AAA May 2013 – Page 7

Month: May 2013

BP turns to microbiology with Taxon

BP Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of oil and gas supermajor BP, has participated in a $4m Series A financing of California-based biotechnology company Taxon Biosciences. The financing, filed on 6 May 2013, was led by Solera Capital, the New York-based private equity investor founded by former JP Morgan banker Molly Ashby in 1999. Taxon Biosciences was… Continue reading BP turns to microbiology with Taxon

Téléfonica, Brightstar back Colombia fund

Venture firm Axon Partners Group has closed a $65m venture capital fund backed by Spain-based telecoms operator Téléfonica, US-based wireless company Brightstar, the Colombian small business bank Bancoldex and the Spanish fund for international development, AECID. The Amerigo Colombia Ventures fund has already closed five investments, the company said, and plans five more in 2013.… Continue reading Téléfonica, Brightstar back Colombia fund

Castrol commits to Pangaea

UK-listed oil major BP’s lubricants subsidiary, Castrol, has committed to the Pangaea Venture Advanced Materials fund.  The limited partner commitment came from the subsidiary’s Castrol InnoVentures corporate venturing unit, which makes direct venture and fund investments as well as partnerships and internal business incubation in four areas: next generation engineering, smart mobility and transportation, intelligent… Continue reading Castrol commits to Pangaea

Coburn leaves CCI for Partners

Christopher Coburn (pictured), executive director of US-based Cleveland Clinic Innovations (CCI), will move to non-profit peer Partners HealthCare to be vice-president of research ventures and licensing (RVL). RVL is the division that coordinates industrial relationships and intellectual property management across Partners HealthCare, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Partners HealthCare is integrated health… Continue reading Coburn leaves CCI for Partners

D’Souza backs Quadriserv

Private investor Rohit D’Souza and hedge fund Renaissance Technologies have invested an undisclosed sum in financial services technology company Quadriserv, which has previously received corporate venture backing from the International Securities Exchange and Interactive Brokers. Venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners has also previously invested in the company, which has not disclosed the terms of… Continue reading D’Souza backs Quadriserv

BoSci backs Channel Medsystems

Boston Scientific, a US-based medical device maker, has led a $9.7m series B round for Channel Medsystems, a local medical technology company. Channel Medsystems also announced that Ric Cote, a former vice-president of sales at Conceptus, a medical technology company acquired by Bayer Healthcare in April, has taken over as chief executive. Venture capital firms… Continue reading BoSci backs Channel Medsystems

Time Warner sees promise in Joyus’ video shopping

Video shopping platform Joyus has raised an $11.5m series B led by Time Warner Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of the eponymous media business, and by Interwest Partners. Joyus uses short marketing videos to support an e-tailer platform that hosts around 600 brands. The company claims that the video retailing model gives a significantly increased… Continue reading Time Warner sees promise in Joyus’ video shopping