PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Chisholm Fund Partners, Fleet Equity Partners’ new fund-of-funds for individuals and small institutional clients, in November held a $20 million initial close as it eyed a final wrap in December. Launched in April 1998, Chisholm Fund Partners’ strategy is a departure from the $35 million Chisholm Partners III and its predecessors. The […]
DURHAM, N.C. – A.M. Pappas & Associates, a life sciences investment and consulting firm, held a $20 million initial close on its maiden vehicle in late November. Tech AMP International, launched last summer, will focus on early-stage life sciences, medical devices and information technology companies with therapeutic implications. The fund is A.M. Pappas’ first formal […]
AUSTIN, Texas – Austin Ventures, L.P. closed its sixth fund in late November at $320 million, beating its $250 million target and making its first investment. General Partner Joseph Aragona said he was pleased with the level of interest in the fund and the speed of its closing. “I think it says that [our] balanced […]
NEW YORK – Nine months after venture capitalist John Barry of Prospect Street Ventures bought out his partners and revamped the firm’s focus, Prospect is considering adding new investors to its flagship vehicle, the $75 million New York City Discovery Fund. Mr. Barry, who kept news of the buyout quiet until now, had been a […]
NEW YORK – In a mild surprise to some observers, venture capital firms put equity to work at a record pace in the third quarter of 1998, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree Survey released in November. The $3.77 billion investment total surpassed the previous record of $3.73 billion set in the second quarter. “The pure […]
NEW ORLEANS – Advantage Capital Partners in November relaunched the firm’s first “traditional” venture fund under a new name and expects an initial closing around the beginning of the year. The firm also hired Elliot Fishman to head its new New York office and was scheduled to recruit one or two investment professionals for its […]
PHILADELPHIA – The University City Science Center, an organization that promotes science and technology entrepreneurship in the Philadelphia region, in November began preparing the launch of one or two venture funds totaling approximately $200 million that will back health care and information technology businesses spawned from the area’s 31 colleges and universities. The Science Center […]
BOSTON – When private equity general partners market their funds to limited partners, much is said about performance, but the underlying operating practices get barely a word. The results of the 1998 survey of private equity compensation conducted by William M. Mercer Inc. indicate that private firms play a more active role in the development […]
NEWARK, N.J. – In a third quarter that saw venture-backed initial public offerings drop to 20 from 31 in the second quarter, venture firms increasingly turned to mergers and acquisitions as an exit strategy in 1998, according to statistics released in November by Venture Economics Information Services. The quarter began with a hot venture-backed IPO […]
Political pundits who often disagree on virtually everything appeared to agree on one issue in 1998: The just-completed 105th Congress was short on legislative accomplishments and long on political bickering. While we may agree that political posturing occupied a major portion of Congress’ time and energy last year, it also was true that Republicans and […]