Alastair Goldfisher

There's no denying the IPO window is pretty narrow for venture-backed companies, especially for those in life sciences. Of the five VC-backed IPOs last quarter (which, by the way, was the most VC-backed offerings since Q1 2008) none were in the life sciences field. But that's not a bad thing, says Mark Brooks, managing director of Scale Venture Partners. The Foster City, Calif.-based firm last year had one of the better IPOs in recent memory when portfolio company IPC Inc., a provider of information management systems to hospitals and physician groups, went public at $16 a share. IPC (Nasdaq: IPCM) closed today at $26.45 a share.

I’ve heard a lot of people say recently that healthcare is recession-proof, and I suppose that is true. After all, people still get sick, even in a downturn, maybe more so, and they still need to go to the doc and get drugs and use other medical services. But does that mean healthcare venture capital is also recession-proof? I recently caught up with Alloy Ventures' Doug Kelly, who helped found with Palo Alto-based firm 13 years ago. Kelly and his partners are currently investing in tech and life sciences from a $368 million fund raised in 2005. Kelly, who is a trained physician, wanted to talk about what one life sciences company was doing to stimulate hair follicle growth, while I just wanted to know what that company could do for gray hair. That’s another story, however... Q: How risky is the overall sector right now? A: While there is a lot of upside if you pick the right deals, there is still considerable risk in healthcare investing. Financing/syndicate risk and lack of a clear liquidity horizon are the largest risks in this

It's not unusual to see early executives of a big tech company join the VC ranks. For example, It seems like everyone on the staff of Bellevue, Wash.-based Ignition Partners has ties to Microsoft. But it's hard not to notice that many early Googlers are not just investing in startups as individuals, but are forming early stage firms. My colleague Constance Loizos reported yesterday how Merus Capital (whose founders have roots that go back to Microsoft and Google) are in the midst of trying to raise $125 million for its debut fund. And one half of the management team at Javelin Ventures is a former Google executive. I came across another firm that owes its wealth, and hopeful success, to Google. The firm, called XG Ventures derives its name from the fact that its four partners are ex-Googlers.

This morning, Boise, Idaho-based Highway 12 Ventures announced it led a Series D round of funding in SynCardia Systems Inc., a Tucson, Ariz.-based developer of an artificial heart to treat people with biventricular heart failure. Highway 12 led the round and was joined by some undisclosed angel investors. The round is called a Series D […]

I've been really annoyed lately at how many hackers are on Twitter lately. Every day, as new followers hop on board my account, I think, "Great! Here are more people who want to strike up conversations with me and make an effort to get along in this social media playground." Nah. It seems like one out of 10 or so are what I call "Porn Tweets," hackers who just want to lure me to their illicit websites so they can into hack into my computer. The POTUS became a victim. So did Britney Spears. Apparently, we're not the only ones targeted. Former Apple Macintosh evangelist Guy Kawasaki was hit Tuesday. The managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, whose followers on Twitter are approaching 150,000 in number, is considered one of the more high-profile users of the micro-blogging site to get hit with the Trojan Horse on Tuesday.

Are U.S.-based investors finding assets made cheaper by the global recession in Canada? Yesterday, Bridgescale Partners, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based growth equity firm, announced it is expanding its focus and operations to include the Eastern United States and Canada. As part of this expansion, Bridgescale plans to open an office in Toronto this summer, and it is recruiting bodies for that office now. "We view Canada as an area rich in attractive investment opportunities. With the support from the Canadian investment community, we intend to quickly duplicate the success we have had in Silicon Valley,” Robert Chaplinsky, managing director of Bridgescale, said in a prepared release.

One of my favorite lines this past season on NBC's "30 Rock" came from character Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin, who was told by nurse Elisa, played by Salma Hayek, that he should go see a doctor. "Thank you for telling me what I already know," he says. "You should work for The Huffington Post." With that one-liner in mind, I'd like to tell you all something that Huffington Post already knows: Eric Hippeau, managing partner of SoftBank Capital and former CEO of Ziff-Davis, will replace current HuffPo CEO Betsy Morgan as the company's new CEO, it was announced today.

It’s beginning to feel a lot like the 1990s. And that’s not because the POTUS is a democrat. No. I’ve been harkening back to my reporting days of last decade because I’ve been talking to a lot of firms lately about their Internet strategy; the latest being Element Partners. In the ’90s, most firms talked […]

Venture capitalists worldwide expect their investor base will become more global, according to the 2009 Global Venture Capital Survey released today by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and the National Venture Capital Association. The survey, which was conducted in the first quarter of the year, garnered responses from 725 VCs. Deloitte says the increase in responses over last year shows that the survey hit a nerve. The survey shows that VCs are expecting an increase in globalization, perhaps because they expect U.S.-based LPs will pull back. Also, the survey shows VCs are an optimistic lot. Highlights after the jump...

Our Reuters.com colleague Deborah L. Cohen interviews NVCA president Mark Heesen: By Deborah L. Cohen Total investments in clean technology - including wind, solar, bio-fuels and a host of related technologies - totaled $4.09 billion through the end of 2008, compared to just $1.44 billion in 2006, according to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). That's still just a fraction of the overall $28.2 billion in venture capital investments but the area is steadily gaining momentum. In a recent interview with Reuters.com, Mark G. Heesen, president of the NVCA, the leading trade association for venture capitalists in the United States, representing the interests of more than 450 member firms, discussed the growing interest in clean technology and how this fast-growing sector will shape the future of early-stage investing.