VC Firm Continues Active Funding Pace with IP3 and Miasolé
“The success that our portfolio companies are having is evidence that the bounce is back in the technology sector,” said Bill Reichert, managing director of Garage. “Innovative startups are once again exciting customers and investors.”
Garage actively seeks new opportunities to invest in emerging technology companies at the seed stage or early stage. With its current fund, the firm has been focusing on information technology and materials science opportunities. Key first-half investments include:
- Sapias, a leading provider of enterprise-class mobile resource management solutions, received $8 million in funding led by Alloy Ventures and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Previous investors, Garage and Catamount Ventures, also participated in the funding round.
- Miasolé, a manufacturer of thin-film solar cells for the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity, closed $5.4 million of venture funding in February, co-led by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Firelake Capital Management, and Garage
- IP3 Networks, a customizable billing, provisioning and authentication system that enables service providers and corporate enterprises to easily manage and control public access to the Internet, closed a $5 million Series B round in June, with Sequoia Capital joining Garage in the financing. Garage was the lead investor in IP3’s Series A funding last year.
Other Garage Portfolio News:
- NetConversions, a leading provider of Web site usability and optimization solutions, was purchased by aQuantive, a Seattle-based digital marketing services and technology company.
- Business Layers, a provider of provisioning solutions, was acquired by Netegrity, which offers network access management solutions.
- Claria, the leader in online behavioral marketing, filed for an initial public offering.
- CaseStack, a leading provider of logistics outsourcing services to mid-sized consumer packaged good companies, was noted in the June issue of Entrepreneur as one of the fastest-growing new companies in America.
- PhatNoise signed a strategic partnership with General Motors, which will bundle the company’s auto MP3 technology in new truck, SUV and van models.
- Media Publisher, a provider of enterprise software for rich media publishing and management, was selected to provide core components of Lockheed Martin’s video streaming and conferencing infrastructure solution.
Entrepreneur Conference Caps Mid-Year
In June, Garage packed more than 300 high-tech startup entrepreneurs into the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, at its recent “Art of the Start” conference, which offered battle-hardened business strategies and tactics for anyone involved creating a new company.
“The entrepreneur landscape has definitely changed from years past,” said Guy Kawasaki, founder and managing director of Garage. “Entrepreneurs are savvier and scrappier, and they are less dependent on traditional venture capital. These are the entrepreneurs who are going to build the next generation of great technology companies.”
The conference was based, in part, on Kawasaki’s forthcoming book The Art of the Start, which will be published this September.
About Garage Technology Ventures
Garage Technology Ventures is a seed-stage and early-stage venture capital firm located in Silicon Valley. Garage focuses on investing in and supporting emerging technology companies in information technology and materials science.
Media Contact:
Krause Taylor Associates
Betty Taylor
bettyt@krause-taylor.com
408-918-9082
All securities and securities-related services are offered by Garage Technology Ventures’ wholly-owned subsidiary Garage Securities, Inc., member NASD/SIPC.
Copyright 2004 Garage Technology Ventures. All rights reserved. Garage Technology Ventures and Garage.com are trademarks of Garage Technology Ventures. All other company names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.
