Strong L.A. economy means abundant venture capital.Venture capital generally flowed in abundance during the second quarter, as a booming Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, economy resulted in the accumulation of record sums in local venture funds. Venture capitalists invested $42 million in 11 L.A. County firms between April and June of this year, down from the $66 million they invested in 12 firms during the first quarter, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Coopers & Lybrand LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol . But while the L.A. numbers were down, venture capital investment in all of Southern California - including Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , Orange and San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. counties - rose sharply. Venture firms invested $261 million in Southern California firms in the three months ended June 30, up 78 percent over the first quarter. Still, the $261 million was only a fraction of the $1.1 billion that venture capitalists invested in all California companies for the second quarter reflecting the ongoing struggles at getting venture money for local businesses, said Massoud Entekhabi, the partner in charge of Coopers and Lybrand's Southern California high-tech group. "Southern California is still lagging 4-to-1 behind Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern due to the lower velocity of start-ups, coupled with the shortage of venture capital-experienced management teams," he said. The general rise in venture capital activity reflects a growing volume of capital in the market, as cash-rich institutions and corporations look for places to invest their rising profits. "There's a tremendous amount of capital for investing." said Entekhabi. "Experienced venture capitalists with a track record are [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] raising capital left, right and center." Two of the area's biggest venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] - Brentwood Venture Capital in Los Angeles and Enterprise Partners in Newport Beach Newport Beach, residential and resort city (1990 pop. 66,643), Orange co., S Calif., on Newport Bay and the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1906. It is a popular seaside resort and yachting center. Manufactures include electrical and medical equipment, computers, boats, and adhesives. - recently raised their biggest venture capital funds Venture Capital Funds An investment fund that manages money from investors seeking private equity stakes in small and medium-size enterprises with strong growth potential. Notes: ever. Enterprise closed its $200 million Enterprise Partners IV fund during the second quarter - the largest fund ever in Southern California, said Managing Partner Chuck Martin. "It took us only five days to raise the fund," Martin said. "It was oversubscribed Refers to connecting more users to a system than can be fully supported if all of them were using it at the same time. Networks and servers are almost always designed with some amount of oversubscription, counting on the fact that everybody does not need the service simultaneously. so heavily we had to turn away $200 million in commitments." Likewise, Brentwood Venture Capital is having no trouble raising its latest fund, Brentwood Associates VIII, which is expected to close in September, said General Partner Brad Jones This article is about the racing driver. For the football goalkeeper, see Bradley Jones. Bradley Jones also known as Brad (born 2 April 1960) is an Australian racing driver formerly competing in the V8 Supercars. . Brentwood VIII will have between $125 million and $150 million, the largest pure venture fund ever for the firm. "We've already started and finished raising the money," Jones said. "Most investors are our current investors and new investors that approached us. We didn't have to go out (to raise money). It was a first for us." The majority of L.A.'s II venture capital recipients in the second quarter were high-tech firms. Three of them, Accelerated Networks Inc., Comcore Semiconductor Inc. and Litex Inc., are located in Calabasas and Westlake Village, two neighboring cities that are at the center of a growing high-tech corridor in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . Another growing area for high-tech is Santa Monica, which is home to second-quarter venture capital recipient PeopleLink. Also in Santa Monica, East Coast Bagel, a bagel producer and retailer, received second-quarter venture capital funding. East Coast Bagel was one of three L.A. retailers to get venture capital in the second quarter. The other two were Relax the Back, a seller of orthopedic products, and Laundry Mart Inc., which owns and operates laundromats that contain other retailers such as convenience stores and fast food restaurants. Laundry Mart received $16.5 million in venture capital during the second quarter - the largest single sum for an L.A. company. Entekhabi pointed to the large number of first-round venture capital financings in the second quarter - another sign that venture capital firms are pounding the pavement in scarer of new startups. Five of 14 venture capital recipients in L.A. during the quarter received venture funds for the first time, including Comcore, Laundry Mart. Litex Inc., Desktalk Systems and Idealab!. Jones of Brentwood Venture Capital said he expects the value and volume of venture capital deals in L.A. and Southern California to grow even more in the months ahead as the local economy continues to rebound from the recession. "Our overall deal flow is up," Jones said. "It's being fueled by growth in the economy and market. A lot of people have seen how successful venture-backed companies have been, so that encourages them to start up new companies." |
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