Prepared by Capital Hunter analysts
Venture capital investment rose to $567 million this period on the back of three large financings (forty-two total), including two in excess of $100 million. Limelight Networks, which provides a delivery network for bandwidth-intensive media content, raised $130 million in its first outside investment from Goldman Sachs, the largest single financing since Amp’d Mobile received $112 million in April earlier this year. However, this was not the only funding that crossed the $100 million benchmark. Infinera, which develops photonic integrated circuits for the optical network telecommunications industry, raised close to $110 million in Series G funding from blue-chip VC firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Benchmark Capital, Applied Materials Ventures, Cypress Semiconductor, Mobius Venture Capital, Sprout Group, Venrock Associates, RWI Group, Worldview Technology Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures. Despite the fact that the average deal size was $13.5 million per deal, thirty of the forty-two deals (or approximately 71%) were for less than $10 million, an abnormally large percentage considering the fact the five largest deals after the aforementioned Limelight and Infinera were all over $20 million, which may suggest that venture capitalists are starting to look at earlier stage deals. In fact approximately 60% of all money this period was placed in either Series A or Series B stages, so while the signs are definitely encouraging, it is too early to tell whether this is the start of a trend or a weekly anomaly. The telecommunications and semiconductor sectors received the most capital, accounting for 24% and 23%, respectively, of this period’s totals. However, if you look at the pie chart below, you will notice that many different sectors received solid, albeit not substantial, amounts of financing, including the suddenly neglected computer & peripherals industry, IT services, software, media and medical technology. We expect venture capital investment to fluctuate anywhere from $350-$550 million on a weekly basis for the next few months. Stay tuned.
There were six initial public offerings this period, down from four last period. The six companies that listed this period are a motley bunch, ranging from coal exploration to banking to radio frequency identification (RFID) all the way to Indian outsourcing. Here are the six companies that listed:
Liberty Bancorp
NASDAQ:LBCP priced at $27.9 million and is the holder of Liberty Savings Bank, a community oriented bank serving the greater Missouri area.
WNS Holdings
NYSE:WNS priced at $224.1 million and is an Indian provider of business process outsourcing services.
Chart Industries
NASDAQ:GTLS priced at $187.5 million and is an independent global manufacturer of equipment used in the production, storage, and distribution of hydrocarbon and industrial gases.
Geomet
NASDAQ:GMET priced at $50 million and is engaged in the exploration, development and production of coal in the Cahaba Basin in Alabama and the Appalachian Basin in West Virginia and Virginia.
Crystal River Capital
NYSE:CRZ priced at $172.5 million and is a specialty finance company that invests in real estate-related assets.
Alien Technology
NASDAQ:RFID priced at $124.2 million and is a provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) products and services.
Please come visit our web site at
CapitalHunter.com. We have made improvements to both the look and functionality of our web site, including business resources, glossary terms, and other helpful information provided free of charge for the budding entrepreneur. For private equity firms, consulting firms, business journals, and individuals looking to do research on venture backed companies, you can still gain complete access to our entire database for $59 a quarter and $199 a year.
