VC Buzz – $359.45+ Million in Today’s Deals


New in the News



1-800-HOSTING.com, B2B Explorer, Cahoots, Commerce One, Copper.com, DATA RACE, DataSage, DocuTouch, E-Dr. Network, eFrenzy, Expressions.com, Finance Net, Hollywood Stock Exchange, i-Incubator.com, Immune Network Research, InfoLibria, Integral, Intelisys Electronic Commerce, iPass, Kinzan.com, MarketTools, Mediacom Ventures, Media Station, Medsite, Multitude, Online Learning Network, Panja, Qvtech, Telenisus, TelePost, Tellme Networks, Time Warner Digital Media, ValiCert, William E. Simon & Sons



 






InfoLibria Secures $50 Million in Third-Round Equity Financing



WALTHAM, Mass. — InfoLibria Inc., a provider of Internet infrastructure solutions that enable content-management and deliver

y services, closed a $50 million equity financing. The financing was led by Sandler Capital Management, and included Madison Dearborn Partners, Tudor Investment Corp., CIBC Capital Partners and Boston Millenia Partners, as well as strategic investments from GE Capital, through its divisions GE Equity and GE Americom, NTT, and PSINet. In addition, all institutional investors from InfoLibria’s previous financing rounds invested in this round, including TeleSoft, Patricof, Kemper, and Adams Capital Management. InfoLibria’s content-delivery and management systems, which are installed in service provider networks in the U.S. and Europe, improve the delivery of multimedia content, text, and graphics on the Internet by distributing content to the edge of the network, closer to users.


http://www.infolibria.com






Tellme Networks Secures $47 Million in Financing



PALO ALTO, Calif. — Tellme Networks Inc., a Silicon Valley start-up company developing an interactive media service that combines the power of the Web with the convenience of the telephone, raised $47 million from Benchmark Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The Barksdale Group and Brad Silverberg, both previous investors in Tellme, also participated in this round of financing. Tellme also announced that Kevin Harvey, a founding partner at Benchmark, has joined the company’s board of directors. Tellme’s easy-to-use service will allow consumers to speak simple voice commands into existing and next-generation telephones to receive fast, timely access to a broad range of useful media, commerce and communications services. The company expects to begin rolling out its initial service offerings in the first half of 2000.


http://www.tellme.com


http://www.benchmark.com


http://www.kpcb.com






Multitude Raises $35 Million for Firetalk



SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.– Multitude Inc., a company that has built a layer of voice communications across the Internet, completed a $35 million equity financing. This round of funding brings the total to more than $45 million in equity financing raised in less than nine months. Multitude’s Firetalk provides free worldwide calls, unlimited conferencing, voice and text chat at any web site, shared voice enabled web browsing, and instant messaging. Participants in this round include Kistler Associates, J&W Seligman, North River Venture Capital, Vantage Point Partners, Amerindo Investment Advisors, S-Squared Technology, Essex Investment Management, European Technology Fund Group, and Raza Venture Fund A. Additional investments are from Internet companies, including CNET, World Online and iTurf.


http://www.firetalk.com






CopperCom Closes $30 Million Round of Funding



SANTA CLARA, Calif. – CopperCom secured an additional $30 million in a fourth round of financing, bringing the total to $64.1 million invested in the company since June 1997. The funding was led by Technology Crossover Ventures. Pequot Capital Management and Crescend

o also participated in this round along with former investors Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Venture Partners, Advent International, Hambrecht & Quist, Intel Corp., C.E. Unterberg Towbin, Patcricof & Co. Ventures Inc., JK&B Capital, Kettle Partners, and Charlie Bass. CopperCom will use the funding to help its telecommunications service provider customers accelerate their deployment of Voice over DSL across the nation.


http://www.coppercom.com





MarketTools Announces $30 Million in Financing



SAUSALITO, Calif. — MarketTools Inc., an Application Service Provider for the eResearch industry and provider of Zoomerang real-time feedback services, closed $30 million in financing. This financing includes $25 million in equity, led by Dominion Ventures Inc., Oak Hill Venture Partners, InterWest Partners, and Monitor Clipper Partners, plus existing investors: Capstone Ventures and ComVentures. An additional $5 million in lease and debt financing was provided by Comdisco Ventures. MarketTools’ technology and advisory services enable companies to receive immediate feedback and market information: online and in real-time.


http://www.markettools.com


http://www.dominion.com


http://www.interwest.com


http://www.monitor.com


http://www.capstonevc.com


http://www.comven.com






DataSage Announces $23.5 Million in Third Round Funding



READING, Mass.– DataSage Inc., a leader in individualized internet marketing software, received $23.5 million in mezzanine funding from new private capital as well as original investors. This deal, led by QuestMark Partners, brings DataSage’s total raised capital to over $33 million. The company’s netCustomer leverages click-stream data to let e-marketers track consumer activity, personalize their Web sites in real time, and drive highly targeted e-mail campaigns.


http://www.datasage.com


http://www.oneliberty.com


http://www.sigmapartners.com


http://www.atvcapital.com


http://www.eldorado.com






The Hollywood Stock Exchange Closes Investment Round With $23 Million



SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The Hollywood Stock Exchange, an entertainment web destination, closed $23 million in vent

ure capital financing led by The Travelers Insurance Company and XL Ventures. This completes the round of investments, which began last month with NBC, a subsidiary of GE (NYSE: GE), taking a substantial equity stake in the company. Joining The Hollywood Stock Exchange board of directors is Jack Rivkin, executive vice president of Citigroup Investments Inc.


http://www.hsx.com






iPass Receives $21 Million in Latest Round of Venture Financing



MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.– iPass Inc., the “Access Anywhere” company for Internet services, received approximately $21 million in its latest round of financing. Investors include firms that also invested in iPass’ first two rounds, Accel Partners, Asia PacificVentures and Crosspoint Ventures. New investors in this round are Intel Corp. and Meritech. iPass’ global Internet settlement and remote access services are now provided through 4,000 access points worldwide, with more than 650 Internet Service Providers, systems integrators and carriers now offering iPass services to their customers.


http://www.ipass.com


http://www.accel.com






Medsite Announces Increase in Financing



NEW YORK– Medsite closed on an additional $19.7 million of equity financing, bringing the total raised in the last six weeks to $55.7 million. The investors for the current round of funding include: The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS); Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Venture Partners, the venture capital affiliate of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, (NYSE: MWD); and Chase Capital Partners. In addition, a group of investors from Medsite’s most recent placement increased their investment as part of this round. They include: Bain Capital’s Brookside Fund; Weiss, Peck & Greer; Reuters Greenhouse Fund; Tenet Healthcare Corp. and Hikari Tsushin. In November, the company announced a $36 million equity financing. The company also announced the appointment of Gary M. Stein, vice president of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Venture Partners, and Dr. Mitchell Blutt, executive partner of Chase Capital Partners to its board of directors.


http://www.medsite.com






TelePost Secures Additional $19 Million in Funding



SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — TelePost, a provider of Web-enabled enhanced communication and unified messaging, announced a $19 million equity investment from Freeserve, the largest Internet Service Provider in the United Kingdom. TelePost is headquartered in Santa Cruz, Calif. TelePost’s suite of advanced Web-based communication products allow users to receive and retrieve voicemail, fax and em

ail messages from either the phone or via email; conduct conference calls; and make Microsoft PowerPoint presentations over the Web.


http://www.telepost.com


http://www.freeserve.net






Cahoots Closes $17 Million in First-Round Funding



BRISBANE, Calif.– Internet start-up Cahoots announced its first closing of venture funding totaling $17 million. The initial investors are Sevin Rosen Funds, New Enterprise Associates, Walden International Investment Group, Integral Capital, Vertex and Global Catalyst Partners. Initial seed funding was provided by Kamran Elahian through his Global Catalyst Partners venture fund.


http://www.cahoots.com






Kinzan.com Announces $15.5 Million Funding Led by Menlo Ventures



CARLSBAD, Calif. — Kinzan.com, a provider of e-commerce solutions for deploying and managing very large networks of websites, closed $15.5 million in a mezzanine round funding led by Menlo Ventures. In addition to Menlo Ventures, investors in this round of funding include the company’s existing investors Pulsar Venture Group and InveStar Capital, as well as new investors Broadview; Mitsubishi Corp.; ARES International; Vital Processing; and the founders of AboveNet. This round brings the total 1999 investments in Kinzan.com to over $21 million. DuBose Montgomery, general partner and managing director of Menlo Ventures, and Ken Tai, chairman of InveStar and a co-founder of Acer, will join Kinzan.com’s board of directors. Kinzan.com was spun off recently from iXL Inc. (Nasdaq: IIXL), a strategic Internet services company.


http://www.kinzan.com


http://www.menloventures.com






E-DR. Receives Investment



ATLANTA– E-Dr. Network Inc. received venture capital financing of $8 million led by Noro-Moseley Partners of Atlanta, Georgia, with a co-investment from Benchmark Capital of Menlo Park, California. The company is a web-based business-to-business, e-commerce provider in the vision care segment of the U.S. healthcare industry. E-Dr., based in Jacksonville, Florida, has also formed a co-marketing agreement with CIBA Vision Corp., the eye care unit of Novartis AG. E-Dr. enables licensed eyecare professionals (optometrists, ophthalmologists and opticians) to purchase supplies, including contact lenses, eyeglass frames and spectacle lenses from various suppliers, through a single online source in a low-cost and highly efficient manner.


http://www.E-Dr.com


http://www.noro-moseley.com


http://www.benchmark.com






eFrenzy Secures $8 Million in Funding



SAN FRANCISCO — eFrenzy, an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of services, closed an additional $8 million in funding, bringing the total amount of funds raised to date to nearly $10 million. The capital comes from previous investor NeoCarta Ventures ($2.5 million), as well as new investor Trinity Ventures ($5.5 million). NeoCarta previously invested $1.25 million. The eFrenzy site, expected to launch early next year, will provide a forum where buyers can post their service requests and sellers can submit their profiles.


http://www.efrenzy.com


http://www.trinityventures.com


http://www.neocarta.com






Panja Receives Intel Investment


DALLAS, Dec. 15 — Panja (Nasdaq: PNJA), a leader in the design, manufacturing and sale of comprehensive enterprise and consumer control systems, announced that Intel Corp. made a $5 million equity investment in Panja and has received common stock and warrants to acquire additional shares of common stock. In addition to the equity investment, Panja and Intel have signed an agreement to work together as Panja ports their products to the Intel architecture, as well as to investigate making the companies’ products interoperable.


http://www.Panja.com






DATA RACE Closes $4M Equity Placement



SAN ANTONIO, Texas — DATA RACE (Nasdaq: RACE) closed a $4 million private equity placement. In this closing, the three investors from the company’s June 1999 private placement purchased approximately 1,905,000 additional shares of common stock and warrants to purchase approximately 571,000 additional shares. DATA RACE designs, manufactures, and markets a line of communications products for remote access to the corporate environment.


http://www.datarace.com






QVtech Secures Round of Funding



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — QVtech, a developer of the email control program, Interosa, secured a round of financing from RockMountain Ventures. The Dallas, Texas-based fund has financed QVtech for $1.5M in exchange for an equity share in QVtech. Other details of the terms were not disclosed. QVtech’s initial product, Interosa, is in beta testing at ASP and corporate sites. There technology allows companies to enforce email policies, including such features as time expiration of messages, no forwarding, and no cut/copy/paste of email contents.


http://www.qvtech.com






Online Learning N

etwork Secures $1.25 Million



OLYMPIA, Wash. — Internet startup Online Learning Network closed its $1.25 million initial round of financing from Madrona Venture Group, Staenberg Private Capital and a number of individual investors. The company also announced the addition of former Weyerhaeuser CEO Jack Creighton, a principal at Madrona Venture Group, to its board.


http://www.OnlineLearninigGuide.com


http://www.madrona.com


http://www.staenbergvc.bigstep.com






DocuTouch Receives New Private Funding



SEATTLE– DocuTouch, a provider of Secure Internet Document Exchange, closed more than $1 million in private equity funds. The equity investment will enable DocuTouch to boost its customer support services, increase its sales and marketing staff and form strategic partnerships, furthering its goal to become the provider-of-choice of confidential information exchange using the Internet. Details of the investment were not disclosed.


http://www.docutouch.com






Expressions.com Announces First Round Financing



NEW YORK– After a successful site launch on December 8, New York-based online custom goods retailer Expressions.com closed on its first round of financing with the Rahn Group, a Minneapolis venture capital firm. Expressions.com launched with jewelry and some accessories, and has plans to expand its product line in 2000. The company was founded by brothers Jeffrey Wolf, managing partner at Seed One Ventures LLC, and David Wolf, formerly with DC-based Internet consulting firm Magnet Interactive.


http://www.expressions.com






1-800-HOSTING.com Completes First Round Financing



DALLAS– 1-800-HOSTING.com Inc., a provider of Web hosting services to small-to-medium sized businesses, completed its first round of financing. Terms were not disclosed. The private investor group includes: Michael Ovitz, chairman, Lynx Technology Group; Gil Maurer, director, Wit Capital; Roy Bostock, chairman and CEO, The McManus Group Inc.; Gary L. Wilson, chairman, Northwest Airlines; Richard Nanula, chairman and CEO, BroadBand Sports Inc.; Larry Murphy, chairman and founder of The Lawrence P. Murphy Company LLC, former director of strategic planning, The Walt Disney Company; Richard C. Blum, chairman, Blum Capital Partners; Frederic V. Malek, chairman, Thayer Capital Partners and Gretchen Shugart, president, eMedia Capital LLC. 1-800-HOSTING.com offers a full range of Web hosting services, including Web site design, e-commerce, search engine/directory promotion and audio/video streaming. The company currently hosts approximately 6,000 domains from all over the world.


http://www.1-800-hosting.com






B2B Explorer Gets Investment from Michael Liberty



WESTBROOK, Maine– B2B Explorer, a Maine-based Internet start-up, received a major financial investment from Michael A. Liberty through Cambridge Associates Holdings. The investment will allow B2B Explorer, which launched its comprehensive online service in late July, to expand its services, populate its database, add 20 jobs to the firm within the year. Liberty will serve as a founding partner of the firm and on the board of directors. Liberty and his partner, Joe O’Donnell, who serves as chairman of Cambridge Associates Holdings, are active investors in other Internet companies.


http://www.b2bexplorer.com






Motorola Invests in Media Station



ANN ARBOR, Mich.– Media Station, a leader in broadband interactive media on-demand technology and services, announced that Motorola Inc.’s Multimedia Group, a leader in cable modem access technology, made an equity investment in the company. Media Station, specializing in interactive multimedia-on-demand services, enables cable modem subscribers to use popular PC software titles on-demand over broadband networks.


http://www.mediastation.com


http://www.mot.com/multimedia






Immune Network Taking Stake in Online Health Information Company



VANCOUVER, British Columbia– Immune Network Research Ltd. (CDNX: IMM) confirmed its investment in a new online health and fitness company based in Seattle, Washington. This strategic investment is the culmination of Immune Network’s participation in a website development joint venture announced earlier this year. Seed financing for the new company was arranged by a Seattle-based group of private investors led by Richard Ying, co-founder of Atex Media Solutions (www.atex.com) and former senior VP of Asymetrix Learning Systems Inc. (recently renamed click2learn.com). Ying will serve as CEO of the startup, with Mike Satterfield, former president of Simba Technologies Ltd., serving as COO. The new company expects to release its flagship, web-based service in March 2000. Immune Network will hold a minority, non-controlling interest in the new company. Immune Network’s equity holding in the new company replaces the joint venture arrangement announced in August.


http://www.immunenetwork.com






net.IPO AG: Participation in Finance Net S.A. Creates Direct Access to French Private Investors


FRANKFURT, Germany — net.IPO Aktiengesellschaft, the Internet investment bank quoted in official trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, acquired a participation of over 10% in Finance Net S.A. via a capital increase. Finance Net S.A. is France’s largest information and communication platform for the financial sector. Finance Net was formed in 1996 as an independent Internet services provider for financial information and runs the web sites http://www.finance-net.com and http://www.boursorama.com. French priv

ate investors can register on-line with net.IPO at http://www.netipo.fr. Following the German model, the French platform will place new issues directly with French private investors via the Internet. net.IPO’s 5 million outstanding shares are quoted in Official Trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company’s equity capital is around 13.8 million Euro.


http://www.netIPO.de






Internet Fact of the Day



$220 billion in sales of services will shift from the offline world to the Internet by 2003, according to Forrester Research.






Time Warner Forms $500 Million Fund to Invest in Digital Media Opportunities



NEW YORK– Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) announced formation of a Time Warner Digital Media investment fund that will provide the company with a vehicle for systematically and efficiently identifying and evaluating digital media investment opportunities. The company anticipates that the fund will consist of $500 million of assets. The fund will focus on non-controlling equity stakes in companies engaged in e-commerce, vertical and interactive content, technology, infrastructure and other digital media-related activities. The fund’s average investment is expected to be in the range of $5 million to $20 million, but both larger and smaller investments will be considered.


http://www.timewarner.com






i-Incubator.com Acquires i-AuctionTech.Com



MIAMI– i-Incubator.com Inc. (OTCBB: INQU) acquired i-AuctionTech.com Inc., which has developed an integrated auction services platform for the Internet. The acquisition also includes i-AuctionTech’s first property, i-AeroBids.com, an aviation parts auction site expected to be unveiled next quarter. i-Incubator is purchasing 100% of i-AuctionTech in exchange for 2,000,000 shares of i-Incubator.com. The position in i-AuctionTech is the first investment by i-Incubator.com since announcing its new name and new direction as an Internet incubator.


http://www.i-incubator.com






Telenisus Acquires The Design Room



CHICAGO — Telenisus Corp., an e-business Internet solutions provider, announced its acquisition of The Design Room, an interactive design company based in the San Francisco-area. The Design Room will produce innovative, high-level designs for Web-based applications such as hosting and e-commerce. Telenisus recently closed its first funding round.


http://www.telenisus.com






ValiCert Merges With Receipt.com



MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — ValiCert Inc., a provider of digital certificate validation solutions and services, signed a definitive agreement to merge with Receipt.com, a provider of trusted transactions and XML data interchange for e-commerce. The newly combined company will be known as ValiCert. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Receipt.com is backed by U.S. Venture Partners and SoftBank Holdings Inc.


http://www.valicert.com


http://www.receipt.com






Banacci and Commerce One Announce $500+ Million Joint Venture



MEXICO CITY, Mexico and WALNUT CREEK, Calif.– Grupo Financiero Banamex-Accival (Banacci), Mexico’s main financial group, and Commerce One, a provider of global business-to-business e-commerce solutions, announced a joint venture that will offer a B2B electronic marketplace for Latin America. Banacci and Commerce One have signed a non-binding memorandum of terms and expect to sign definitive agreements before the end of the year. It is contemplated that Banacci will license the Commerce One Solution for the development of a B2B e-commerce platform based in Mexico and Latin America, and Commerce One will provide technical, marketing and deployment expertise to accelerate the launch of the Banacci services. As part of the equity partnership between the companies, it is anticipated that Commerce One will grant Banacci an option to purchase up to 1.5 million pre-split Commerce One shares of Common Stock at $348.44 per share, in exchange for the right to receive shares in the new company. The exchange of these options is contingent upon certain events, including a U.S. Exchange or Nasdaq listed IPO by the new company.


http://www.banamex.com


http://www.commerceone.com






Who’s Who & Where



William E. Simon & Sons Adds Chief Financial Officer



MORRISTOWN, N.J.– John A. Gerson recently joined William E. Simon & Sons LLC as managing director and chief financial officer. He will operate from the firm’s New Jersey office and will also join the firm’s investment groups, which include the Private Equity Group, WES & Sons Realty, and the Special Situations Group. Before joining WES & Sons, Gerson spent 11 years as the chief financial officer of Kolberg Kravis Roberts & Co.





Mediacom Ventures Names Managing Director and CFO



NEW YORK– Mediacom Ventures LLC, the managing member of Mediacom Capital Holdings LLC that was established to make equity investments in telephony and Internet-related companies, announced the appointment of Emilio Sotil to the position of managing director and CFO. Sotil previously held director and managing director positions with Salomon Smith Barney and Bear Sterns & Co.


http://www.780media.com






Erskine Bowles Named

Chairman of the Board of Intelisys Electronic Commerce



NEW YORK– Intelisys Electronic Commerce Inc., a leader in global business-to-business e-commerce, announced that Erskine Bowles, former White House chief of staff and managing director of Carousel Capital and partner at Forstmann Little & Co., has been elected as the chairman of its board of directors. Bowles will play an active role in the overall strategic direction of the company and help develop the company’s position as a provider of e-procurement services and B2B marketplaces. He will also continue to manage his responsibilities for developing new investment opportunities for both Forstmann Little and Carousel Capital, the Charlotte-based merchant bank that he co-founded in 1996. Forstmann Little recently invested $65 million for a one-third voting interest in Intelisys.


http://www.intelisys.com






Integral Builds Executive Team



PALO ALTO, Calif.– Integral, a provider of business-to-business e-commerce solutions for capital markets, announced the appointment of four senior executives to spearhead growth of the company and its recently introduced capital markets e-commerce portal, CFOWeb.com (www.cfoweb.com). Joining Integral’s co-founders Harpal Sandhu, president and chief executive officer, and Viral Tolat, chief technical officer, are: William Clark, former senior vice president of marketing at Hyperion Solutions Corp.; Bruce Felt, former chief financial officer at FullTime Software; Andrew Bailey, former group vice president at Oracle Corp.; and William Ackermann, former vice president of sales of Netscape Communications. Integral investors include Accel Partners.


http://www.integral.com






PR Swamp Thing



“XXX developed breakthrough technology that dramatically enhances the World Wide Web as a medium for communication, community and e-commerce.”






Do you think YOUR cool company ought to be featured in a VC Watch column?


Then go here …


http://www.flashbase.com/forms/VCWatch


… and tell us all about yourself.






GET BUZZED!



VC Buzz, that is.

The latest buzz on the daily deals coming down in the femtosecond pace of the Venture Capital world

VC Buzz brings you the latest on who’s gotten their funding and from whom, what’s happening at the VCs and who’s just swallowed whom in the maniacally fast, deadly serious Darwinian scramble for Internet success and dominance.

Don’t get trampled by the herd … stay ahead with VC Buzz, delivered every business day to your e-mail box.

Check it out online or SIGN UP get it delivered FREE every day to your e-mail. When you sign up, scroll down to the “Internet Stocks Channel” subhead and check the VC Buzz box.



Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

News Around the Web