AAA October 2013 – Page 7

Potbelly’s IPO gobbled up

Potbelly Corporation, a US-based sandwich shop chain which owns and operates 288 shops across the USA, raised $105m in its initial public offering (IPO) of 7,500,000 shares priced at $14.00 per share. Potbelly’s backers include Maveron, a venture capital firm co-founded by Starbucks’ chief executive officer Howard Schultz, and venture capital firms Benchmark Capital and… Continue reading Potbelly’s IPO gobbled up

Monsanto acquires Climate Corporation for $930m

Monsanto Company, a US-based agricultural products company, has agreed to acquire US-based insurance and risk management technology company The Climate Corporation for a cash purchase price of $930m. The acquisition is intended to combine The Climate Corporation’s expertise in agriculture analytics and risk-management with Monsanto’s R&D capabilities, in order to provide farmers with access to more… Continue reading Monsanto acquires Climate Corporation for $930m

Salesforce.com and Intel back MongoDB’s $150m financing

MongoDB, a US-based, big data technology company which provides document-oriented databases for enterprises, has secured $150m in financing, led by an unspecified financial services company and US-based fund T Rowe Price, together with new investors, alternative asset management firm Altimeter Capital and customer relationship management software company Salesforce.com; the round included participation from existing investors… Continue reading Salesforce.com and Intel back MongoDB’s $150m financing

Google-backed Cool Planet pens Concord Energy JV

Small scale biofuel refiner, Cool Planet Energy Systems from the US, is getting closer to its ultimate business plan to build biofuel refineries across the US and Asia following a funding tranche and a joint venture. The company has an enviable list of corporate venturing backers including Google Ventures and BP.

Five mistakes in creating a global network

When creating an effective global network, corporate venturing units can make five mistakes. In this week’s Global Corporate Venturing webinar, sponsored by Relevant Equity Systems, Ray Haarstick, chief executive of the fund and deal back office software system, moderated an excellent discussion on the right ways to create an effective global network – and what… Continue reading Five mistakes in creating a global network

Big Deal: Communicating SAP’s $1bn

“Raising $1bn is never easy.” And so Germany-based software provider SAP’s decision to commit $651m to its affiliated corporate venturing unit’s second direct investment fund, on top of $405m to SAP Ventures’ fund of venture capital funds earlier this year is worth looking at as this week’s Big Deal analysis. The obvious answer to why… Continue reading Big Deal: Communicating SAP’s $1bn

Rose tops AngelList’s syndicate list

 Kevin Rose, a general partner at Google Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of search firm Google, has the most backing in AngelList’s recently introduced syndicate system. 325 backers have committed capacity of $1,446,000 to support investments made by Rose, who states that he expects to make 5 investments per year. His typical investment is $150,000, and… Continue reading Rose tops AngelList’s syndicate list