Southeast VC

North Carolina Venture Report

In advance of CED's Venture '06 conference next week, they just released the "2005 CED North Carolina Venture Report."

Some key stats:

- NC-based companies raised $530m in VC last year (40% higher than '04). $430m of that was invested in companies in the Triangle.

- This puts NC #8 in the country of states receiving VC and #1 in the Southeast.

- NC is #3 in the country for amount of VC received by life sciences companies.

Angel Investor Market in 2005

Good recent article about the angel market. Thought I'd quickly share it.

Oracle to Acquire Red Hat or Novell? Very Slim Chance.

After Larry Ellison's recent comments, rumors continue to swirl about Oracle buying Red Hat (won't happen) or Novell so that it can have its own version of the Linux OS.

What is fueling all this is Red Hat's recent acquisition Jboss which turns the current partners into competitors.

I would be completely shocked if an acquisition occured. Novell's market cap is now over $3 billion (a very small sliver is Linux-related) and Red Hat's market cap is over $5 billion. Why would Oracle spend the $ to acquire one of them when they can simply embed the open source products they want for free and then support with their own organization?

MetaCapita to Launch in Winston Salem, NC

Just found out today that MetaCapita Venture Partners is launching a $150m fund to be headquartered in Winston Salem, NC with offices in DC and Waltham, MA. This is significant for several reasons:

1) If this group pulls off raising $150m for their first fund, it would make them the second largest VC fund headquartered in NC.

2) The fact that they are basing the fund in Winston Salem is a huge win for the Triad.

3) A fund with strong Boston/DC ties is important for NC and Southeast-based companies.

I know Brad Walters, Managing Director of MetaCapita from his days at Academy Funds - where he is still listed as a partner. Smart guy. The challenge will be can they raise $150m fund? A lot of new funds in NC have tried and died out < a year.

Also, entrepreneurs in the Triad shouldn't celebrate - yet. More than likely the location in NC will be just a jumping off point to find deals in NC and throughout the Southeast. But just the fact that they are headquartered there, they will be exposed to a lot in that region.

2006 Venture Capital Industry Report

I received The 2006 Venture Capital Industry Report the other day by email. It does a great job breaking down 2005 and spotting key trends. If you're related to the VC industry in any way, this is a must read. From the report, some of the chapters in the 84 page report include:

- Completed financings: In depth financing details for the information technology, healthcare and products & services, plus round information, development stages & regional activity.

- Valuations: How investors valued venture backed companies throughout the year.

- Liquidity: Statistics and analysis of the venture backed IPO and M&A markets.

- Investors: Who funded this year's crop of venture backed companies.

- Service providers: Rankings of VC related investment banks, law firms and accounting firms.

The report also includes chapters on the "Europe VC Report" and the "Israeli VC Report."

Venture Capital Firms' Shopping List: What Exactly Are They Looking For?

Here is a quick interview I did with WRAL LocalTechWire recently. It was posted today.

Building and Selling a Successful Company: Advice from a Serial Entrepreneur

Great interview with David Spitz who recently took the VP of Bus Dev job at ChannelAdvisor.

David has been an angel investor in the past and I really like his answer for most important qualities that he looks for in a potential investment. That "hard-charging do-or-die attitude" of an entrepreneur is critical.