Comcast partnered with DreamIt Venture Capital and will contribute $20 million dollars for minority-owned ventures. The partnership will select companies to participate it the Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program. The program is a 9-month program. For more information or to apply, visit www.dreamitventures.com/about/Comcast-MEAP.php. The deadline is July 8, 2011.
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Who is Ben Frankin Technolgy Partners?
BFTP/SEP’s Investment Group provides critical seed and early stage capital, validating the entrepreneur’s vision and attracting other investment sources. Investments are coupled with business development and management consulting to help companies succeed in the global marketplace. Since 1982, BFTP/SEP has invested more than $130 Million in more than 1,600 regional companies. Our companies have received more than $620 Million in follow-on funding since 2001 alone. Capital Briefing Session Dates are listed at their website. Investment Programs For technology companies, the right financing at the right time can make the difference between success and failure. BFTP/SEP’s financing addresses the company’s specific stage of development and individual market characteristics.
Portfolio Company Support BFTP/SEP provides a range of services designed to help grow our companies.
BFTP/SEP provides specialized programming for our companies:
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Qualifications for Funding Applicants:
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| Register for a Capital Briefings Session to Learn More |
| 2009 – Important Dates in Review Cycle for Seed Capital Applicants and Reviewers |
| Business Information Services |
| Capital Portfolio Companies |
The Business Law Prof Blog is reporting about FDIC chairwoman’s possible decision to reduce the capital requirement to purchase a failed bank.
The Blog suggests Ms. Blair’s decision is causing her to “eat crow” because she originally wanted to punish private equity capitalists for the role in our economic crisis.
I don’t think it matters who caused our economic crisis. That is one of those fruitless conversations, like which came first, the chicken or the egg. We are all in this together, private equity, financial institutions, small business owners.
Private equity capitalists are risk takers. They also have the business knowledge to properly evaluate that risk and can provide intellectual capital to help mitigate that risk. Traditional financial institutions are the opposite. They are not risk takers; nor do they have intellectaul capital to re-structure and grow. A failing bank cannot lend to anyone. However, a healthy bank will lend to a company backed with private equity–because the risks of failure are minimized. Ms. Blair is encouraging private equity to invest again, so banks will, in turn, lend again.
So, perhaps the Business Law Prof Blog should not label her strategy as “eating crow”, but rather, a sophisticated effort to involve a previously-unengaged stakeholder in ending our economic crisis.
Do you a legal question about private and venture capital? We offer free consultations on this and other issues. Chat, live and privately, online with an attorney every Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sharmil McKee
Business Lawyer
blog@mckeeoffice.com
McKee Law Office
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
http://www.MckeeOffice.com
PA Venture Capital firm invests in a video website
NextStage Capital LP has co-led a first round venture investment of $1.2 million in a company whose Web site enables people to find and share user-generated videos on the Internet.
The Audubon, Pa., venture-capital firm co-led the investment in Magnify.net, which is based in New York. Magnify.net, which announced the investment Monday, said it will use the money to accelerate its growth. In a 90-day beta period prior to the official launch of its Web site, Magnify.net was used to create more than 2,000 channels with more than 200,000 videos.
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Buyouts drive record fund-raising activity in 2006 – Boston Business Journal:
“Despite a mellowed climate for venture capital, private equity fund raising saw a record pace in 2006, with mezzanine and buyout fund raising enjoying a banner year.
“The last two years have been record breaking years in terms of fund raising,” said Alex Tan, private equity research manager for Thomson Financial, “so there’s a lot of money out there. But a lot of the money has been raised by the biggest players, and that’s what’s going to make it more interesting for 2007.”
Angel investors fund new photo service – Philadelphia Business Journal:
Preclick Corp. said Thursday it has closed on a $1.6 million first-round, venture-capital financing and is using the money to launch an Internet photo-sharing service similar to the video-sharing service provided by YouTube Inc.
The investment came from three groups of the wealthy individual investors known as angels located in the Philadelphia area — LORE Associates, Mid-Atlantic Angel Group and Robin Hood Ventures — and SJF Ventures of Durham, N.C.
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The investors of YouTube Inc. received stock now valued at about $650 million when they sold the business to Google. Sequoia Capital, YouTube’s sole venture capital backer, stands to get about $442 million in Google shares, based on Wednesday’s closing price of $470.01. Sequoia invested $11.5 million between November 2005 and April 2006. It’s investment purchased 30% interest in YouTube.
So, in less than 12 months, Sequoia walked away with 43 times its initial investment.
Dozens of limited partner investors in Sequoia Capital also received their share. They included endowments from universities including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, and Oxford; and the investment arms of the families connected with the Getty, Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) and Santa Clara-based Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) fortunes, among other beneficiaries.
You have thought about using a venture capitalist to fund your start-up. What are some preliminary questions you should answer to prepare yourself?
A venture capital (VC) fund is a pooled investment vehicle (often a partnership) that primarily invests the financial capital of third-party investors in enterprises that are too risky for the standard capital markets or bank loans.
What are the cons of using a VC?
A VC will highly scrutinized your company’s governance and performance. Essentially, you will partner with a third-party in exchange for capital. This means you will lose ownership and control. For example, if you company is performing poorly, your VC may fire your CEO.
What are the pros of using a VC?
On the other hand, most VC’s have extensive business knowledge and access to resources and valuable contacts. So, while you are losing control, you are gaining business value and expertise.
What will the VC look for?
VC’s, are generally looking for a 10x return on their investment. Will your company experience significant growth or this a lifestyle business which provides you with a comfortable living? Can you provide a detailed budget to support your claim that your business will experience such significant growth.
The VC will review your company’s financial documents to determine whether your team expertly understands your business operation, management, and metrics. A VC will compare your company to other public and private companies in your market, as a benchmark.
Alternatives to VC:
Bootstrap –can you reach certain milestones without venture capital? Can you spread the cost of a large purchase over a longer period of time (such as a lease)?
Friendlier sources of capital–government, banks, credit unions, friends, family, savings
Existing Funding Relationships -do you have a relationship with funding sources that will be more receptive than VC?
You should decide to seek venture capital only after considerable thought and planning.
The Philadelphia Business Journal is reporting that a Venture capital firm arranges ‘gondola pitch’ opportunity
First there was the elevator pitch — the time it would take you to present your business to a stranger in a typical elevator ride. Now, there is the “gondola pitch”.
High Peaks Venture Partners is now introducing the first New York Peak Pitch, taking the idea of the elevator pitch to a new level. For five days in March, business people can make their pitch to potential investors during eight-minute rides in a gondola. Events are scheduled in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York’s Gore Mountain.
What are gondolas? The gondola is the most well-known boat in the world: even people who have never been to Venice can immediately recognize its unique shape, the metal bow decoration (fèro ) and for the distinctive Venetian rowing style (voga alla veneziana). Click here to see an image of a gondola.
Good luck.
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Venture capitalists are adding the option of selling to another VC when looking to cash in on an investment.
It’s a practice that’s gaining acceptance amid an anemic market for initial public offerings that is forcing venture capitalists to be more creative when looking to sell.
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