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FUNDING EVENTS FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 15th - AUGUST 21st

This past week Capital Hunter identified a total of 59 funding events globally that merit attention. Of the 59 companies globally that we identified, 45 of the funding events were by U.S. companies. 31 U.S. based companies are privately held and 14 are publicly traded companies; moreover, 36 of them raised equity capital and 9 secured debt financing. A few of the weeks financings are highlighted below:

Biolex is a later stage privately held company located in Pittsboro, NC and develops and manufactures a proprietary plant-based recombinant protein technology and grows duckweed, an aquatic plant, to produce proteins such as alpha interferon, which is designed to treat cancer and hepatitis. CEO, Jan Turek, was able to secure $24.4 million in a Series D equity financing from prominent venture and institutional investors: Quaker BioVentures, InterSouth Partners, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., The Dow Chemical Company, Dogwood Equity, Trelys Venture Partners, Kitty Hawk Capital, Franklin Street Partners, Tall Oaks Capital, Academy Centennial Fund, The Wakefield Group, and Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners.

MailFrontier, Inc. is an early stage privately held company located in Palo Alto, CA and is an enterprise software messaging security company focused on email management and tackling the problem of spam. CEO, Pavni Diwanji, secured $10 million in a series B round from tier 1 venture capitalists: Menlo Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and New Enterprise Associates.

Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an early stage privately held company located in Irvine, CA and Engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of a novel technology called AMPAKINE® compounds that have shown proof-of-principal efficacy in human clinical trials. These compounds enhance memory and cognition and impact disorders ranging from early childhood such as autism, fragile X syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to age associated memory impairment disorders as seen in older populations, such as Alzheimer's disease and MCI. CEO, Dr. Roger Stoll, was able to secure $5 million in equity from a private placement from selected institutional investors.

Valere Power, Inc. is a later stage privately held company located in Richardson, TX and develops power systems for communications infrastructure equipment; systems are half the size and provide twice the power. CEO, Andy Marsh, pulled together the companies series C round raising a total of $17 million in equity from well known venture investors: JPMorgan Partners, Alcatel Ventures, Dali-Hook Partners and Sierra Ventures.

HIGHLIGHTS

Total debt and equity financings in the United States decreased this reporting period by 39% to $1.887 billion, compared to last week's $3.104 billion. Below you will find a break down of this week's financings in the United States, Canada, and internationally:

EQUITY INVESTMENTS

Total equity capital raised by U.S. companies this week was $527 million. Below are straightforward graphs so that you can quickly see how the equity investments were distributed by Geography, Industry and Stage of Development:

GEOGRAPHY

Massachusetts companies raised 24% of the total $527 million in equity raised in the United States this past week. One of the larger equity deals in Massachusetts this reporting period was Aspen Technology, Inc. a Cambridge based publicly traded company. Aspen Technology is traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol AZPN. Aspen Technology supplies integrated software and services for the process manufacturing industry to maximize profit opportunities throughout their entire value chain -- from the supply of raw materials, through the production of goods, to the delivery of final products to customers. The company has raised $100 million in equity through a private placement from an institutional investor.

Note: States that received equity funding less than $20 million was included with the OTHER category.

INDUSTRY

Software companies received 35% of the total $527 million in equity raised in the United States this period. The two largest deals in the software space this past week was Aspen Technology, Inc. Corporation and eCollege.com. eCollege.com is a NASDAQ company (ticker: ECLG) based in Denver, CO and has closed a previously announced $30.45 million private placement of equity from institutional and existing investors. The company provides turnkey Internet-based learning software and services for universities.

Note: Industries that received equity funding of $20 million or less were included with the OTHER category.

STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT

NASDAQ companies raised 43% of the equity this period. Aspen Technology, Inc. was the largest NASDAQ deal this reporting period.

VENTURE CAPITAL

Venture capitalists in the United States invested 7% fewer dollars this past week compared to the week before and funded 23 Companies for a total of $222 million. The average venture capital deal size this week was approximately $9.65 million. Below you will find the Year to Date Venture Capital investment activity in the United States: