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VENTUREWIRE --- Monday, October 23, 2000
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Private Company Business News
------ Published Daily by Technologic Partners -------
http://technologicpartners.com
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Top Stories:

o VantagePoint Closes $1.6 Billion Fund
o Eve.com, Online Beauty Retailer, Shuts Down
o Operating Company Raza Foundries Raises $125 Million
o Network Photonics Raises $106.5 Million In Second Round

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Also in This Issue:

New Money:
o Information Security Firm Riptech Gets $23 Million Round One
o Digital Archiving Service Lands $18 Million in Series A
o Presenter.com Raises $13 Million, Spins Off China Unit
o Finnish GPS Firm Fastrax Gets $1.1 Million in Round One
o Interactive Content Firm Inpix Gets $1.7 Million Round One
o Web Hiring Firm Powerhiring Gets $1.6 Million in Seed Round
o Web Supply Chain Econnections Gets $77 Million in Series C
o Network Processor Firm Lara Networks Gets $40 Million
o TeleKnowledge, Broadband Billing Firm, Gets $35 Million
o Web Video Delivery Firm Vividon Gets $15 Million Round Two
o Broadband Company Massana Lands $16.5 Million Second Round
o Gomez Gets $9.3 Million Series D, Withdraws IPO Registration
o Net Data Firm Fetch Raises $1.15 Million Bridge Round
o Software Technology Developer ieWild Secures $2 Million

New Deals:
o Snickelways Cuts 30% of its Workforce in Two Reductions
o Red Herring Communications Eliminates 22 Jobs

M&A:
o Routing Switches Designer Unisphere Acquires BroadSoft

New Directors:
o Car Service Firm Texas Tea Adds to Board
o PharmQuest.com Names Two New Members to Board

New People:
o e-Business Services Provider Iconixx Names First President

VC Fund News:
o Garage.com Pulls IPO Citing General Market Conditions
o Amadeus Capital Closes Second Fund With $340 Million
o NewMedia Spark Acquires U.K. Venture Firm For $115.6 Million
o Firm Now Called OVP in Response to Olympic Committee Charges

VC Personnel:
o WaldenVC Names Former Broderbund COO McDonagh as Partner

VW Corrections:
o Argus Capital

======= Top Stories =======

o VantagePoint Closes $1.6 Billion Fund

SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- VantagePoint Venture Partners
said it closed on a new $1.6 billion fund. The fund,
VantagePoint Venture Partners IV, will primarily
finance early-stage companies. Its focus will include
businesses developing new products and services
in the areas of optics, semiconductors, and Internet
infrastructure. VantagePoint seeks to be the lead
investor in the firms it finances. It has been investing
the fund since May and has thus far made about ten
deals.
http://www.vpvp.com/
_____________________________________________

o Eve.com, Online Beauty Retailer, Shuts Down

SAN FRANCISCO -- Struggling online beauty products
retailer Eve.com said it will close its operations.
The company said it could not raise enough additional
capital and could not reach profitability based
on the sale of cosmetics alone. Eve.com said it
laid off most of its 164 employees and would fill
and ship orders received up to midnight on October
19. The company was backed by Charter Venture Capital,
Crosslink Capital, idealab!, Menlo Ventures, and
Weiss, Peck and Greer Venture Partners.
http://www.eve.com/
_____________________________________________

o Operating Company Raza Foundries Raises $125 Million

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Raza Foundries, which builds
and operates broadband networking and communication
companies, said it closed its Series C round of
funding for $125 million. New investor Cisco Systems
led the round, which included new investors Applied
Micro Circuits, Broadcom, Infineon, LSI Logic, PMC
Sierra, Siemens, Virata, and Xilinx. The latest
round brings the company's total funding raised
to approximately $175 million. None of the investors
in the Series C round will have representation on
the company's board of directors. Raza Foundries
was founded by chief executive officer S. Atiq Raza
in 1999 and has invested and provided services to
14 portfolio companies, including Maple Optical
Systems, Yuni Networks, and Pacific Broadband Communications.
The company has also received backing from Benchmark
Capital, Bowman Capital, and TCV. Raza Foundries
provides in-house product and company development
and management services.
http://www.razafoundries.com/
_____________________________________________

o Network Photonics Raises $106.5 Million In Second Round

BOULDER, Colo. -- Network Photonics, which develops
and provides optical networking technologies, said
it raised $106.5 million in its second round of
venture capital funding. The round was led by The
Sturm Group, with Spectrum Equity Investors, Mustang
Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, and U.S. Venture
Partners co-investing. The company said it will
use the funding to develop its switching and systems
technologies and meet the demands for new personnel.
Greg Williams, principal of the Sturm Group, and
Neal Douglas, managing director for Spectrum Equity
Investors, will both take seats on the Network Photonics
board of directors as a result of the investment.
http://www.networkphotonics.com/

======= New Money =======

o Information Security Firm Riptech Gets $23 Million Round One

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Riptech, an information security
service provider, said it raised $23 million in
its first round of funding led by Providence Equity
and Columbia Capital. Riptech said it will use the
additional capital to expand its domestic and international
operations, improve services and further develop
its channel and technology partnerships. Columbia
Capital and Providence Equity will be represented
on Riptech's board of directors. Previous investors
in Riptech include: Broadview International; John
Ryan, CEO, Entrust Technologies; Levy Gerzberg,
CEO, Zoran Corp.; George Hara, managing partner,
Defta Partners; Dr. Eric Clemons, professor, The
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania;
Dalia Prashker, former president, New Dimension
Software; and Gur Shomron, founder, RightOrder.com.
http://www.riptech.com/
_____________________________________________

o Digital Archiving Service Lands $18 Million in Series A

CULVER CITY -- Archive, a digital archiving and
analysis service founded by the founders of shipping
and mailing firm Stamps.com, said it raised $18
million in its Series A round of funding from Mayfield
Fund, VeriSign, Orable, EMC, Silicon Valley Bancshares,
InnoCal Venture Capital, and Rare Ventures. The
company will use the funds to develop its service
and technology, and toward sales and marketing.
http://www.archive.com/
_____________________________________________

o Presenter.com Raises $13 Million, Spins Off China Unit

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Presenter.com, which provides
companies and individuals with online presentation
services, said it received more than $13 million
in its Series C round of funding led by new investor
WK Technology Fund. Previous investor Softbank,
along with new investors WI Harper Group, Fortune
Venture Investment Group, and Cornerstone Capital
also participated this round. The company, which
raised $6.5 million in its last round, is also backed
by Trans Cosmos and The Sculley Brothers. Shawgang
Yang of WK Technology Fund will join the company's
board of directors. Presenter.com's product, Instant
Presentation, which launched last November, combines
streaming audio with slides, table of contents,
and navigation control to create an interactive
presentation independent of bandwidth. Presenter.com
International, a spin-off from Presenter.com, which
provides presentation services to the greater China
market, said it closed its series A round with $7
million funded by Softbank, WK Technology Fund and
WI Harper Group.
http://www.presenter.com/
_____________________________________________

o Finnish GPS Firm Fastrax Gets $1.1 Million in Round One

HELSINKI, Finland -- Fastrax Oy, which specializes
in global positioning technology, said it raised
FIM 7.8 million ($1.1 million) in its first round
from Startupfactory, Innocap, and Suunto. The company
will use the funds to develop its new GPS receiver,
to be used in small portable devices.
http://www.fastrax.fi/
_____________________________________________

o Interactive Content Firm Inpix Gets $1.7 Million Round One

MONTREAL -- Investissement Desjardins said it invested
$1.7 million in Inpix Media, which develops interactive
content for the Web and interactive television,
as part of its first round of funding. Inpix Media
also received $2.3 million in technology systems
assets from Groupe Pixcom. The company said it will
use the funding for product development and marketing.
http://www.inpixmedia.com/
_____________________________________________

o Web Hiring Firm Powerhiring Gets $1.6 Million in Seed Round

TUSTIN, Calif. -- Powerhiring.com, an online hiring
system, said it raised $1.6 million in its seed
round. The company received additional funds from
Farm Capital Services, which invested $642,000 in
May. Peterson Ventures and individual investors
also participated.  Ken Saxon, Farm partner, will
join the company's board of directors. The company
will use the funds to build the company's infrastructure
and marketing.
http://www.powerhiring.com/
_____________________________________________

o Web Supply Chain Econnections Gets $77 Million in Series C

LOS ANGELES -- Econnections, a provider of Internet-based
supply chain management products and services, said
it raised $77 million in its Series C round from
Silver Lake Partners and Red Rock Ventures. The
company will use the funds toward sales and marketing
and building its infrastructure.
http://www.econnections.com/
_____________________________________________

o Network Processor Firm Lara Networks Gets $40 Million

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Lara Networks, which develops
network application processors for Internet infrastructure,
said it raised $40 million in its second round of
funding. The round was led by Raza Ventures and
included additional investments from Battery Ventures,
Investar Capital, and TeleSoft Venture Partners.
Investment banks BancBoston Robertson Stephens,
U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, Dain Rauscher Wessels
Inc., and Needham & Co. also participated in the
round. The company said it will use the funding
to accelerate the development of new products and
services. Lara Networks was spun-off of Lara Technology
in January 2000. The company had received initial
funding from investors inlcuding Battery Ventures,
Investar Capital, and TeleSoft Venture Partners.
http://www.laranetworks.com/
_____________________________________________

o TeleKnowledge, Broadband Billing Firm, Gets $35 Million

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- TeleKnowledge, which provides
billing and revenue management services for broadband
related communications, content and service providers,
said it raised $35 million in its fourth round of
funding. The round was led by new investor 3i. Additional
investors in the company's latest round included
Merrill Lynch Ventures, DRW Venture Partners, and
Tamir Fishman. Previous investors Jerusalem Venture
Partners, Siemens Mustang Ventures, and Ze'evi Computers
Technologies also participated in the round. The
company said it will use the funding to continue
development of new products and technologies and
expand its sales and marketing in the U.S. and Europe.
The TeleKnowledge product automates revenue sharing
and commission arrangements between providers and
channel partners. Nelson Stacks, of 3i, will take
a seat on the TeleKnowledge board of directors.
http://www.teleknowledge.com/
_____________________________________________

o Web Video Delivery Firm Vividon Gets $15 Million Round Two

SUDBURY, Mass. -- Vividon, an Internet infrastructure
company focused on improving video delivery on the
Web, said it completed its second round of financing
for $15 million. Venrock Associates led the round
and was joined by previous investors Atlas Venture;
Carlyle Venture Partners, an affiliate of the Carlyle
Group; and individual investor James Dow. The company
said it will use the funding to accelerate the product
development of its content delivery servers and
expand sales and marketing.
http://www.vividon.com/
_____________________________________________

o Broadband Company Massana Lands $16.5 Million Second Round

PALO ALTO, Calif -- Massana, a broadband digital
communications company, said it secured $16.5 million
in its second round of financing led by the private
equity arm of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. JAFCO,
a Japanese venture firm and previous investors ACT
Venture Capital of Dublin, Ireland, BancBoston Capital,
and Vision Capital also participated in this round.
Massana will use the funding to deploy its Gigabit
Ethernet products and for new product development.
Massana has raised $23.5 million to date. A member
of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson will take the seventh
seat on Massana's board of directors.
http://www.massana.com/
_____________________________________________

o Gomez Gets $9.3 Million Series D, Withdraws IPO Registration

LINCOLN, Mass. -- Gomez, which provides e-commerce
customer experience measurement, benchmarking, and
customer acquisition services, said it has secured
$9.3 million in its Series D round of funding from
previous investors led by Softbank Ventures. Other
investors are BancBoston Ventures, HarbourVest Partners,
Dolphin Communications Partners and John Hancock
Global Technology Fund. All of these investors participated
in Gomez' Series C round, which raised $28.5 million
and closed in February. The company also announced
it is withdrawing its registration statement for
initial public offering because of market conditions.
http://www.gomez.com/
_____________________________________________

o Net Data Firm Fetch Raises $1.15 Million Bridge Round

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. -- Fetch Technologies, which
is developing technology for extraction and integrating
of Internet data, said it has raised $1.15 million
in a bridge round of funding from undisclosed investors.
Fetch, which is currently in its Series B round,
raised $1.5 million in its Series A round. The company
was formerly known as  Dynamic Domain.
http://www.fetch.com/
_____________________________________________

o Software Technology Developer ieWild Secures $2 Million

OMAHA, Neb. -- Odin Capital Group announced it is
investing $2 million in ieWild, a developer of proprietary
software technology for marketing, for an undisclosed
equity stake in the company. First Data Resources,
an electronic card payment system company, has also
taken a minority stake in ieWild, following the
recent completion of a strategic agreement between
the two companies. Donna Walsh, a partner with Odin,
has been elected to sit on ieWild's board of directors.
http://www.iewild.com/

======= New Deals =======

o Snickelways Cuts 30% of its Workforce in Two Reductions

NEW YORK -- Snickelways Interactive, a provider
of Internet commerce services, said it laid of 40
of its 120 workers within the past month. The company
said that it let go 20 employees on September 12
and recently reduced its staff further by another
20 positions. The company said it made the cuts
to restructure for a changing business cycle and
to put the company in a better position for profitability.
The departments affected by the layoffs include
management consulting, non-strategic technical staff,
administrative, and human resources. Snickelways
is backed by Hudson Ventures, New Light Associates,
Prudential Securities affiliate Roman Arch Funds,
and Walden Capital.
http://www.snickelways.com/
_____________________________________________

o Red Herring Communications Eliminates 22 Jobs

SAN FRANCISCO -- Red Herring Communications, which
publishes a print and online news publication and
operates industry events, said it eliminated 22
positions from its 350-member staff. The company
said the layoffs were the result of redundancy in
its workforce after Red Herring's May acquisition
of Stockmaster.com. The company also said it made
the reductions in combining its editorial team,
which produces both an online and print publication.
Red Herring will also begin publishing its monthly
magazine bi-weekly, the company said. The company
recently named former Times Mirror Interactive leader
Hilary A. Schneider as its new chief executive officer.
Red Herring Communications is backed by Broadview
Capital partners and ZDNet.
http://www.redherring.com/

======= M&A =======

o Routing Switches Designer Unisphere Acquires BroadSoft

CHELMSFORD, Mass. -- Unisphere Networks, which designs
and sells routing switches and network management
software that facilitates the implementation of
high-speed data services, said it is acquiring BroadSoft,
a vendor of service delivery and creation systems
for telephony applications. The financial terms
of the acquisition were not disclosed. The BroadSoft
team will join Unisphere's voice products group,
led by chief operating officer Tom Burkardt. BroadSoft's
founder, president and CEO, Michael Tessler, will
head the group. Broadsoft was funded by Bessemer
Venture Partners, Broadband Office, Charles River
Ventures, Columbia Capital Corporation, Comdisco
Ventures, and Crescendo Ventures. Siemens owns a
96% of Unisphere Networks,  which was formerly called
Unisphere Solutions.
http://www.broadsoft.com/
http://www.unispherenetworks.com/

======= New Directors =======

o Car Service Firm Texas Tea Adds to Board

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Texas Tea, which provides Web-based
automotive services,  said it named Tom Millhoff
to its board. Mr. Millhoff is vice president of
corporate development for CampusEngine.com. He previously
served in management positions at Clorox and Ticketmaster
Online-CitySearch. Texas Tea is backed by Springboard
Angels, Sierra Angels, and BH Equity.
http://www.texastea.com/
_____________________________________________

o PharmQuest.com Names Two New Members to Board

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- PharmQuest.com, which provides
Internet services for drug development to the pharmaceutical
and biotechnology industry, said it named Inhale
Therapeutic Systems president and CEO Ajit Gill
and former FDA commisioner Dr. Jere Goyan to its
board of directors. Dr. Goyan currently serves as
Dean Emeritus of the School of Pharmacy at the University
of California, San Francisco. The company is backed
by Storm Ventures; Mr. Gill; Dr. Goyan; Gary Dillabough,
director of business development at eBay; Dinesh
Patel, founder and former CEO of Theratech; Suhas
Patil, founder Cirrus Logic, Cybermedia, and navin.com;
and Sam Srinivasan, chairman of CyberPlus and HealthLanguage.com.
The board now totals seven members.
http://www.pharmquest.com/

======= New People =======

o e-Business Services Provider Iconixx Names First President

HOUSTON -- Iconixx, an e-business services provider,
said it appointed  D. Derrik Deyhimi as the company's
first president and COO. Mr. Deyhimi previously
served as president of the Western region for Iconixx.
Prior to joining Iconixx, he co-founded and served
as CEO and president of EnterpriseWorks, a business
applications, integration, and professional services
firm that was acquired by Iconixx in March. Iconixx
uses broadband, wireless, and other Internet technologies
to provide e-business services to clients. The company
is backed by Thayer Capital.
http://www.iconixx.com/

======= VC Fund News =======

o Garage.com Pulls IPO Citing General Market Conditions

NEW YORK -- Garage.com, which helps high-tech startups
raise seed funding by matching them with strategic
investors, withdrew its IPO. The company cited unfavorable
market conditions. Garage.com is backed by 3i, Clal
Industries, Goldman Sachs, Hikari Tsushin, Advanced
Technology Ventures, Credit Suisse First Boston
Technology Group, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, E*Trade,
Highland Partners, and Mayfield Fund.
http://www.garage.com/
_____________________________________________

o Amadeus Capital Closes Second Fund With $340 Million

LONDON -- Amadeus Capital Partners, a venture capital
investor in early stage technology companies, said
it closed its second fund with GBP 235 million ($340
million) in capital. The fund was launched in April
with an expected cap of GBP 200 million. New investors
in the fund included Marconi, Oracle, and Infineon.
Previous corporate investors Microsoft, Reuters,
and Deutsche Telecom and two major British pension
funds, Shell and NatWest, were also involved in
financing the firm's most recent fund. The fund
has already made investments in LeatherXchange,
a Barcelona-based B2B sire, for the worldwide leather
industry, and Southampton Photonics, a U.K. company
designing and manufacturing fiber-optic components
for the telecommunications market.
http://www.amadeuscapital.com/
_____________________________________________

o NewMedia Spark Acquires U.K. Venture Firm For $115.6 Million

LONDON -- NewMedia Spark, the publicly traded UK-based
venture capital firm, said it acquired Internet
Indirect, an early stage venture capital investor.
The acquisition was valued at GBP 80 million ($115.6
million) and will create largest publicly-traded
venture capital firm in London. The enlarged NewMedia
Spark group will hold $130 million in cash available
for investment. NewMedia Spark said the acquisition
provides greater financial strength for European
expansion. The new company has a portfolio of 54
investments in which it has placed $202.3 million.
http://www.newmediaspark.com/
_____________________________________________

o Firm Now Called OVP in Response to Olympic Committee Charges

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Olympic Venture Partners said
it changed its name to OVP Venture Partners. The
name change came after receiving notice from the
U.S. Olympic Committee that the firm's name violated
the committee's trademark and after consulting with
legal counsel. The firm said it took its name from
Washington state's Olympic Mountains. However, because
the firm also operates out of state it is not in
a protected class of businesses in Washington state
that can use the name Olympic.
http://www.ovp.com/

======= VC Personnel =======

o WaldenVC Names Former Broderbund COO McDonagh as Partner

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- WaldenVC, a venture capital
firm that specializes in investments in early-stage
media technology companies, said that William M.
McDonagh has joined as a venture partner. Mr. McDonagh
served as CFO at Broderbund Software, a consumer
software company, for twelve years and became president
and COO in 1994. WaldenVC's corporate investors
include Apollo Group, Electronic Arts, GartnerGroup,
New Line Cinema, a division of Time Warner, Times
Mirror, Washington Post, and Kaplan, a division
of Washington Post.
http://www.waldenvc.com/

======= VW Corrections =======

o Argus Capital

NEW YORK -- An article in the Friday issue of VentureWire
on the launch of the Argus Capital fund incorrectly
identified the as a Polish venture capital firm.
The firm, which is a subsidiary of the Pricoa Capital
Group, is based in London and makes investments
in Eastern Europe. The item also referred incorrectly
to Argus's investments. The firm has invested $60
million in five companies including cable operator
FiberNet, not $60 million solely in FiberNet.

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