Connie Loizos
Some Silicon Valley attorneys leave their practice to pursue venture-like returns. Former Cooley attorney Kirk Dizon, who last year cofounded the fund of funds Institutional Global Investors, is but one example. But the attorneys who stick around at Cooley also manage to place bets on some of the many interesting startups to which they have access.
Well, it's that time again when, in a display of goodwill toward men, venture capitalists give the gift of impersonation -- typically doubling as the biggest Web celebrities of the year.
First Round Capital, as usual, does not disappoint.
If you haven’t heard of the Richmond, Va.-based shirting company Ledbury, you haven’t been scanning the pages of GQ very closely. The company will likely be in the market for more funding next year, too.
Verdezyne, an industrial biotechnology company based in Carlsbad, Calif., has sold its proprietary xylose isomerase technology to DuPont Industrial Biosciences for an undisclosed amount. Current investors in Verdezyne include BP Alternative Energy Ventures, DSM Venturing B.V., OVP Venture Partners and Monitor Ventures.
Camarillo, Calif.-based Sauer Energy, a maker of wind turbines, has entered into an agreement with Eclipse Advisors, a New York-based investor, for a $15 million line of equity to expand its manufacturing capacities.
Nara Logics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based Web search company, has raised $3 million led by Boston-based investment advisor Account Management. The funding brings the total raised by Nara Logics in 2012 to $7 million.
For years, David Aronoff has been trying to move from Boston back to his native New York. Three months ago, the venture capitalist, who has long focused on enterprise and infrastructure companies – first for Greylock Partners and, since 2005, for Flybridge Capital Partners – managed to do just that. He insists that it couldn’t be a better time to make the leap, too.
Christopher Alden, co-founder of the original Red Herring magazine, cofounder of the RSS reading service Rojo Networks, and later CEO and chairman of the blogging software concern Six Apart, has joined San Francisco-based Tugboat Ventures.
Most of today’s founders will fail. And when they do, they probably won't leave with riches or celebrity. At least they'll have a fairly solid resume.
SanDisk Corporation, the publicly traded, Milpitas, Calif.-based flash memory stage company, has launched a new venture capital "iniative" to invest in startups that align with SanDisk's interests. Toward that end, the company has made its first investment in Whiptail, a data storage company that designs energy-efficient enterprise infrastructure equipment and that is located in Whippany, N.J.