Research Commercialization Academy (BETA 0.01)

Author: www.brw.com.au

Source: www.brw.com.au

Interest: US venture capitalists are actively looking to invest in technology start-ups in Australia – so it is no longer necessary for entrepreneurs to move to Silicon Valley. That’s the view of the Ernst & Young US technology M&A leader Jeff Liu, who met with BRW on his recent trip to Sydney.

Link: http://www.brw.com.au/p/entrepreneurs/why_ups_venture_capitalists_are_1ji3mnPM6aaSCwX46DajDO

Author: Jessica Scorpio

Source: www.venturebeat.com

Interest: When my co-founders and I founded Getaround at Singularity University back in 2009, we believed we were on to something big. People we knew experienced that clear “a-ha moment” when we explained how sharing cars with people nearby could help fight the problem of car overpopulation. What concerned us, however, was that we kept hearing reasons why it wouldn’t work.

Link: http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/30/how-we-raised-venture-capital-and-kept-our-sanity-in-check/

Author: Rebecca Grant

Source: http://medcitynews.com

Interest: No action is good action. At least for online investment platform the Funders Club that today received a ‘no-action letter’ from the SEC stating that it will not recommend enforcement action. The letter is a green light for the FundersClub and validation that its investment model is legal. The news is significant for the venture capital and finance industries, as well as startups looking for more flexible methods of fundraising.

Link: http://medcitynews.com/2013/03/a-new-model-for-venture-capital-sec-oks-online-vc-fundersclub/

Author: http://www.crainscleveland.com

Source: http://www.crainscleveland.com

Interest: Kent State University's College of Public Health said it received a Small Business Innovation Grant from the National Science Foundation while partnering with Sterionics Inc. of Cleveland for work on advancing and commercializing a wound therapy biotechnology product. The grant totaled $150,000. Sterionics received $100,000, and $50,000 went to Kent State.

Link: http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20130329/FREE/130329766

Author: Cromwell Schubarth

Source: Silicon Valley Business Journal

Interest: A study released Monday provides more evidence that there are a lot more startups finding a harder time getting Series A funds than they did in finding seed money. The seed financing survey by the law firm of Fenwick & West said only 27 percent of startups hatched in 2011 landed first round venture money in 2012, compared to 45 percent who launched in 2010 and got later stage funds in 2011.

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/03/26/new-study-finds-series-a-startup.html

Author: Malia Spencer

Source: www.bizjournals.com

Interest: One of the biggest successes in the IT portfolio of Chevron Venture Capital isn’t specific to the oil and gas industry. Instead, it’s an anti-spam technology that filters out 94 percent of email spam.

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/innovation/2013/03/chevron-venture-capital-talks.html

Author: Jeff Engel

Source: www.bizjournals.com

Interest: Wisconsin legislators are planning to introduce a venture capital bill separate from the state budget proposal, perhaps as soon as next week, according to advocates who have been meeting with legislators. Gov. Scott Walker’s biennial budget proposal, introduced last month, recommended at least $25 million over two years for venture capital to support early-stage firms.

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2013/03/wisconsin-legislators-could-introduce.html

Author: The Wall Street Journal

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Interest: Google Ventures is leading a $30 million financing for One Medical Group, a San Francisco startup with a new approach to delivering primary-care medical services, VentureWire has learned. One Medical operates primary-care physician offices that enable patients to book appointments online, including same-day visits. It promises appointments will begin promptly and that the doctor will have a good amount of time to spend with the patient.

Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2013/03/22/the-daily-startup-google-ventures-backs-primary-care-services-startup/

Author: Tanya Prive

Source: www.forbes.com

Interest: Venture Capitalists have been behind startup financing since 1946, when the first two VC firms were created in the United States. These firms were American Research and Development Corporation (ARDC) and J.H. Whitney & Company. Georges Doriot founded ARDC while John Hay Whitney created J.H. Whitney & Company. Both of these men were considered the pioneers of VC investing.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2013/03/20/the-biggest-threat-to-venture-capitalists/

Author: The Wall Street Journal

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Interest: Bonobos has raised $30 million in new venture funding, bringing its total capital raised to $73 million. Leading the investment were Glynn Capital Management and Mousse Partners. Bonobos is now a full-blown menswear designer and retailer, having started as a pants concern, and gained mainstream attention recently for opening up “guideshops.”

Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2013/03/14/the-daily-startup-menswear-startup-bonobos-sews-up-new-funding/

Author: Yuliya Chernova

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Interest: Henrik Fisker, the founder of the car company that bears his name, has resigned from Fisker Automotive as executive chairman and left the company as of Wednesday, he told VentureWire. His resignation comes at a crucial time for the Anaheim, Calif., company, as it negotiates financing agreements with partners that could result in the sale of all or most of Fisker Automotive to an acquiring company.

Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2013/03/13/fisker-automotive-founder-resigns-as-chairman-leaves-company/?mod=tech

Author: Carolin Roth

Source: www.cnbc.com

Interest: According to Crain's Chicago Business, my beleaguered home state of Illinois is about to re-enter the venture capital game.Not only has Illinois failed in epic proportions to manage its own financial house — with the worst credit rating in the nation and a nation's worst $96 billion unfunded pension liability — it has failed at its venture capital endeavors previously.

Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100543530

Author: www.prweb.com

Source: www.prweb.com

Interest: GroupingMall.com, an innovative social marketplace, recently presented at the esteemed 2013 Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) organized by University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business. This high-profile event, hosted by a world-renowned educational institution, gives MBA students a chance to learn more about venture capital and entrepreneurship through a number of competitions and workshops presented by today's leading start-up companies and venture capitalists.

Link: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/3/prweb10519400.htm

Author: Steven Overly

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Interest: Every entrepreneur encounters challenges that are unique to his or her industry. In biotechnology and manufacturing, there are steep up-front costs. In software and Web development, talented programmers can be hard to find and harder to compensate. But then there are challenges common to the founder of any new venture: securing financing, breaking into new markets and hiring employees, among others.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/from-venture-capital-to-hiring-entrepreneurs-discuss-their-challenges/2013/03/01/1683d2e0-8067-11e2-8074-b26a871b165a_story.html

Author: Laura Kreutzer

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Interest: Not every venture capitalist is lamenting the venture industry’s thinning ranks. Bain Capital Ventures, for one, has actively staffed up its partner ranks even as some of its peers see their own ranks dwindle. “[There’s] less money being raised in the venture industry,” said Mike Krupka, co-managing partner at the Boston-based venture and growth firm, which over the years has backed companies such as Kiva Systems, LinkedIn and SurveyMonkey.

Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2013/03/04/bain-capital-ventures-bucks-vc-trend-expands-partner-ranks/

Author: Patty Tascarella

Source: www.bizjournals.com

Interest: Draper reached first close last week, meaning it can start investing the $40 million it has raised; the fund is expected to reach at least $75 million. It will be Draper’s biggest fund to date. That’s a special achievement, Taylor said, as it’s been tough going for venture capitalists raising funds and he believes that’s due in large part to the slow down in public offerings.

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/financial-district/2013/03/ipos-and-fund-razing.html

Author: Matthew Zeitlin

Source: www.thedailybeast.com

Interest: The social, consumer-facing web created by Google, Facebook, Twitter, and hundreds of other companies that sprang up in the Silicon Valley would not exist today if not for the money and expertise of the individual angel investors and venture capital funds. But the venture capital industry itself has barely caught on with the innovations it has created. Funders Club is trying to change that.

Link: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/03/fundersclub-takes-crowdsourcing-approach-to-early-stage-venture-capital.html

Author: Steven Overly

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Interest: The Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to introduce regulatory guidelines for equity-based crowdfunding, but that hasn’t stopped some of the region’s venture capitalists from contemplating how it might impact their business. Crowdfunding allows entrepreneurs to collect small sums of money via the Internet from everyday people who then become investors in their business.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/venture-capitalists-prepare-for-the-impact-of-crowdfunding/2013/02/22/7e8682d8-7c4e-11e2-a044-676856536b40_story.html

Author: www.nextgov.com

Source: www.nextgov.com

Interest: Are you a private sector innovator with experience in big data, venture capital or crowd-sourcing technology? If so, the U.S Agency for International Development might have just the job for you. Maura O’Neill, the agency’s chief innovation officer, gave NextGov a sneak peak at the jobs available for the next round of Presidential Innovation Fellows at USAID during a Social Media Week event on Tuesday.

Link: http://www.nextgov.com/technology-news/tech-insider/2013/02/usaid-seeks-expertise-open-data-venture-capital/61389/

Author: Mike Ivey

Source: The Capital Times

Interest: Economic development experts are lukewarm to Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to invest $25 million over two years in a venture capital fund, saying it’s a step in the right direction but not enough money to make much of an impact. “This could be enough to help a few small funds get critical mass over the next two years ... but it won’t attract fund managers and capital from outside the state,” says John Neis of Madison-based Venture Investors.”

Link: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/mike_ivey/analysis-walker-s-venture-capital-plan-leaves-many-questions/article_4e3b07ea-7ae4-11e2-a493-0019bb2963f4.html