Worth Reading: Benefits of Social Media
March 5, 2010
New San Antonio Venture Fund - Targeted Technology Fund I, LP Announces Its First Investment
July 15, 2009
One of the greatest challenges in building a sustainable technology sector in San Antonio has been the lack of having a local venture capital fund that was actually based here in town. That’s starting to change, even amidst the economic downturn, let alone the decline in VC funding in traditional regions like Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, and Israel.
San Antonio-based Targeted Technology Fund I, LP has just announced that it has closed its first round of funding and has made its first investment in Vidacare. This is a really big deal because Targeted Technology Fund is from here, is investing here, and has its eyes and ears and key team members in Texas, Alabama, Colorado and Georgia.
The investment in Vidacare is compelling. I met founder, Dr. Larry Miller, back in 2001, just when he was getting the company going. Since then, the company has won numerous awards for a simple and ingenious patented power-driver and needle technology to provide a safe and effective method to access the intraosseous space (inside the bone).
Yesterday, Vidacare announced that it had closed a $7.6 million private equity Series D1 financing. The financing will provide capital to launch Vidacare’s hematology/oncology product, the OnControl™ Bone Marrow System, and its OnControl Bone Access System for spinal surgical procedures as well as provide support for ongoing global expansion efforts for its EZ-IO® Vascular Access System. The financing was led by Piper Jaffray, along with Tullis Health Investors, Targeted Technology Fund I which this story is about, and from the existing investor base.
The fund has also managed to attract some great institutions and local leaders who bring a great deal of credibility.
One of the significant investors in the new Fund is the Texas Research & Technology Foundation, which is comprised of multiple organizations whose work involves various stages of the very complicated drug development process. Graham Weston, Chairman of the Board of Rackspace; Bruce Barshop, a founder of Barshop Ventures LLC; and David Spencer, who is president of Texas Intrepid Ventures, a San Antonio-based investment firm, are also included in the pool of individual investors who share the Fund’s vision.
BioMed SA Chair and former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros also openly encourages the Fund’s creation, citing the industry’s strong growth potential. “San Antonio has a track record of developing lifesaving medical devices, such as the Palmaz® Stent, Titanium Rib, and Vidacare’s EZ-I0®,” said Cisneros. “The city’s four pillars of biomedical excellence – clinical care, medical education, biomedical research, and bioscience firms – provide the foundation for continued growth in this sector.”
The fund itself has an impressive management team, comprising of:
- Managing Director Alan Dean - who brings more than 25 years experience in the technology development industry with experience in venture capital and technology transfer, both in the private and non-profit sectors. Dean is the former director of the University of Texas Health Science Center’s Office of Technology Ventures, so he gets how to take IP and turn it into real businesses that create intellectual and capital wealth.
- Managing Director, Dr. Paul Castella, is a real live doc and a business person with an MBA who’s been involved in experienced in the evaluation, financing, licensing, formation and operation of biotechnology and medical technology companies, including CardioSpectra, BiO2 Medical and Aeon Bioscience. Castella is the co-founder and CEO of ViroXis which is developing an anti-viral treatment that recently completed an FDA IND phase IIb study.
- Managing Director Christopher E. Banas is a medical device industry veteran with over thirty years of extensive leadership experience in cardiovascular company start-up, financing and management. Banas has held various engineering and executive management positions at medical device companies such as W.L. Gore, Guidant/ACS and IMPRA/C.R. Bard. Banas holds 33 U.S. patents in the fields of cardiovascular medicine and nanotechnology. Intellectual property portfolios developed by Banas have, in part, resulted in deals valued in excess of $250 million, not including the value of future royalty income. Along with Dr. Julio Palmaz, the inventor of the balloon expandable stent, Banas co-founded and held the position of CEO and President in ABPS, a San Antonio based medical device company which has subsequently licensed all its technology to Cordis, a Johnson and Johnson Company (NYSE: JNJ). Banas, along with Castella, then co-founded CardioSpectra where Banas held the position of Chairman and CEO and Castella held the position of CFO and President. CardioSpectra was awarded funds from Governor Perry’s Emerging Technology
- I’ve personally known Fund Partner, Lukin T. Gilliland, Jr, for almost 20 years. He’s smart, gets business and politics and has vast experience in real estate, health care, ranching and restaurant businesses including 29 Black Eyed Pea restaurants in four states, the landmark Broadway 50-50 Bar & Grill in San Antonio and two Elway’s restaurants in Denver, CO. He’s a native San Antonian, and serves as chairman of the San Antonio Development Board of the Nature Conservancy, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Cibolo Nature Center, the Former Texas Ranger’s Association, the Board of Visitors of the McDonald Observatory and the Board of Directors of the San Antonio Library Foundation.
Congratulations to Vidacare, the amazing fund’s management team– and kudos to the first round of institutional and individual investors who are making a huge contribution in advancing our great city’s medical technology on to the national and international scene.
2009 Texas Venture Capital and Private Equity Directory Now Available
May 28, 2009
Massinvestor just announced its 2009 Texas Venture Capital and Private Equity Directory, which profiles more than 250 Venture Capital and Private Equity firms with offices in Texas.
This newly revised and updated edition includes more than thirty additional firms not published in the 2008 Directory including Capital Factory, Elm Creek Partners, Gideon Hixon Fund, PlumTree Partners, Treadstone Partners and dozens more.
While many professionals are familiar with some of the more prominent local investment names - Austin Ventures, CenterPoint, Texas Pacific, Lone Star Ventures, Sevin Rosen - it may be surprising to know there are more than 250 Venture Capital and Private Equity firms with offices in Texas.
In addition to covering all Texas Venture Capitalists, the directory includes profiles of local Private Equity firms (Growth, LBO, Mezzanine, etc.), Incubators, prominent Angel investors, Family Investment offices, Merchant Banks, Fund of Funds, and Economic Development offices; more than 250 firms in total.
According to a recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree survey, Texas ranks as the number three state in terms of Venture Capital activity. In the first quarter of 2009, Texas saw $156 million in Venture financing invested across 24 deals.
The Directory is sold exclusively through the website: www.massinvestor.com. The Directory includes an eBook (a complete electronic version of the printed Directory in an easy-to-use PDF format), as well as an interactive Excel spreadsheet containing the contact information (including email addresses) of more than five hundred, individual Texas Venture Capital and Private Equity investors.
The Perfect Dwelling and Workspace for your Startup: Urban High Rise Living Now A Reality in San Antonio
April 11, 2009
About every six months, Ed Cross and I sit down for breakfast at the Olmos Pharmacy to compare notes on business, economic trends and the changing landscape here in San Antonio. For the last 2 years, I have been keeping tabs on his dream of creating a very unique and very cool urban high rise known as The Vistana.
When you stand right in front of the building, you’d think you are in mid-town Manhattan or a very cool building in San Francisco or Portland. Ed made sure that having a cool place to live (and possibly work) had the right amenities and architectural characteristics that made The Vistana the premier downtown address for urban rental living.
The Vistana offers studios, one and two bedrooms, one and two bedroom loft-style penthouses and an amazing 3,500 square foot, three bedroom / 2 level Tower Suite that goes for $7,000 per month. Part of attracting young, smart people to San Antonio is having places like The Vistana available to not only rent, but are wired for living and working. Ed decided to go with AT&T’s U-verse IPTV service which makes his building the first residential, multi-dwelling unit that is based on AT&T’s all IP platform.
Here’s my interview with Ed and his tour…
The Vistana / San Antonio’s First Urban High Rise Apartment from Alan Weinkrantz on Vimeo.
San Antonio Startups (and Startups to be) here’s $20K in cash; $20K in free stuff and 20 mentors for your startup (not a misprint)
March 27, 2009
Hey San Antonio: Got a compelling idea for a startup, but are held back by some basic seed money?
Here’s the deal: Marc Nathan, just told me about something way cool. Marc, who is the Director of Development at the Houston Technology Center and an investor in the Capital Factory, just told me about a new seed capital and mentorship program in Austin. (You don’t have to live or work in Austin to take part).
They’re choosing 3 startups to spend 10 weeks in Austin to build their company. They receive $20k in cash, $20k in free stuff, and 20 successful mentors as investors. The 10 weeks end in August with a Demo Day to potential investors. It’s the mentor’s job to ensure they head in the right direction, and introduce them to potential customers and investors.
This is an unbeatable opportunity for a technology-based entrepreneur to get an accelerated start, especially in tough times. There is an April 3 deadline so hop on the stick.
Contact: Marc Nathan mhn@bulldogfinancial.com and tell him Alan from San Antonio Startups.com sent you!
Win Complete Branding Packages at SXSW from San Antonio Startup, IncSpring
March 12, 2009
Look for IncSpring at the larger than life SXSW Interactive Festival.
Be sure to drop by their booth between March 14th - March 16th for a chance to win one of many brand identity packages. You will be entered by becoming a member of IncSpring at the booth and at least two packages (logo, domain, business card, and collateral designs) will be given away each day. If you are already a member, just Tweet “Join me on incspring.com” during SXSW to be entered to win.
It’s that easy.
Also listen to Wes Wilson, Founder of IncSpring, speak on March 13th in a panel discussion on “User Generated Content: State of the Union” featuring Dean McCall (Ideagin), Todd Morrey (Mosso), Chris Tolles (Topix), and Stephen Newman (Mouth Watering Media).
Startup, EnergizedSeller.com Gets Home Sellers….. Energized!
March 11, 2009
I’ve been tracking San Antonio entrepreneur, Dan Eason, for the last year with his vision to find new opportunities in this tough real estate market. His newest venture, EnergizedSeller.com, is helping educate home sellers about what they need to do in order to maximize the value of their home and sell it as quickly as possible.
The site, which Eason jokingly calls the Facebook for home sellers, allows homeowners and real estate professionals from around the country and Canada to communicate with one another and discuss the best ways to improve a home for a quick and profitable sale.
Dan’s getting some traction.
Since the official launch in November 2008, over 13,000 real estate professionals and home sellers have used the site that provides hundreds of tips from hiring a home stager to dealing with lowball offers. In addition to the 40 topics relevant to home sellers, there is also a place where home sellers can ask questions about and post pictures of their home so that they can get specific questions answered. “People are having to work harder at selling their home and are using EnergizedSeller.com to learn about the most effective ways to make changes that differentiate their home from all the other homes on the market.”
Users have been very complimentary of the site and professionals giving advice. For example, Carol Landt found on the site a helpful home stager to hire, Karen Otto, and praised her for her openness and expert advice. She then sent her an email saying: “I feel we will be in good hands with your help.” “This is exciting to see,” says Eason. “Not only do we want to help home sellers sell their home for more money but we want to help professionals build relationships that will, ultimately, generate more business for them.”
“Doing a startup website like EnergizedSeller is a challenge,” Eason told me. “You spend a lot of time and money on programming, building content, making relationships, and marketing; all to build critical mass in order to attract advertisers.” It takes a lot of nerve to stay in this business for the long-term. “But,” as Eason states, “as we continue to provide value, develop a site that works, and differentiate our self from other home selling resources, we’ll build trust with our visitors, develop a good brand and attract national advertisers.
Since the official launch of the site ,EnergizedSeller.com has already gotten some national media coverage with interviews on Atlanta, Georgia’s Diva in the House with Gina McNew and its home seller tips have been broadcast on the Dave Ramsey Show and radio stations around Texas, North Carolina and Arizona.
Startup, BloggersUnite.org, Contributes to the Political Conversation in the San Antonio Mayoral Race. SA4Mayor’s Patricio Espinoza Captures the Story
March 10, 2009
Some startups in San Antonio are spin-offs of other startups. In the case of locally based, BlogCatalog, Tony Berkman and Angie Alaniz have formed BloggersUnite.
Salesby5’s Eric Darmstetter Gives Sound Advise to San Antonio Startups
March 9, 2009
Erik Darmstetter, CEO of Salesby5 is a practical and pragmatic person who is focused on one thing: increasing your sales. Enough said. Here’s what he’s got to say from his recent appearance on Great Day SA.
Erik Darmstetter on Great Day SA from Erik Darmstetter on Vimeo.
Ideagin Takes Leadership Role for San Antonio’s Startup Community at SXSW
February 25, 2009
Next time you run into Ideagin’s Dean McCall or Jason Cronkhite, buy these guys a beer. Or, if your budget permits, a case of Alamo Beer (another startup on the radar of this blog).
Dean and Jason are renting 4 contiguous booths at SXSW and showcasing some of San Antonio’s coolest startups: BlogCatalog, Salesby5, and IncSpring. Think San Antonio Fab 4, if you will.
Now back to Ideagin….
Last week, I paid a visit to their offices. They are not only doing cool coding and web stuff, but they’re getting Podcast Ready back and up & going. Dean managed to get Podcast Ready moved to San Antonio for a re-start, so we can all re-rock and roll.
If you are going to SXSW, be sure to make Ideagin’s outpost a must see!