VC Buzz – $138+ Million in Today’s Deals

CLEVELAND — PlanSoft Corp., an Internet-based business-to-business solution provider for the $100 billion North American meeting and convention industry, raised $24 million in venture capital funding. The sum brings PlanSoft’s total invested capital to $40 million. ted industry suppliers. The latest financing round is led by Cornerstone Equity Investors andComcast Interactive Capital. Other new investors include Key Mezzanine Capital; Cleveland Pacific Equity Partners; and Randolph Street Partners. All venture capital investors from earlier venture rounds also invested in this latest financing. Those investors include Patricof & Co. Ventures, Primus Venture Partners, Wasserstein Adelson Ventures, IDG Ventures, and M.H.M. & Co.

LOS ANGELES– PeopleSupport Inc., a provider of mission-critical Internet customer care, announced investments totaling nearly $18 million from a group led by Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital. Also participating were previous PeopleSupport investors idealab Capital Partners and TMCT Ventures. To date, $25 million has been raised.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.– Excelergy Corp., a technology leader for the deregulated energy industry, secured $17.6 million for a second round of venture funding, bringing the total amount invested in 1999 to approximately $25 million. The new financing led by Nassau Capital LLC includes significant new funding from Portal Software. Excelergy’s two existing venture capital investors, Battery Ventures and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, are also investors in this round. This round of financing will be used to fund Excelergy’s development of next generation customer choice transaction and billing systems, as well as to support the nationwide expansion of Excelergy’s e-ChoiceNet, an Internet-based auction site for retail energy procurement.

NOVATO, Calif.– Brightware Inc., a supplier of eCustomer assistance software for the Internet, completed a fourth round of venture capital financing totaling $14.4 million. CDIB Venture Management, a new investor in Brightware, led the round and was joined by other new investors including UOB Venture Management Pte. Ltd., the venture capital arm of United Overseas Bank Group, Concord Venture Capital, Woodside Fund, the Starwood Capital Group and B.T. Investment Partners.

ANDOVER, Mass. — I-Logix Inc., a provider of development environments for embedded systems, received $10.5 million in a mezzanine round of venture financing, the largest single investment in the company’s history. The investment was led by ABS Ventures (Baltimore, MD), an affiliate of Deutsche Bank Alex Brown — a new I-Logix investor — and included North Bridge Venture Partners (Waltham, MA), which was already an investor in the company.

WELLESLEY, Mass., WASHINGTON and NEW YORK — Battery Ventures invested an additional $10 million in Pedestal Inc., an Internet-based secondary mortgage market exchange. This investment represents Pedestal’s second venture capital financing from Battery.

WALTHAM, Mass. — Vigil Technologies Inc., a pioneer in online intelligence solutions, raised $5.5 million in a second round of private financing from Polaris Venture Capital, Chase Capital Partners, and Seed Capital Partners, a SOFTBANK affiliate fund. This financing will be used to build Vigil’s marketing, sales and customer support infrastructure, and to fund the launch of e-Sense, Vigil’s initial service offering for online intelligence.

NEWTON, Mass.– NewMediary.com, a Web-based business-to-business directory that connects buyers and sellers of Internet services, completed a $5 million second round of funding. The $5 million infusion was received from a Boston-based syndicate of venture capital firms, including Advanced Technology Ventures, Commonwealth Capital and Still River Fund.

LOS ANGELES– Brand3 Inc., a developer of Internet-based relationship-building programs for branded organizations, completed its seed round of venture funding. The infusion of $2 million from Trans Cosmos USA Inc., Silicon Valley Angels, Colman Partners and individual investors will enable Brand3 to launch its first programs on schedule, in early 2000. Brand3 targets its programs at merchants looking to establish close, durable relationships with their target audiences via the Internet.

MONTREAL– Martlet Venture Management Inc. (Alberta SE: MVM) made a strategic investment in The Gay Financial Network Inc. The Gay Financial Network Inc. is the first Internet financial services company whose mission is to help the gay and lesbian community build wealth by providing comprehensive financial information and the highest-quality financial services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

SAN FRANCISCO — Informative Inc., a provider of Web-based, real-time information solutions, received venture funding from Nokia Ventures. Informative will use the funds to expand its product offering and advance its mission of making customer feedback available globally to businesses of all sizes. Terms were not disclosed. In other news, the company appointed William J. Vaughan as CFO and treasurer. Vaughan comes from Palo Alto, CA-based Salix Pharmaceuticals, where he served as corporate controller.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.– Niku Corp., a provider of software that enables businesses to source, manage and deliver professional services using the Internet, signed a definitive agreement to acquire Proamics Corp. in an equity deal valued in excess of $40 million. Based in Lincolnshire, Ill., Proamics is a provider of back-office solutions for professional services firms, including time and expense, project accounting and billing solutions. When the acquisition is complete, Niku will have more than 200 customers and 325 employees in offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Redwood City, Calif., Amsterdam, Sydney and Toronto. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year.

AUSTIN, Texas — AV Labs, the new spin-off fund from Austin Ventures, closed its first fund of $60 million. Additionally, AV Labs announced investments in early stage ventures Covasoft, Ireturnit.com, MediaPrise and Webtaggers. The fund focuses on seed and first round Internet companies delivering business-to-business, business-to-consumer, applications and infrastructure products and services through the Internet.

MENLO PARK, Calif.– Mohr, Davidow Ventures announced MDV VI, a $300 million fund that will fuel the growth of entrepreneurial companies in e-Commerce, Internet services, Internet infrastructure and semiconductors. MDV VI brings to $800 million the total amount under management by MDV, which specializes in building early-stage investments into large, highly successful companies and has had seven IPOs just this year. MDV VI will fuel the growth of 20 to 25 companies.

IRVING, Texas– iCelebrate.com, a holiday and seasonal decorating site, has formed its executive team. J. Russell Denson has been named chairman of the board and chief executive officer and Jason McCann has been appointed president and chief operating officer. Tim Hinkhouse named as executive vice president and chief financial officer, Michael Pannullo appointed vice president of merchandise, Justin Anderson named as chief technology officer, Julie Abdinoor named vice president of marketing and Barry Stiles as vice president of operations. The company is privately held.

HOLLYWOOD– Leading distributor of short-form entertainment QuickBand Networks signed on Kim Adelman as editor of SHORT, the popular compilation of award-winning live-action, animated, experimental and documentary short films distributed exclusively on DVD. She joins QuickBand Networks from fXM: Movies From Fox. The company also promoted Craig Wells to director of acquisitions.

ALHAMBRA, Calif.– PropertyFirst.com Inc., creator of an online multiple listing service for the commercial real estate industry, announced that Sterling Champ has joined the company as vice president, marketing and business development for the For Lease product line. Champ will be responsible for the successful business initiation and ongoing revenue production for the new For Lease product line that is planned to launch January 2000. The privately held company recently closed a $44.3 million financing round.

SAN FRANCISCO– mPower, formerly known as Emergent Advisors, a provider of online retirement investment advice, named Dennis Chookaszian chairman and CEO of the firm. Chookaszian joins the company from CNA, where he served as chairman and CEO from 1992 to 1999. He joined CNA in 1975 and served as the company’s CFO, president and COO before becoming CEO. MPower investors include Media Technology Ventures, GE Capital’s Equity Capital Group, Norwest Venture Partners, and Capital Z Partners.

SAN FRANCISCO — Small business partner Bigstep.com announced the hire of a COO. John D. Spottiswood brings to the team a rich background of national and international management experiences with Toys “R” Us, McKinsey & Company, Sony Enterprise Company and most recently, the Internet’s leading matchmaker, Match.com. Bigstep.com is funded by US Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, The Washington Post Company, Partech International, Draper Richards, Angel Investors LP, Argus Capital, Staenberg Private Capital and private investors.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Kanisa Inc., an e-Service solution provider, announced the appointment of Dominique Trempont as chief executive officer. Prior to joining Kanisa, Trempont was chief executive officer and president of Gemplus Corp. Kanisa completed its second round of financing in July, with Ernst & Young and Sierra Ventures.

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