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By Dan Primack PE Week Wire, Oct. 17, 2006Random Ramblings The midterm elections are just three weeks away, with most polls indicating that the House will go Democratic and that the Senate is a toss-up. So I figured that this was a good time to check in on the check-writing activities of VenturePAC, the political action committee that is voluntarily funded by certain member firms of the National Venture Capital Association. VenturePAC’s litmus test is twofold: (1) Does a candidate support the NVCA’s position on key issues like R&D spending and “fixing” Sarbanes-Oxley; and (2) Is the candidate likely to win? It is part two of that equation that best explains why VenturePAC typically supports more Republicans than Democrats. We last discussed the numbers in April of this year, and found that the group had donated $386,500 to GOP candidates and causes from January 2005 through March 2006, compared to $206,000 to Democratic candidates and causes. That’s around 65% vs. 35%. At the time, NVCA president Mark Heesen felt that the Dems had a decent shot of gaining House control, but that the GOP would almost certainly retain Senate control. Given recent political wind shifts, one might assume that VenturePAC might have narrowed the partisan gap a bit, but it’s actually grown. Between April and August, VenturePAC has contributed around $129,000 to GOP causes and candidates, compared to just $57,000 to Democratic causes and candidates (69% vs. 31%). Moreover, VenturePAC supported just six candidates running for open seats or as challengers – with each one of them wearing red. In terms of the tight Senate races, VenturePAC contributed to both Tom Keane Jr. (NJ) and Jim Talent (MO) during the April-August period. I asked Heesen about the numbers yesterday, and he told me that “we are not going to turn our back on those who have been our friends.” He also stressed that VenturePAC is far more Democrat-friendly than are most other business PACs, and that the group will be well-positioned to work with whichever party wins whichever house of Congress. It is worth reemphasizing that the available data is only through Aug. 31, which means that VenturePAC might have changed course a bit as the political wind shift became more apparent. For example, VenturePAC did contribute last month to Tim Mahoney, the vFinance co-founder running for Mark Foley’s old seat (note: VenturePAC did contribute to Foley twice in 2005, but not this year). I also asked Heesen if VenturePAC had contributed to Connecticut Senatorial candidate Ned Lamont, who founded a VC-backed business and who is married to a prominent venture capitalists. He responded that Lamont does not accept PAC contributions. Once the votes are tallied, I’ll let you know how VenturePAC did overall… *** It is my regrettable duty to inform you that we lost two venture capitalists last week in separate – albeit both tragic – incidents: Sam Blyakher, a 33 year-old general partner with Accretive Technology Partners, and his wife Rebecca both died last Monday when their car was struck head-on by an SUV that had careened across a highway median. Their 10 month-old daughter Nava Rose suffered numerous injuries, and was in critical condition following the accident. Sam had been an associate with General Atlantic before joining Accretive, and also had been a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. Rebecca was a cognitive psychologist. Our thoughts are with the family. Bill Mercer, 58 year-old founder and principal of Avocent Ventures, passed away last week from unexpected complications from what had begun as minor brain surgery. He is survived by wife Nikki, sons Mike and Mark, brothers Richard and Robert and nephews Christopher and Jon. A viewing and prayer service will be held this evening from 6-8 at the Sacred Heart Cathedral at 200 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, North Carolina. A celebration of his life will follow at the Second Empire Restaurant next door. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial donations be made to either the Bill Mercer Fund at Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center (DUMC 3828; Durham, NC 27710) or in honor of Bill Mercer to Communities in Schools of Wake County (CIS-Wake; 871 Harp Street-Raleigh, NC 27601).
Top ThreeMacquarie Bank has won the auction for RWE AG’s Thames Water unit, with a £8 billion bid (£4.8b in equity, £3.2b in assumed debt). It beat out rival bids from Qatar Investment Authority, Terra Firma Capital Partners and Alinta. www.macquarie.com Validity Sensors Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based biometric company that makes fingerprint sensors, has raised $20 million in fourth-round funding. TeleSoft Partners led the deal, and was joined by Qualcomm Ventures, VentureTech Alliance, Ram Shriram, Marc Benioff (SalesForce.com CEO) and Atiq Raza (Taza Microelectronics CEO). The company has now raised $55 million in total VC funding since 2002. www.validityinc.com Close Brothers Private Equity has agreed to sell UK-based specialty chemicals company Minova to Orica Ltd. (ASX: ORI). The deal is valued at approximately £357 million. Minova products are used in the coal mining, metal mining and tunneling industries, and was acquired by CBPE in a £32 million management buyout that closed in March 2003. www.minovainternational.com
VC DealsAirWalk Communications Inc., a Richardson, Texas-based provider of IP radio access network infrastructure, has raised $15 million in second-round VC funding. Sevin Rosen Funds led the deal, and was joined by return backers TLVentures, Alta Berkeley and Duchossois Technology Partners. www.airwalkcom.com WiSpry Inc., an Irvine, Calif.–based fabless semiconductor company that makes RFICs for wireless devices, has raised $13.5 million in Series B funding. L Capital Partners led the deal, and was joined by Hotung Capital Management and return backers American River Ventures, Blueprint Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Tech Coast Angels and Western Technology Investment. www.wispry.com RedMere Technology Ltd., an Ireland-based fabless semiconductor company that specializes in advanced chipsets, has raised $8.2 million in Series A funding. Celtic House Venture Partners led the deal, and was joined by Enterprise Ireland, Fourth Level Ventures, Enterprise Equity and returning seed backers. www.redmeretechnology.com NComputing Inc., an Orange, Calif.–based developer of a shared-computing solution that delivers PC functionality without a PC, has raised $8 million in Series A funding from BA Venture Partners. www.ncomputing.com Practical Instruments Inc., a Pasadena, Calif.–based provider of concentrating solar panels, has raised $8 million in Series A funding. RockPort Capital Partners and Nth Power co-led the deal, and also were joined by Trinity Ventures and Rincon Venture Partners. www.practical-instruments.com OB10, a UK-based e-invoicing company, has raised £7.3 million in new VC funding from existing shareholder FF&P Private Equity. www.ob10.com Innovative Biosensors Inc., a College Park, Md.-based developer of tests to detect harmful pathogens, has expanded its Series A round to $6.25 million. Chart Venture Partners and CNF Investments came in on the new tranche, while the company held a first close in May 2005 with participation from Harbert Venture Partners, New Markets Growth Fund and the Mayland Venture Fund. www.innovativebiosensors.com Sugar Publishing, a San Francisco-based blog publisher, has raised around $5 million in VC funding from Sequoia Capital. News of the deal first appeared here, with GigaOm and TechCrunch reporting the specific dollar amount. www.popsugar.com eCourier, a UK-based express courier company, has raised £2 million in venture capital funding from Logispring. www.ecourier.co.uk Connextions Inc., an Orlando, Fla.-based provider of tech-based consumer-driven healthcare solutions, has raised an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from New Mountain Capital. www.connextionshealth.com GuidePoint Systems, a Pontiac, Mich.-based provider of telematics solutions for the automotive aftermarket, has raised an undisclosed amount of second-round private equity funding from Plymouth Venture Partners. It also secured a new senior credit facility from Comerica Bank. www.guidepointsystems.com NextServices Inc., an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based provider of clinical and revenue cycle solutions to specialist physicians, has raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from people like Gil Omenn (publisher of Science magazine and chairman of the American Association for the Advancement of Science). NextServices also has an office in Mumbai, India. www.nextservices.net
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