New in the News
ActiveUSA.com, Conductus, e-SIM, iParty, LinuxStart.com, LoanCity.com, NearMe.com, NearSpace, NetSanity, Network-1 Security Solutions, PSAINC, QXL.com, RV Holiday.com, Snowball.com, WaveRider, WorkingNets, Works.com
LoanCity.com Raises $38.4 Million
SAN JOSE, Calif. — LoanCity.com, a large source of online residential mortgage loans for brokers, completed its Series B preferred stock financing. LoanCity.com’s second round of financing raised a total of $38.4 million, bringing the company’s post-money valuation to approximately $130 million. The investment came from Century Capital Management Inc., InterWest Partners, Marsh & McLennan Capital Inc., InSight Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Equity Funding Inc., BancBoston Robertson Stephens Inc. and New Enterprise Associates, as well as E*TRADE Group Inc. Mark MacLennan, managing director of Century Capital, and Nicholas Rudenstine, an associate at Marsh & McLennan, will join E*TRADE’s Tom Bevilacqua as representatives of the Series B investors on LoanCity.com’s board of directors.
http://www.loancity.com
Snowball.com Closes $35 Million Mezzanine Financing
SAN FRANCISCO– Snowball.com Inc., an online media company for Generation i — 12-29 year olds who have grown up using the Internet — secured an additional $35 million in private equity funding. Snowball’s new investors include J.& W. Seligman & Co., Palantir Partners, Pivotal Asset Management, Generation Partners, CrossLink Capital and Sand Hill Capital. Lead investors from Snowball’s previous round, including Worldview Technology Partners, Weiss Peck & Greer, WaldenVC and Whitman Capital, also participated in the round. New Line Cinema, Chris Anderson, chairman of Snowball.com, and Mark Jung, CEO and president of Snowball.com, are also included in the list of return investors.
http://www.snowball.com
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Closes ActiveUSA.com Investment and Distribution Deal PASADENA, Calif., — Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Inc. (Nasdaq:
Conductus Announces $15M in Financing
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Conductus Inc. (Nasdaq:
CDTS), a manufacturer of high-performance superconductive wireless systems, received $15 million in equity financing to support the commercialization of its ClearSite systems in the wireless communications and newly emerging wireless Internet access markets. The equity funding was received primarily from investment firms including existing shareholders Palo Alto Investors, Alloy Ventures Inc., and the Bay Area Microcap Fund as well as new investors Pequod Investments LP; ACI Capital America Fund LP; Cypress Growth Fund; and Seki Technotron. In addition, several individuals participated, including two current members of the Conductus board of directors — one as an individual and one through his investment fund. The equity financing was raised in the form of a new series of convertible preferred stock. Under the terms of the financing, the company has issued 375,000 preferred shares at $40 per share. Each preferred share is convertible into 10 shares of common stock and has a cumulative stock dividend of 6%. In connection with this financing, the Company has issued warrants to purchase 750,000 shares of common stock at $4.00 per share.http://www.conductus.com
WaveRider Completes $10 Million Placement
TORONTO– WaveRider Communications Inc. (OTCBB:
WAVC, Frankfurt WVR.FSE), a global provider of wireless Internet access products, announced that investment bankers Groome Capital.com Inc. and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc of New York have completed a $10 million offering for the company.http://www.waverider.com
http://www.groomecapital.com
http://www.ladenburg.com
L.com Takes Stake in ibidlive
LONDON — QXL.com plc (Nasdaq:
QXLC) (London: QXL), the pan-European online auctioneer, agreed to invest #5.9 million ($9.5M) in return for a 50% equity stake in ibidlive NV, based in Amsterdam. The full consideration will be satisfied by the issue of QXL.com Ordinary Shares. Proforma ibidlive NV sales for the year ended 31 December 1998 were #448,000 pounds.http://www.qxl.com
http://www.ibidlive.com
JERUSALEM, Israel– e-SIM (AMEX:
EIM), a leader in electronic product simulations for e-commerce and product development, raised a total of $9 million through a private placement with InfoSpace.com (Nasdaq: INSP), its chief executive officer, Naveen Jain, America Online Inc. (Nasdaq: AOL), and e-SIM chairman and CEO, Marc Belzberg. Each investor will receive newly issued ordinary shares in exchange for their investments. The negotiations on the terms of the placement were completed at the end of November, and were approved by e-SIM’s Board at that time. The agreements provide for a price of $8.00 per share, which was the average price of e-SIM’s shares during the month of November.http://www.e-sim.com
PSA Inc. Announces $5 Million in Private Placement Investment
LOS ANGELES — PSAINC (OTCBB:
PSAX) announced the placement of more than $7 million in private placements in Switzerland. Investments have been made primarily by private and institutional investors including $2 million from a Siemens Pension Fund as previously announced. PSAINC plans to be broad-based global travel and entertainment company. PSAINC is structuring the company’s exclusive Internet brand via advanced broadband convergence through its PSAZZ.COM platform.iParty Completes $5 Million Private Placement
NEW YORK– iParty Corp. (OTCBB:
IPTYE), a destination for party goods and party planning through its iParty.com division, completed a $5 million private placement of Series D Convertible Preferred Stock and 1.25 million redeemable common stock purchase warrants with Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst. The stock issued to Hicks Muse is convertible into 2.5 million shares of common stock and the warrants to purchase stock are exercisable at a priceof $2.00 per share. The Hicks Muse investment brings the total amount raised by iParty since August 1999 to $27.9 million.
http://www.iparty.com
Network-1 Security Solutions Completes $3 Million Private Financing
WALTHAM, Mass.– Network-1 Security Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:
NSSI), a developer of next generation embedded firewalls with intrusion detection and prevention capabilities that are focused on enabling corporations to safely open up strategic assets and networks for new e-Business opportunities, completed a $3 million private offering of preferred stock, warrants and notes. The financing was led by investors affiliated with Wheatley Partners II L.P., the company’s largest shareholder (Barry Rubenstein and Irwin Lieber). Corey M. Horowitz, president and CEO of CMH Capital Management, a principal stockholder and chairman of the board of directors of the company, and Avi A. Fogel, president and chief executive officer and member of the board of directors of the company, also participated in the offering.http://www.network-1.com
WorkingNets Closes Second Round of “Angel” Investment
ALTADENA, Calif.–WorkingNets Inc., a creator of online vertical communities for working professionals, completed its second round of angel investment. The $575,000 investment secures a new phase of accelerated growth for the company into additional vertical communities. Started in March 1999, WorkingNets received initial seed funding from the founder, Tom Higgins, for business planning, market research and development. The first round of angel investment closed in May 1999, and led to the construction, development and launch of WorkingNets’ first community site, PharmScope.com (http://www.pharmscope.com). This second angel investment round will complete the branding of PharmScope.com and prepare the launch of several additional sites.
http://www.workingnets.com
NearSpace Closes First Round of Seed Funding
PETALUMA, Calif.– NearSpace Inc., a developer of mobile applications and services for e-commerce, announced a first round of financing from private investors valued at $0.56 million. NearSpace is developing a powerful, scalable e-commerce application known as Nearforce, which will deliver information directly to Web-enabled cellular phones and personal digital assistants.
http://www.nearspace.com
NetSanity Wins Second Round Funding From Nokia Ventures
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.– NetSanity Inc., creators of Internet software for the delivery, notification and management of web-based information, announced a group of elite investors who have provided second round venture capital funding. Nokia Ventures has now joined RG Internet Investors L.P., and Angel Investors L.P., as equity investors in the growing Silicon Valley company. Peter Buhl will represent Nokia Ventures on NetSanity’s board of
directors.
http://www.netsanity.com
http://www.nokiaventures.com
MapInfo Invests in e-Business Start-up NearMe.com
TROY, N.Y.– MapInfo Corp. (Nasdaq:
MAPS) announced an investment in NearMe.com, an e-business company that uses MapInfo technology to help Web consumers find goods, services and events located near them. NearMe.com will deliver this service initially over the Web. MapInfo will hold a minority equity interest in NearMe.com through a cash investment and by licensing MapInfo technology.http://www.nearme.com
http://www.mapinfo.com
internet.Com Acquires Linuxstart.Com
Darien, CT – internet.com (Nasdaq:
INTM), the E-Business and Internet Technology Network (http://www.internet.com), publisher of this website, acquired LinuxStart.com (http://www.linuxstart.com), a resource and search engine for the Linux community providing Linux information, tools, applications and more. LinuxStart.com has international editions with versions in English, German, French, and Spanish, among others. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Recent internet.com Linux initiatives include the acquisitions of LinuxCentral.com (http://www.linuxcentral.com), an e-commerce site which sells hardware, software and other products geared for the Linux and Open Source communities; LinuxToday.com (http://www.linuxtoday.com), one of the largest Web sites serving the Linux and Open Source communities; and LinuxPlanet.com (http://www.linuxplanet.com), a provider of Linux news and tutorials for system administrators, developers and business professionals.Southshore Acquires RV Holiday.com
Denver — The Southshore Corp. (OTCBB:
SHSO), a fully reporting company, and RV Holiday.com Inc. reached an agreement for the acquisition of RV Holiday.com Inc. in exchange for 5.5 million shares of Southshore common stock. RV Holiday.com Inc. is a Colorado Springs, Colorado-based company engaged in the development of an Internet portal site for RV enthusiasts as well as in acquiring RV dealerships nationwide.
Who’s Who & Where
Works.com Names Peter Poulin VP of Sales
AUSTIN, Texas — Works.com, an Internet business purchasing service that helps small companies buy like big corporations, announced the appointment of Peter Poulin as vice president of sales. Poulin brings to Works.com extensive experience in customer and partner management and development, including 13 years at Compaq Computer where he led strategic initiatives across a variety of sales and marketing groups. Works.com is funded by Bowman Capital, Hummer Winblad, Merrill Lynch, Presidio Venture Partners, and Trellis Partners.
http://www.works.com
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