Week 03/07/2005 through 03/13/2005

Prepared by: Dante Fichera, CPA

This reporting period companies based in California operating in the Biotechnology industry and that have raised their Series C round of financing led the pack in the amount of venture financing raised. Also, there was two IPO this reporting period.

CapitalHunter.com was able to verify that $367 million of venture capital was invested in 28 U.S.-based companies during this week’s reporting period. The average deal size was approximately $13.11 million. The amount of venture capital invested this period increased by 3% compared to last periods $357 million.

Geographically,13 California companies raised $187.4 million in venture financings which represents 51% of the total venture capital invested this reporting period. The largest private venture financing in California this period was into Netifice Communications . Netifice Communications raised $55 million and is an Costa Mesa based and provides business-class connectivity solutions including advanced Internet-protocol connectivity services, including a tier-1 optical IP backbone, virtual private networks, MPLS-based data, voice, and video transport services.

The biotechnology sector raised 24% of the venture capital this period. Five biotechnology companies raised $86 million in venture financing. The largest private venture financing in the biotechnology sector this period was into Sirtris Pharmaceuticals. Sirtris Pharmaceuticals raised $29 million and is a Waltham, MA based company that is developing drugs targeting the sirtuins, otherwise known as class III histone deacetylases (HDACs), which are attractive drug targets for metabolism, inflammation, cancer and neurodegeneration.

Companies raising their Series C round of financing led this week’s venture capital activity. Series C financings represented 30% of the total venture capital deployed this period. The largest private venture financing in Series C stage financing this period was into Novalar Pharmaceuticals. Novalar Pharmaceuticals raised $27 million and is a San Diego, CA is a company specializing in dental anesthesia pharmaceuticals.

The three largest venture deals this period are as follows:

The following Nineteen and other unnamed investors funded the above mentioned top three venture capital investments for $117 Million:

A total of 66 equity financings of private and public companies occurred during this reporting period. Each of the 66 equity financings are profiled in a weekly report which include venture financings, private placements, secondary offerings, PIPE’s, and IPO’s.

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