LiveOak Leads BT Squared’s $5M Second Round –

ATLANTA – Software developer BT Squared Technologies Inc. started the new year with an infusion of new capital from a new player in the venture industry.

Newcomer LiveOak Equity Partners led the $5 million round, which will be used for sales and marketing and development of the company’s e-commerce initiatives.

Westport, Conn.-based Oak Investment Partners, which led BT’s first $3.5 million round in October 1997 (VCJ, December 1997, page 40), rounded out the group of investors.

Intelligent Systems, a Georgia-based information and health-care services investor that committed $500,000 in the company’s first round, did not participate in the latest financing.

BT Squared develops software that allows sales professionals to prepare professional proposals, analyze customer requirements, configure and price products or services and manage quotes in much less time than existing methods. Although company President and Chief Executive Scott Geller would not comment on specifics, one of the primary purposes of the latest financing is to make the software “Web-enabled,” allowing customers to build e-commerce sites more efficiently.

This marks the second deal for the Alpharetta, Ga.-based LiveOak, which raised its maiden $70 million vehicle last summer. The fund is focused on health-care and information-technology companies in the Southeastern United States.

LiveOak will “opportunistically” evaluate companies in all growth stages, said General Partner Jim Gilbert. While a majority of the firm’s deals will be first-, second- or third-round financings, about 10 may be seed or mezzanine investments, he explained.

The firm, which consists of General Partners Chad McCall, Murali Anantharaman and Mr. Gilbert, last fall made its first investment in Redwood City, Calif.-based Araxsys Inc., a developer of process automation tools. LiveOak committed $3 million in the approximately $8 million round, which also included Mayfield Fund, Salix Partners and Ohio Partners.