Highland Promotes Nova and Dalton –

BOSTON – Highland Capital Partners in September promoted General Partner Daniel Nova to managing general partner and Senior Associate Sean Dalton to principal.

The promotions do not change the two men’s responsibilities but were made to recognize how much they had grown at the firm in their areas of expertise, said Paul Mader, a managing general partner at Highland.

Areas Of Expertise

Nova focuses on information technology investments and specializes in emerging e-commerce and Internet technology and services companies. Dalton focuses on building communications and information technology companies.

Prior to joining Highland in August 1996, Nova was a partner at CMG@Ventures, where he co-led investment activities in early-stage Internet companies. Before that, he was a senior associate at Summit Partners focusing on later-stage technology and environmental investments.

“Dan is a leader in Internet space and a leader at Highland,” where he led investments in portfolio companies such as Ask Jeeves Inc., Etoys Inc., Lycos Inc., MapQuest.com Inc., NextCard Inc. and RoweCom Inc., all of which held initial public offerings, Mader said.

Dalton joined Highland in May 1998 after earning an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. While there, he worked at Fidelity Capital as a venture associate and was an independent consultant for early-stage companies. Prior to Harvard, he worked at General Telephone and Electronics Corp. developing products for Internet service providers and other carriers.

Since joining Highland, Dalton led a number of high-profile deals in the communications sector including ANDA Networks, AccessLan, COLO.COM, Altiga Networks and Telica Inc.

“Sean has done just a phenomenal job of building an independent practice here at Highland,” said Mader, referring to the firm’s growing data communications portfolio.

Founded in 1988, Highland typically invests in early- to late-stage Internet, e-commerce, communications, information technology and medical markets companies in Boston, New York or Northern California. The firm currently is investing the $250 million Highland Capital Partners IV. Some 75% of the fund, which closed in September 1998, already has been invested or committed, Mader said.

Highland Capital has three managing general partners: Robert Higgins, who is in charge of health care; Mader, who is responsible for information technology investments; and Nova. Wycliffe Grousbeck, the one remaining general partner, focuses on the Internet and medical technology investments. The firm’s four principals are Stephen Harrick and Josaphat Tango, who focus on information technology, Lee Wrubel, who concentrates on the health-care market and Dalton.