morning - 4/21/04

New Fundings:

- Emic Networks, a provider of grid computing solutions for open-source Web platforms and applications built on SQL databases and Web servers, secured $7.5 million in second-round financing. Nordic Venture Partners and Trident Capital participated in the round.

- Tacit Knowledge Systems, a provider of enterprise collaboration management solutions, closed a $7 million fifth round of financing. Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Alta Partners, Reuters Venture Capital, Woodside Fund, Royal Bank of Canada, and individuals contributed to the round.

- Performix Technologies, provider of employee performance management solutions for the contact center industry, has secured $10 million in venture capital funding. Atlas Venture led the round with full participation from existing investors Highland Capital Partners and ICC Software.

Liquidity:

- Mtone Wireless, a developer and provider of interactive entertainment and social networking and other mobile value-added services to mobile phone users throughout China, registered for an IPO with a $55 million maximum offering size allowed by filing.

- Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) purchased Twingo Systems, a developer of software to secure untrusted computers for Web mail, for approximately $5 million in cash.

Main Dish:

- guess we don't have to find out if Sanjay Kumar is going to escorted to the door, he resigned as CEO of CA today although will retain an executive position in the company.
http://www.cwes01.com/9093/24013/ds/072_7859.pdf

- check out this new initiative from Merrill Lynch that tracks 75 software companies who have moved to a subscription licensing model. What is meaningful about this index is that is suggests new valuation metrics for companies with forward thinking revenue models that don't fit the classic license/services notion
http://www.cwes01.com/9093/24013/ds/_6351_46.pdf

- Kirsten over at re:invention has been running a series of posts exploring why women led companies don't get venture backing. I don't always agree with the thesis' put forward in the post, but there is a lot of good hard data nonetheless.
http://reinventioninc.blogspot.com/

- very very interesting article about the numbers behind Google, and their view toward a potentially serious competitor, Akamai.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_garfinkel042104.asp?trk=nl

- Intel has been making available to select customers a MEMS component for cell phones, a technology they have been working on for four years.
http://www.eetimes.com/semi/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=VYTDUUWOWOEISQSNDBCSKHQ?articleId=18902424

- Ross has a very thoughtful posting on "foundership" in light of the Friendster/Plaxo news that has been circulating lately.
http://ross.typepad.com/blog/2004/04/foundership.html

- hate using AIM? Yeah, me too. Here's a review of alternative clients, many of which support multiple IM clients and are available on a range of devices.
http://www.arstechnica.com/reviews/004/software/AIMalternatives/AIMalternatives-1.html

- I just can't figure out these numbers at times. This group claims that US Wifi deployments will overtake South Korea by 2005, yet Jiwire reports that US deployments are already 4 times greater than the #2. Whatever the number, one thing is clear: Wifi kicks ass.
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/April2004/6965.htm
www.jiwire.com

- more numbers. Gartner says hotspots will triple to 30 million by the end of this year.
http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/4611.html

- AOL lays out a plan, another one, to return to health...
http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5196207.html?tag=nefd.hed

- not tech related at all, but I'm gonna gloat. Indian Motorcyles, which shut down last year, will auction off what they call the "rarest production run of American motorcycles ever made". It's a gloat because I own one. By the way, I'm thinking of starting a riding club, anyone interested. It'd be a great way to meet other people in the tech and finance business, not too mention be a lot of fun. We could get Governor Schwarzenegger to come down for a ride (he rides a Hog, a Heritage Springer I believe).
http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/dailyedition.html#9

- Grid computing is coming! No seriously, we really mean it this time...
http://www.silicon.com/management/itdirector/0,39024673,39120149,00.htm

- it really blows my mind that you can get a 64-bit mothboard, a few gigs of RAM, few hundred gigs of HD, and much much more for basically pocket change. I remember when I bought a 120mb hard disk back in 1986 for something like $1,300... and put it in my cutting edge 80286 pc.
http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=636

Comments

[kirsten]

Jeff:

Because you don't offer trackback, wanted to let you know I posted a personal message to you on re:invention's blog today! Thank you for your heads-up mention of re:invention's recent VC funding analysis on SAP Ventures. Have also had email dialogue today with Kirk Walden, National Director of the Venture Capital Research and author of the PWC MoneyTree Survey.

Welcome your response! And as always, let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you or SAP Ventures.

[kirsten]

Jeff:

Because you don't offer trackback, wanted to let you know I posted a personal message to you on re:invention's blog today! Thank you for your heads-up mention of re:invention's recent VC funding analysis on SAP Ventures. Have also had email dialogue today with Kirk Walden, National Director of the Venture Capital Research and author of the PWC MoneyTree Survey.

Welcome your response! And as always, let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you or SAP Ventures.