Week 07/18/2005 through 07/24/2005

Prepared by Capital Hunter analysts

This reporting period companies based in California operating in the Biotechnology industry and that have raised their Series B round of financing led the pack in the amount of venture financing raised. Also, there was eight IPOs this reporting period. Here is a sample of some of the firms that listed

A4S Security raised gross proceeds of $7.2 million on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange and is a Loveland, Colorado based marketer of mobile digital video recording systems for security and surveillance in the United States.

Adams Respiratory Therapeutics raised gross proceeds of $135.2 million on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange and is a Chester, New Jersey based developer, marketer, and retailer of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription pharmaceuticals for the treatment of respiratory disorders and diseases.

Consolidated Communications Illinois Holdings raised gross proceeds of $203.7 million on the NASDAQ Exchange and is a Matoon, Illinois based provider of communications services to residential and business customers in Illinois and in Texas.

Hittite Microwave Corporation raised gross proceeds of $76.5 million on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange and is a Chelmsford, Massachusetts based designer and developer of integrated circuits, modules, and subsystems for use in wired and wireless communications applications.

Maidenform Brands raised gross proceeds of $217.5 million on the New York Stock Exchange and is a Beyonne, New Jersey based designer and marketer of an extensive range of female intimate apparel products.

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CapitalHunter.com was able to verify that $366 million of venture capital was invested in 33 U.S.-based companies during this week’s reporting period. The average deal size was approximately 11.09 million. The amount of venture capital invested this period decreased by 32% compared to last periods $537 million.

Though under normal circumstances California raises more venture capital money than any other state, this week was especially noteworthy. California received $287.8 million, or an impressive 79% of all funding this reporting period, including all but two deals over ten million. Affymax, a Palo Alto based pharmaceutical company that is currently in Phase 2 trials for its flagship drug, Hematide, raised $60 million in late stage financing from JAFCO and Bear Stearns. Another California biotech company, Ilypsa, a Santa Clara based pharmaceutical company that has two lead compounds for renal and metabolic disorders in preclinical trials, raised $36 million from a consortium of investors, most notably Johnson & Johnson, US Venture Partners and Delphi Ventures.

The biotechnology sector raised 27% of the venture capital this reporting period, for a total of just over $97 million. In fact, the two largest fundings this reporting period were the aforementioned Affymax and Ilypsa. Unlike the distribution in regional funding, however, venture funding by sector in this reporting period was spread over many different sectors. Software received 17% of this reporting periods financing, the most noteworthy being ConSentry Networks, a Milpitas, California based provider of wire-speed software used to protect enterprise local area networks (LAN) and preserve data integrity and network availability. The electronics and instrumentation sector also did well, netting 11% of this week’s financing which included the aforementioned $20 million investment in Westec InterActive, a $15 million Series C financing into rechargeable battery maker Solicore, and some other minor deals.

Companies raising their Series B round received the largest percentage of funding, as 40% of this period’s total funding was invested into companies raising their second round of funding. Companies raising their initial round of venture capital did very well, receiving 28% of all money invested this reporting period. In addition, almost half of all investments in this period were placed into companies receiving their initial rounds or add-ons to their initial rounds of financing, perhaps signaling that venture capital and private equity firms believe that better times are ahead. The biggest second round funding was the aforementioned Ilypsa , while other notable Series B financings include Westec InterActive, Rearden Commerce and Stemcyte, an Arcadia, California based company which operates a large bank of ethnically diverse donated blood stem cells for research and medical procedures.

The three largest venture deals this period are as follows:

The following fourteen and other unnamed investors funded the above mentioned top three venture capital investments for $126 million:

A total of 99 equity financings of private and public companies occurred during this reporting period. Each of the 99 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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