Venture/Growth Capital

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• European PE investment in 2009 down 71 per cent on boom of 2007 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Last year was a period of internal diligence and stewardship for the European private equity and venture capital industry, as investors concentrated on supporting existing portfolio of companies against a backdrop of recession and macro-economic uncertainty.

• Cartilage treatment business Carticept gets $20m 10 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Carticept Medical Inc, a developer of products for the treatment of cartilage injuries and osteoarthritis, has completed a $20m series B financing round. New investor SonoSite Inc, a medtech company in the ultrasound space, joined return venture capital investors Domain Associates and New Enterprise Associates.

• New Enterprise Associates adds Ron Bernal as venture partner 10 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New Enterprise Associates (NEA), the technology-focused venture capital firm which raised $2.5bn earlier this year, has appointed industry veteran Ron Bernal as a venture partner. In this new role, Bernal, a former entrepreneur-in-residence with NEA, will work with the firm’s enterprise infrastructure and services, electronics and energy technology teams.

• SiBEAM raises $36.5m to take wireless chipset mainstream 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. California-based semiconductor company SiBEAM Inc has closed $36.5m in series D funding led by Foundation Capital. The financing will be used to push its 60 GHz wireless chipsets into the mainstream marketplace while funding future projects and further expansion.

• Biopharma company Genticel receives €13.1m to treat cervical cancer 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. French biopharmaceutical company Genticel, formerly known as BT Pharma, has secured €13.1m in funding to develop its immunotherapeutic treatments for cancers caused by the human pipillomavirus (HPV). Investors included IRDI, Amundi Private Equity Funds and InnoBio fund (CDC enterprises), in the round led by AGF Private Equity.

• Israeli venture firm launches six new yuan funds 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Israeli venture capital firm Infinity has launched six new yuan-denominated funds through its China-Israel Infinity-I China unit in the latest example of the country's allure.

• Emerging markets private equity slows in line with global slump 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Fundraising for emerging markets-dedicated private equity funds slowed in 2009, though investment activity was comparatively strong. Emerging markets captured nine per cent of global private equity fundraising and 26 per cent of global private equity investment, with deal activity by transaction volume down by only 11 per cent, according to new research from the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association.

• UK state regulator slams performance of government’s SME VC initiative 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The performance of a flagship scheme by the UK government to make venture investments in small businesses has been slammed by a watchdog. According to the UK Public Accounts Committee, the government’s efforts to stimulate small business development through venture capital investment have performed below expectations, suffering from high management costs and unclear goals.

• DoubleVerify raises $10m to keep eye on online ads 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New York City-based online advertising verifier DoubleVerify has closed $10m in series B financing in a round led by Institutional Venture Partners. The financing will be used to fund company expansion in response to increasing demand.

• Aureos Capital invests $10m in Nigerian leasing company 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Emerging markets private equity specialist Aureos Capital has invested $10m in Nigerian leasing company C&I Leasing, taking the firm’s total investment in the African country to $40m.

• Israeli venture capital fundraising down 72 per cent in 2009 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The downturn hit Israel’s venture capital market hard in 2009, with domestic funds only managing to muster $229m, a sharp drop of 72 per cent from the $803m raised in 2008.

• Open Sky Technologies Fund lands first close 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Germany’s Triangle Venture Capital Group and the European Space Agency (ESA), a body that sets out to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and promote investment, have held the first close of their €100m-targeting joint fund.

• TransMedics raises $36m for organ transplant system 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. TransMedics Inc, a medical device company focusing on delivering a solution for organ transplantation, has closed a $36m financing round led by Foundation Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB).

• New Zealand angel investment hits NZ$50m in 2009 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New Zealand start-up companies received a boost from angel investors in 2009, as the amount of capital from high net worth individuals grew to NZ$50m ($34.5m). The figure represents a 72 per cent increase on the previous 12 month record of NZ$23m ($15.8m) invested in 2008, based on data collected by New Zealand analysts Young Company Finance.

• Cipio bags 20 times return from €60m eCircle exit 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Growth private equity firm TA Associates has agreed to acquire a majority stake in eCircle, an email marketing service provider, from direct secondaries house Cipio Partners for €60m.

• Biotech company Vaxart raises $12.5m to treat bird flu 04 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. San Francisco-based biotech company Vaxart Inc has finalised $12.5m of series B financing, led by Care Capital of Princeton, New Jersey. The funding will be put to work in advancing the company’s lead product, an oral vaccine for avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, into Phase I clinical trials.

• Mobile virus protection company Cloudmark in $23m funding round 03 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Cloudmark Inc, a company offering real-time spam, virus and phishing protection solutions for mobile and social networks, has secured $23m in a round of funding led by new investor Summit Partners and joined by Nokia Growth Partners, the venture capital arm of mobile phone major Nokia.

• BVCA welcomes report into private equity’s role in accelerating low-carbon economy 03 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Climate change is a problem private equity must address, according to the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) as it welcomed a new report published by a collaboration of European investors into how to accelerate investment in a low-carbon economy.

• Spring Capital Asia raises $184m, invests in wind tower manufacturer 02 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Spring Capital Asia, a private equity firm investing exclusively in China and Hong Kong, has held a second closing of its debut fund on $184m and tied up an investment in Qingdao Wuxiao Group, a wind and electricity tower manufacturer based in the Shandong Province of mainland China.

• Venture-backed biopharma Anthera IPO raises $42m, lower than original target 02 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Venture-backed US biopharmaceutical company Anthera Pharmaceuticals has listed in the US after a six month delay. The launch was priced below earlier expectations, with the company selling six million shares at $7 a share, raising around $42m. The company initially filed for an IPO in September with a target of $70m.

• Electra takes bite out of Silverfleet sausage casing business Kalle 02 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Electra Partners has taken a €10.5m stake in Silverfleet portfolio company Kalle, a German sausage casing and sponge cloth manufacturer, to support the business's buy-and-build strategy.

• Archimedes Pharma in largest European funding round of its kind for 15 years 02 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Archimedes Pharma, a specialty pharmaceutical company backed by global private equity firm Warburg Pincus, has raised £65m (€71.9m) in growth capital, in what marks the  largest amount of capital raised by a private European biopharma company in the last 15 years.

• Encore Ventures exits ex-3i VC investment ApaTech through sale to Baxter 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Encore Ventures, a division of European venture capital firm DFJ Esprit, is set to make a sizeable return after entering an agreement with Baxter International Inc that will see the New York Stock Exchange-listed healthcare company buy portfolio company ApaTech for $330m.