Enterprise Partners: 2006 Year in Review
Sent on January 2, 2007
> Enterprise Partners Begins Third Decade of Venture Investment in Southern California> The Envelope Please... Enterprise Companies Win Big in 2006
> Enterprise Partners Expands Executive Team
> New Hires, New Directions
Enterprise Partners Begins Third Decade of Venture Investment in Southern California
New Investments, Follow-Ons and Exits
Carl Eibl, Managing Director of Enterprise Partners, announced that 2006 included new investments in EPVI and significant follow-on support for companies in all of Enterprise's funds. "Enterprise Partners led investments in four new companies for EPVI and made 23 follow-on investments. In addition, we had three successful exits with the acquisition of Ascendent by Research in Motion, PathScale by QLogic, and Preventsys by McAfee."
2006 New and Follow-On Investments
Recent additions to the Enterprise EPVI portfolio represent over $21M and include:
- Complete Genomics: a DNA sequencing company that is working to dramatically reduce the cost of DNA sequencing for research, drug development, and diagnostic applications
- SpecificMedia: a technology and online media company that enables advertisers to pinpoint their target audiences through advanced demographic, behavioral, contextual, geographic and retargeting technologies
- Tarari: a fabless semiconductor company whose products include ASICs, boards and software acceleration components designed for network equipment, appliance and server vendors, and independent software vendors
- vMix: a consumer Internet company delivering broadband video application tools and services to enterprise clients
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2006 Exits
Ascendent: sold to Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM)
Preventsys: sold to McAfee (NYSE: MFE)
PathScale: acquired by Qlogic (NASDAQ: QLGC)
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The Envelope Please... Enterprise Companies Win Big in 2006
Enterprise Partners portfolio companies are frequently best of breed in their respective sectors. In 2006, they received a number of prestigious awards. Some of those include:
- Ernst&Young Entrepreneur Of The Year: Peter G. Ulrich, CEO, TargeGen, won the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the "Emerging Companies" category in San Diego
- Ernst&Young Entrepreneur Of The Year: Randy Smerik, CEO, Tarari, was named a semi-finalist in Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in the "Emerging Companies" category in the San Diego region
- Deloitte Technology Fast 50: DragonWave was ranked the fifth fastest growing company in Canada in 2006
- Deloitte Technology Fast 500: DragonWave was ranked as the seventh fastest growing company in North America in 2006
- 2006 Webby Awards: Ophthonix was honored with a 2006 Webby Award from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences
- AlwaysOn 100: TradeBeam was named one of the Top 100 Private Company award winners for 2006 based innovation by AlwaysOn Magazine
- Environmental Business Journal (EBJ): Enviance was awarded a Gold Medal in the 2005 EBJ Business Achievement Awards
- Excellence In Design (EID) awards for Medical Equipment 2006: Tensys Medical received a gold medal from the 19th annual EID awards
- Info Security Products Guide: named Breach Security one of Info Security's "Hot Companies" for 2006
- Microsoft Partner of the Year: Tarari was awarded Partner of the Year Award for Technology Innovation for OEM Hardware Solutions at the 2006 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Program Awards
- MOMENTUM 2006: SpecificMedia was honored at the IBDNetwork Annual Momentum Growth Conference
- Red Herring 100 North America: Tarari was selected as a winner of the annual "Red Herring 100 North America" award by Red Herring magazine
- Red Herring 100 North America: Quartics was named a Finalist for a "Red Herring 100 North America " award
- Windhover Information: Ascenta Therapeutics was named one of the Top Ten Leading Cancer Projects in a survey of key oncologists conducted by the Windhover Information clinical advisory team
CEOs of two new Enterprise portfolio companies make predictions and express their wishes for the New Year.
Tim Vanderhook, President and CEO, SpecificMedia
"My brother and I started SpecificMedia back in 1999 when I was 18 and Chris was 20. We bootstrapped it, navigated the dotcom debacle, adjusted our business model 3 times and built a real business that solved real problems for advertisers. We just we raised our first venture round this past year, led by Enterprise.
I think 2007 will be the year we see the 'hockey stick' in our business plan become reality. I also think 2007 will be the year when American marketers begin to see online advertising for what it can really do. That is, as more than just a direct response environment and as the most powerful, measurable, vehicle for reaching desirable audiences. Brand advertisers will drive this next wave of online advertising growth and we are well positioned to capitalize on this shift. We look forward to returning big gains for all of our shareholders in the near future."
Dr. Cliff Reid, Chairman, President and CEO, Complete Genomics
"In just the past few years, advances in our ability to map and understand our genomic profile have been profound. Almost overnight, scientists worldwide have had virtual lightbulbs going off in their heads as the call for sequencing of genomic data for research, drug development and diagnostic applications explodes.
I see our small company poised to give the scientific community access to a complete human genomic sequence at a cost so affordable as to spur significant and rapid therapeutic applications and advances."
New Hires, New Directions
In 2006, Enterprise Partners expanded its professional staff to more efficiently address emerging markets in life sciences, technology, and support existing portfolio companies.
New Hires
- Patrick Harr joined the firm as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence in the Technology practice from Preventsys, an Enterprise Partners portfolio company sold to McAfee in 2006
- John Leenane joined Enterprise Partners as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence in the Technology practice to explore and develop technology opportunities in Silicon Valley. Currently, John is working on strategic positioning and market development with Enterprise portfolio company Quikker
- Teak Murphy joined Enterprise Partners as an Associate after several years in investment banking with Montgomery & Co. and Cowan & Co. Teak works with existing portfolio companies on business operations and analysis of potential investments
- Andrew Summers joined Enterprise Partners as an Associate after graduating in 2006 with an MBA from The UCLA Anderson School of Management. Andrew brings a background in investment banking and works closely with several Enterprise Partners portfolio companies
- Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Anadys Pharmaceutical, will join the firm as a Managing Director in the Life Sciences practice. He joins the firm in January 2007
- Jim Berglund, co-founder and Managing Director of Enterprise Partners since 1985, maintains independent board seats on EPV's The Return Exchange and Xifin. He is also investing independently and is acting CEO for one of his companies
- Bill Stensrud, a Managing Director of Enterprise Partners since 1997 will retire from acting investment with Enterprise Partners and plans to continue independent early stage investing. Bill is currently acting CEO of Muze and will remain on the board of the company