Staff Writer

When John Glynn became a venture capitalist almost 30 years ago, he entered an industry that bore little resemblance to what exists today. Mr. Glynn, founder and general partner of Glynn Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif., and a self-described generalist, worked for several years as a lawyer before entering the fledgling VC industry in 1970. […]

ALTA Claims $5 Million Close WESTERVILLE, Ohio – ALTA Analytics Inc., a developer of fraudulent claim screening software for property and casualty insurance providers, raised $5 million through a private placement of preferred stock with seven investors, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Menlo Ventures led the investment group, which included CID Equity […]

Can a pension fund truly diversify its private equity investments by investing in only two firms? North Dakota’s State Investment Board, which devotes 4% of its $2.3 billion investment pool to the asset class, has been quite successful using that particular strategy for the past 10 years. But things are about to change. The state […]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Christopher Ahlberg’s 3-year-old company Spotfire Inc. straddles two worlds. At heart, Spotfire is a software company whose product helps users visually sift through mounds of data. But the company operates in the world of life sciences, the result of a marketing decision to target pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Ahlberg is quick to note […]

Despite its defeat in 1995 in trying to force companies to value and expense all stock options, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has once again reignited the issue, setting a course that threatens to damage our entrepreneurial culture and seriously erode our economic foundation. The FASB learned a lot from the drubbing it took […]

BOSTON – Great Hill Partners, one of two spinouts from Media/Communications Partners, wrapped its first fund in mid-April on $330 million and added several staffers to help manage the vehicle. Pat Curran joined the firm as a partner from Warburg Dillon Read, where he headed the investment bank’s information technology services group. Matt Vettel joined […]

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Backed by corporate and venture capital firms, CenCom V Sourcing Inc. will operate a new incubator for high-technology companies that combine telecommunications, electronic media and computer networking. Larry Schwerin, an executive with 20 years experience at Lucent Technologies Inc., was tapped as the president of the firm, which began operations in […]

HONOLULU – The State of Hawaii Employees Retirement System in mid-April boosted its allocation to alternatives to 5% from 3%, said Chief Investment Officer Nathan Fischer. At the same time, the $9.5 billion pension decreased its allocations to real estate and domestic fixed income to accommodate the increase. Hawaii initiated an alternative investment program about […]

MENLO PARK, Calif. – In response to the stiff competition for deal flow on Sand Hill Road, August Capital closed its $195 million August II fund more than six months before the firm intended to begin investing. “We began fund raising last April and were done by the end of June,” said Andy Rappaport, a […]

NORTHBROOK, Ill. – KB Partners L.L.C. has invested in four deals following a $20 million March wrap of its first fund, KB Partners Venture Fund I, L.P. The suburban Chicago-based firm backs start-up and early-stage companies in the Midwest, investing $500,000 to $3 million in each company over time. KB mainly backs information technology, analytical […]