LabMorgan, the e-finance unit of J.P.
Morgan, acquired an unspecified equity interest in New York e-business
incubator Iron Street Labs
through a direct capital investment.
As part of the agreement, Iron Street Labs will refer entrepreneurs with
promising ideas in e-finance to LabMorgan, offering the first right to invest
and leveraging the unit’s focus on the wholesale financial services sector.
Entrepreneurs who submit e-finance ideas to Iron Street Labs will gain access
to the incubation experience of LabMorgan and to the financial markets
expertise of J.P. Morgan to build on their ideas.
“By investing in Iron Street Labs, we are broadening LabMorgan’s outreach to
entrepreneurs with innovative ideas,” said Jeff Saltz, co-head of incubation
at LabMorgan.
A full-service e-business incubator, Iron Street Labs provides a set of
resources for entrepreneurs to rapidly launch new Internet companies. Iron
Street Labs has a diverse portfolio of companies and said it will use the
LabMorgan funding to develop additional Internet businesses.
Since its formation in the first quarter of 2000, LabMorgan has launched or
partnered to launch over 20 e-finance ventures, including: MarketAxess, a
multi-dealer fixed income distribution platform for institutional investors;
Arcordia, an independent Internet-based derivatives management and settlement
company, and SynDirect Wireless, J.P. Morgan’s bond distribution system that
allows investors and issuers to syndicate
through Palm hand-held devices or cellular phones.
Iron Street Labs provides office space, network infrastructure, professional
services, seed capital, and administrative support in a nurturing environment
for launching new businesses. Privately held, the company was founded in
early 1999 by a group of
investors, including Richard Thompson and Bob Niehaus, to focus on e-business
opportunities in the New York metropolitan area.
