alliance -- TiE Midwest and the Illinois Technology Development Alliance See a Prime Opportunity -- New Approach to Commercialize Scientific Concepts at the University of Memphis -- Governor Seeks Help from Wisconsin Business Leaders in Economy Transition Plans -- New Jersey Incubators Struggle to Keep Companies in State -- Gamble on Early-Stage Funding in Philly Is Paying Off for VCs -- Come Home to Kansas Initiative Seeks to Lure Back High-Tech Workers -- Less Money for Scientific Innovations May Push Scientists to Head to Other Countries -- Tracking the State of Innovation in the American Economy -- Illinois Beat Out Texas for FutureGen; Then DOE Pulls the Plug -- Maryland Incubator Study Shows Growing Economic Impact -- New York Cracks Down on Empire Zone Companies -- Cities, Private Companies Play the Incentives Game -- Seminars & Conferences Third Quarter Was a Moneymaker for VCs Last week we shared the data regarding 2007 fund-raising by venture capitalist, the best since the turn of the century. This week it's another feel good report. In the third quarter of 2007, reports that the trailing 12-month performance displays an 8.8% improvement: Red Herring NVCA Detailed Release Recent credit crunch and market woes be damned: Technology's most powerful deal makers have been on a winning streak. Companies that venture capitalists helped launch hauled in $34 billion from 86 public offerings and 304 acquisitions last year. The final quarter of 2007 saw 31 IPOs--more than any other quarter since 2000's third quarter--worth $3 billion: Forbes Less than two months after a national survey of venture capitalists found a bullish outlook amid gathering economic turmoil, a new survey of Silicon Valley VCs has found their "confidence" suddenly plummeting sharply to a four-year low: San Jose Mercury News And a story in the Orange County Register cautioned that this year might be dicey for companies in Southern California trying to raise equity capital. At least that was the message from venture capitalists speaking to the Orange County Venture Group in Newport Beach last week. "We're telling companies to raise more money than you intended and raise it soon," summed up panelist Beau Laskey, managing director of Steamboat Ventures: Orange County Register TheFunded Exposes Deal Terms, Including the Dreaded Liquidation Preference The Funded, a controversial web site that lets entrepreneurs rate venture capitalists, has unveiled a new feature that could bring a whole new level of transparency to the cloaked world of financing deals. The new feature lets entrepreneurs post things like the amount they raised and the valuations that venture capitalists have agreed to place on the company before investing. The latter, called “pre-money” valuations, are important because they determine how much of a company an investor gets to own in return for his investment and how much an entrepreneur is left owning after the process: Venture Beat Michigan Governor Proposes Additional Venture Fund & Business Tax Incentives Governor Jennifer Granholm proposed new incentives and investment strategies to build Michigan businesses and attract corporate expansion and jobs, as part of her State of the State address. “With our state battling a protracted economic crisis, the challenge we face as leaders could not be more clear,” Granholm said. “We must guide our state from one era to another -- all the while preserving a way of life that has defined Michigan.” Under one initiative, a new $300 million investment fund, capitalized over the next three years by Michigan pension funds, will target entrepreneurial, high-growth companies. The Michigan Invests! Fund would take equity positions in companies: Crain's Detroit And it didn't take long for others to challenge the idea of using pension fund monies to commit to a dedicated in-state economic growth idea: Detroit Free Press Detroit News Lansing State Journal Yet a small, growing biotechnology company in Ann Arbor is proof that scientists can leave a large pharmaceutical company and create a start-up that attracts millions in venture capital, mostly from outside Michigan, to develop promising new drugs. QuatRx Pharmaceuticals has raised more than $107 million since 2000 to develop four new drugs: Detroit Free Press Pfizer, Washington University Announce New Research Partnership Washington University of St. Louis and Pfizer Inc. are breaking barriers in a unique research collaboration that could lead to new treatments for diseases such as arthritis, asthma and diabetes. Pfizer will pay $25 million over five years for the opportunity to work closely with scientists at Washington University. Researchers from the company and the campus will jointly propose, design and carry out projects aimed at understanding the roles of the immune system and inflammation in a host of ailments: St. Louis Post-Dispatch UC San Diego Project Lauded for Startup Help The William J. von Liebig Center at the University of California San Diego is a model in how to promote the commercialization of discoveries made in the university's classrooms and laboratories, according to a national study released last week: San Diego Union Tribune Cleveland Clinic Has its Eyes on Becoming a Global Brand The Cleveland Clinic took a major step toward going global on Sunday when a government development company in Abu Dhabi broke ground for a visually striking branch hospital to be run by the clinic: Cleveland Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer editorially takes note that the region continues to attract huge chunks of venture capital for health care entrepreneurs and start-up companies. Almost $250 million poured into Northeast Ohio in 2007, according to BioEnterprise Corp., a local nonprofit group helping the sector take off. That's nearly triple from 2006: Cleveland Plain Dealer Case Western Reserve University is among prominent contributors to that growth. Seven companies spun off from its research over the years attracted a record amount of venture capital investment last year - $130 million: Cleveland Plain Dealer Regents: Create a Louisiana Innovation Alliance Louisiana should create a new innovation alliance to attract technology and jobs, according to a report released by the Louisiana Recovery Authority and Louisiana’s higher education Board of Regents. The groups base their Louisiana Innovation Alliance plan for education and economic development upon a model used in Georgia: The Advocate The report, prepared by Regional Technology Strategies, under contract to the Louisiana Board of Regents and the Louisiana Recovery Authority, offers a plan to use the research capacity and talent within Louisiana’s university system to generate new knowledge-based companies, support the growth of existing Louisiana companies and produce more high quality jobs across the state: RTS Study TiE Midwest and the Illinois Technology Development Alliance See a Prime Opportunity Innovation does not fluctuate with market gyrations, and few new ideas are generated from a cut in interest rates or rebates from Uncle Sam. But a prolonged down economy can have a positive impact on new business development. As corporations reduce their head counts, talented professionals have more incentives to start something on their own: Chicago Sun Times New Approach to Commercialize Scientific Concepts at the University of Memphis Small firms in the technology and science sectors have a new resource: Kevin Boggs, whose job is to commercialize ideas developed at the University of Memphis. Boggs, who started work Jan. 2, said he's open to hearing from established businesses of any size that want to work with university researchers: Memphis Commercial Appeal Governor Seeks Help from Wisconsin Business Leaders in Economy Transition Plans Governor Jim Doyle on Tuesday told state business leaders how his economic stimulus proposals complement a state branding effort in attracting new businesses to Wisconsin. Doyle says a proposal to provide tax credits for companies that increase their research and development spending by more than 25 percent would underscore how the state values innovation: Wisconsin State Journal More than 50 angel investors at the Milwaukee Yacht Club heard about one of those proposals, a package of tax breaks for investments they are preparing to make in start-up enterprises, and liked what they heard: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel New Jersey Incubators Struggle to Keep Companies in State Business incubators are “a way of increasing the chance of success for small companies,” says Michel Bitritto, president of the New Jersey Business Incubation Network, a Newark-based consortium of 14 business incubators recognized by the state’s Commission on Science and Technology. Out-of-state investors, however, are posing a threat by snapping up promising young New Jersey companies. Many venture capitalists invest in startups, but then require the companies to relocate in order to be more closely managed, Bitritto explained. At the EDC, nearly 40 percent of incubator graduates that have received funding from venture capital or angel investors in the past two years have moved out of the state: NJ Biz.Com Gamble on Early-Stage Funding in Philly Is Paying Off for VCs Osage Ventures and NextStage Capital were started on the same premise. The region has enough early-stage companies looking for rounds of $3 million or less of venture capital that supplying that type of financing would be a profitable business. And so far the funds' managers say the premise appears to be correct: Philadelphia Business Journal Come Home to Kansas Initiative Seeks to Lure Back High-Tech Workers Kansas leaders want scientists and high-tech workers who once wrote off career prospects in their home state to take another look. A burgeoning cluster of bioscience and other high-tech ventures ranging from startups to established corporations such as Garmin and Perceptive Software are actively seeking top talent: Kansas City Star Less Money for Scientific Innovations May Push Scientists to Head to Other Countries Increased competition and diminished federal funding have made it tougher for scientists to rely on the grants that once generously supported labs, research and training of future scientists. The shortage comes at a time when corporate research facilities, such as Bell Labs, have largely disappeared. The stagnant, and in some cases, dwindling money pool has forced many scientists to bid the profession goodbye. Growing numbers are joining the flight overseas to more "research-friendly" countries such as China, South Korea, Singapore and India: St. Petersburg Times Tracking Innovation in the American Economy The US Department of Commerce reports upon its conclusions of definitions and methods for measuring innovation. The definition of innovation agreed upon: "The design, invention, development and/or altertered products,services, processes, systems,original structures or business models for the purpose of creating new value for the customers and financial returns for the firm." US Department of Commerce Illinois Beat Out Texas for FutureGen; Then DOE Pulls the Plug Several lawmakers from Illinois said Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman made it clear in a meeting in Washington on Tuesday that he is poised to pull the plug on a showcase clean coal energy project slated for Downstate Illinois: Chicago Tribune Texas may have lost out last month when a government-sponsored zero-emissions coal plant went to Illinois, but its bid could be revived because the project has stalled over questions about its rising cost and technological scope. The department could scale back the project, and Texas might compete again to host a facility that's smaller or includes slightly different technology: Dallas Morning News Maryland Incubator Study Shows Growing Economic Impact Technology incubator firms in Maryland employ more than 14,000 workers in the state, according to a new report published by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO). The jobs contributed to $845 million in annual salary and resulted in total gross state product contributions of $1.2 billion. Link to the executive summary: Maryland TEDCO New York Cracks Down on Empire Zone Companies State economic development officials are threatening to take the Empire Zone certification away from 180 businesses across the state, including three locally. The state's Empire Zone program, created in 1986, gives tax breaks to companies that create jobs and invest in distressed communities: Albany Times Union Cities, Private Companies Play the Incentives Game Bribery or just a little economic enticement? The incentives game is one that economic development officials trumpet as the means for attracting business, keeping employers in town and encouraging them to create more jobs. It's also an approach that seemingly failed to help Dubuque leaders this week when health-care services provider McKesson Corp. announced its plans to "phase out" 79 jobs or approximately 20 percent of its local work force and move the functions to facilities elsewhere in the nation: Dubuque Telegraph Herald Investor and Entrepreneur Seminars & Conferences Detroit, MI Sept. 10-12, 2008 - 15th Annual Conference of the National Association of Seed & Venture Funds Registration Not Yet Open Offered by Our Friends: Midway,UT February 7, 2008 - 24th Annual Investors' Choice Venture Conference Investors Choice Chicago,IL February 21, 2008 - NASBIC Midwest Private Equity Conference NASBIC Midwest Tysons Corner,VA February 27-28, 2008 - Southeast Venture Conference Conference Southeast Venture Conference Chicago, IL March 17-18, 2008 - Annual Midwest Venture Summit Midwest Venture Summit New York, NY March 27-28, 2008 - San Antonio, TXL May 4-7, 2008 - Community Development Venture Capital Alliance Annual Conference CDVCA Annual Conference San Antonio, TX May 4-7, 2008 - NBIA’s 22nd International Conference on Incubation National Business Incubation Association San Diego, CA May 7-9, 2008 - Angel Capital Association Summit Conference Angel Capital Association Ann Arbor (Ypsilanti), MI May 14-15, 2008 - 27th Annual Michigan Growth Capital Symposium Michigan Growth Capital Symposium Subscribe to NASVF NetNews Unsubscribe from NASVF NetNews 
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