Posts Tagged ‘Kinetic Ventures’
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
 Tower Cloud Inc., a wireless backhaul services provider, has secured $49 million in additional equity to fund its expansion into new markets throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama.
The latest round of funding was led by two of Tower Cloud’s existing investors, The Burton Partnership and Knology Inc. Tower Cloud’s other existing institutional investors include: Sutter Hill Ventures, El Dorado Ventures, Ballast Point Ventures, Kinetic Ventures, ITC Partners Fund and Noro-Moseley Partners.
For this round, two new investors joined the consortium, The Florida Growth Fund and CLR Investors. The funding was done in two phases with $13 million completed in January and $36 million completed in July. This funding follows a $20 million equity commitment by the same investor group in October 2009.
Tags: Ballast Point Ventures, CLR Investors, El Dorado Ventures, financing, Florida, Florida Growth Fund, ITC Partners Fund, Kinetic Ventures, Knology Inc, Noro-Moseley Parnters, SC, Sutter Hill Ventures, The Burton Partnership, Tower Cloud, wireless backhaul services
Posted in Alabama, Cloud, Florida, Georgia, Mobile, Money, South Carolina, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
 Marc Cenedella ATLANTA – Marc Cenedella, founder and CEO of TheLadders.com, the online community for $100,000 plus job seekers, told the Southeast Venture Conference in Atlanta Thursday that entrepreneurs should get their online products live. “Get it live,” he said. “If it exists it can get better.”
Cenedella himself started Ladders.com in 2003 to make finding high paying professional jobs easier. The company ranked number one in overall satisfaction in an independent survey of recruiters and won the 2009 Webby award for best employment web site.
Ceneddella’s comment about going live and fixing it later appeared in a handful of tweets about his talk one of chief takeaways people noted while tweeting about the event (#SEVC11 and @SEVC).Other’s include:
From John Huntz, executive director of Arcapita Ventures, tweeters liked: “The long is back in venture capital. Building a great company takes time, from 5 to 7 years.”
From Nelson Chu, a general partner at Kinetic Ventures: “Early stage VCs invest in entrepreneurs. Later stage VCs invest in companies.”
From a panel discussion: “The rise of secondary markets (where investors can buy shares of private firms such as Twitter and Facebook) are increasing valuations.”
Those of course are only a small sample, but we have noticed at these events that the takeaway’s from Twitter are often the same quotes we note as journalists. You can get a real feel for the insights people pick up at SEVC by perusing the Twitter stream.
Tags: Arcapita Ventures, John Huntz, Kinetic Ventures, Ladders.com, Marc Cenedella, Nelson Chu, SEVC
Posted in Events, Georgia | Comments Off
Thursday, February 17th, 2011
 Nelson Chu By Allan Maurer
ATLANTA – The venture industry is recovering from the recession and both institutional investors and angels are putting money in new deals, not just keeping their powder dry for existing portfolio companies, says Nelson Chu, a managing director with Kinetic Ventures. But one of the things entrepreneurs should do to prepare for funding is to make sure a venture firm they’re approaching is actively investing, he adds.
Chu joined Kinetic Ventures in 1998. His investment activities focus on information and infrastructure technologies, enterprise and Internet software, and other emerging software and hardware technologies. He has led a broad range of Kinetic investments including BroadWare, VerticalOne, FoodBuy, Vertical Acuity, Alereon, and Tower Cloud.
Chu is one of a host of venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs and presenting companies slated to participate in the fifth annual Southeast Venture Conference in Atlanta March 2-3. Two of Kinetic Venture’s portfolio companies, Tower Cloud and Vertical Acuity are among the 50 companies presenting their business plans at the event.
Understand potential investors
Chu says it is imperative for entrepreneurs to understand who their potential investors are. “Start by reading their website, focus on how long they have been around, who the partners and portfolio companies are. Then they can better understand the appropriateness of their opportunity for that firm. It shows good discernment on the part of the entrepreneur if they’re aware of the firm’s investing focus and style.”
It’s also a good idea to talk to CEOs of the VC’s portfolio companies and others who may have had interactions with the firm, he adds. “Talk to people who received funding and to people who didn’t, lawyers and accountants who know the firm. Get a feel for the partners: if you have an Internet media platform and want to know if you should talk to Sally, Mike or Sue, and Sue focuses on package goods, she may not know social marketing tools. You want to go in with the best foot forward, knowing their investing philosophy.”
With exits improving for venture backed companies both in merger and acquisition and IPO activity, there is a high level of excitement and activity in Atlanta right now, Chu says. “There is so much money on the sidelines in the private equity industry: people are ready to deploy capital.”
Kinetic, which raised a fund in 2009 is still making new investments and hopes to close a new deal before mid-March. “We’re not a huge fund. We like getting in early. A company doesn’t necessarily need revenues, but it’s nice if they have some type of technology product we can put in front of folks we know, such as potential customers or investors.”
Listen to feedback
The way to attract an investor, he says, “Is to focus on how you can build a compelling story. It does help to get early customers willing to try out the product. “That could be a handful of enterprise folks trying it who are willing to take calls from potential institutional investors,” he says.
“Sometimes entrepreneurs find it is easier solving technical problems but it can be much more challenging or worrisome to talk to customers. We love entrepreneurs who are relatively fearless in soliciting customer feedback, who are scrappy.”
Chu suggests that entrepreneurs attending events such as the Southeast Venture Conference should have “A fairly clear set of objectives, but on the other hand, be open to listening to what others are saying and how you can use that information. Speak to people who might have something new to say.”
Chu says it is a real turnoff if he tries to give an entrepreneur feedback on what they’re attempting and he doesn’t listen. “Don’t just tell me the same thing over and over if you’re not willing to have a conversation and take feedback,” he says.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: advice to entrepreneurs, Events, Kinetic Ventures, Nelson Chu, Southeast Venture Conference, Tower Cloud, Vertical Acuity
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
 DURHAM, NC – Zift Solutions, a ca SaaS company that increases channel sales by enabling channel partners to create and execute measurably better marketing campaigns, has extended its A round to $1.5 million. The company added Kinetic Ventures as an investor in addition to Southern Capitol Ventures, which invested $500,000 in June.
Jake Tarr, Kinetic Ventures managing director, joins the Zift board.
The company has also moved its headquarters from Raleigh to Durham, NC.
Founded in 2006, Zift provides a SaaS solution that allows clients to cost effectively deliver branded multi-channel marketing that includes online advertising, content syndication, SEO optimization, event management and e-mail marketing to channel partners.
The content can be created once and used by all channel partners on demand. The channel partners are provided easy access to the marketing programs, which are customized to reflect their unique branding. All partners can view their dashboard which measures each marketing campaign’s effectiveness and provide other key metrics.
“Companies like Red Hat use them to allow their partners to log in and customize Red Hat content, add their own contact information and logo and send it out,” explains Caplain.
“We look forward to working with the seasoned management team at Zift Solutions,” said Caplain. “As a repeat team, their technology and operational expertise has helped them scale the company quickly and surge ahead of their competitors.”
The Zift team has experience in delivering web-based enterprise marketing solutions to American Express, Target, National Geographic, AOL, Novartis, and to top agencies like Leo Burnett and Carmichael Lynch.
At the time of the initial funding, Jason Caplain, general partner of Southern Capitol Ventures told us, “Companies like Red Hat use them to allow their partners to log in and customize Red Hat content, add their own contact information and logo and send it out.”
He also said he thinks the firm has “One of the best management teams in the Triangle.”
We profiled Zift shortly after its initial funding. See:
Zift Solutions: take the money and run to stay ahead of the pack
Tags: Durham, financing, Jason Caplain, Kinetic Ventures, NC, Raleigh, Red Hat, SaaS, Southern Capitol Solutions, Zift Solutions
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, North Carolina | Comments Off
Monday, August 30th, 2010
 ATLANTA – Vertical Acuity Inc. has raised $1.7 million of a targeted $4.2 million mixed securities offering, according to a regulatory filing. Investors include Atlanta-based Kinetic Ventures and Rho Ventures and Roth Partners, both based in New York.
The company previously raised more than $1 million from angel investors and Kinetic.
Principals cited in the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission include Betsy Morgan, who was previously CEO of the Huffington Post, which grew from 4 to 22 million monthly unique visitors as she helmed the company.
Founded in 2007, Vertical Acuity sells content optimization services.
The company says its platform empowers automated, mass scale content syndication across hundreds of websites, with no formal business or technology relationship between them. In essence, we enable content to “route”.
For a profile of the company we did in 2009 see: Vertical Acuity brings market intelligence to the product level
However, the firm appears to have changed directions somewhat since we last talked with them. We’ll be giving them a call to update you on what they’re doing. Stay tuned.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Atlanta, Betsy Morgan, content syndication, financing, Georgia, Huffington Post, Kinetic Ventures, New York, Rho Ventures, Roth Partners, Vertical Acutiy
Posted in Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, Money | Comments Off
Monday, August 16th, 2010
 ATLANTA – Carlytics, which sells banking rewards solution services that allow merchants to target customers based on what they purchase, has banked an $18 million equity round led by ITC Holdings and Kinetic Ventures.
All the company’s previous investors participated including Canaan Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, and Total Technology Ventures. Concurrent with the financing, Campbell B. Lanier of ITC Holdings and Kinetic Ventures has joined the Cardlytics board.
“Our exceptionally strong direct marketing performance coupled with the rapid expansion of our Financial Institution footprint positioned the company to attract significant capital from strategic new investors,” said Scott Grimes, CEO of Cardlytics.
Cardlytics lets retailers target advertising to specific consumers via online banking site.
In a recent interview with TechJournal South, venture capitalist Don Rainey of Grotech Ventures told us that companies helping consumers save, manage or spend money are poised to take advantage of a consumer focus on just that. (See: Grotech VC sees money management as ripe for startups ). Atlanta, with its history as a financial hub, is developing a substantial number of companies in the payments and digital money space.
Cardlytics raised $4 million in debt from Gold Hill Capital in April.
The company previously raised about $13.4 million according to news reports.
The company says that financial institutions using the Cardlytics platform will be providing retail offers to over 10 million consumers this fall.
“We are working closely with our financial institutions to bring the benefits of transaction-marketing to all customers, even if they are not active on-line banking users. This influx of capital provides the resources to accelerate the introduction of our next generation of technology,” said Lynne Laube, president of Cardlytics.
In July, the company was named a 2010 Red Herring North America Top 100 award winner.
Tags: Atlanta, Campbell Lanier, Canaan Partners, Cardlytics, Don Rainey, financing, Gold Hill Capital, Internet, ITC Holding, Kinetic Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, Scott Grimes, Total Technology Ventures
Posted in Georgia, Internet/New Media, Money | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 13th, 2010
 ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Tower Cloud Inc., which provides backhaul services to mobile wireless carriers, has raised $25.5 million in equity funding, according to a regulatory filing.
Investors include Noro-Moseley Partners of Atlanta; Sutter Hill Ventures, Palo Alto, CA; El Dorado, Melo Park, CA; Ballast Point Ventures, St. Petersburg, FL; Kinetic Ventures, Atlanta and Chevy Chase, MD, The Burton Partnership, Tampa, FL; and Knology Inc., West Point, GA; and ITC Partners Fund I and telecom entrepreneur Cam Lanier.
Lanier led the company’s $20 million round in 2009.
The company disclosed the current financing in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The wireless backhaul business
Wireless backhaul refers to wireless communications systems that carry data from an end user to a node in a major network such as the Internet or the proprietary network of a large business, academic institution or government agency.
It can also refer to transmitting network data over an alternative wireless route when the normal one is not available or is over burdened.
“Wireless backhaul is one of the fastest growing areas in telecom. We feel the company is strongly positioned to serve the exploding bandwidth needs of wireless carriers.” said Lanier, chairman of ITC Holding Company at the time of the 2009 filing.
“Demand for wireless broadband service on cellular networks is expanding rapidly, driven by growing popularity of cellular smartphones and other advanced mobile wireless devices.
Builds and operates networks
As wireless carriers upgrade their cellular networks to provide 4G wireless data and Internet services their need for broadband backhaul service will continue to accelerate.”
Tower Cloud builds and operates fiber optic and wireless networks to connect cellular towers to the wireless carriers’ mobile switching centers. Wireless carriers utilize Ethernet and Sonet T-1 broadband capacity provided by Tower Cloud to manage the exploding volume of voice and data traffic on their cellular networks.
Tower Cloud currently operates backhaul networks in the greater Orlando, and Miami, FL markets and was in the process of constructing a new network in Atlanta, GA last year. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL. — Allan Maurer
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Atlanta, Ballast Point Ventures, El Dorado, financing, FL, GA, ITC Partners Fund, Kinetic Ventures, Knology, Noro-Moseley Parnters, St. Petersburg, The Burton Partnership, Tower Cloud, wireless backhaul services
Posted in Florida, Georgia, Hardware, Internet/New Media, IT, Money, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
By Allan Maurer, TechJournal South Editor
ATLANTA – About 100 Atlanta entrepreneurs, executives and others networked at the CEO Council/MIT Forum’s New Talent Exchange Wednesday night at the Buckhead Gordon Bierch restaurant.
The New Talent Exchange was designed to help those new to the working world get a foothold in the Atlanta technology community by bringing them together with professionals from the technology, business and law communities.
Color-coded nametags assisted with networking pairings for a portion of the evening, although we didn’t notice much use of that particular feature as those in attendance networked their way around the room.
 Virginia Martin, Associate Director, MIT Forums “This is the fourth New Talent Exchange we have presented, “said Virginia Martin, director of the MIT Enterprise Forum. “It’s a popular event for us and the perfect avenue for young professionals and their more seasoned counterparts to exchange ideas and business cards in an atmosphere that encourages success.”
We networked during the entire event, which ran from 5 p.m. to 7:30 and included excellent pizza, good beer and wine. Here are a few of the people we met:
 Peter Rosen is president of HR Strategies & Solutions, Atlanta. He works with startups that need human resources advice and will be contributing a guest blog post to TJS.  Nelson Chu of Kinetic Ventures, a 25-year-old $65 million fund that invests in IT, clean tech, and telecom, was there talking to entrepreneurs. Kinetic invested in Atlanta's Vertical Acuity, among other Southeast firms.  Ron Stockton, of U.S. energetics, an Atlanta firm with technology to turn hog and other waste into electricity, told us, "There are 12 million hogs in North Carolina. More hogs than people. If 12 million people did not have waste management, it would be outrageous.  Jonathan Goldman, vice president at Hydro Phi Inc., an Atlanta firm working on technology to make hydrogen fuel, told us the company is about to close on its first Angel funding and expects to land a larger financing not too far down the road.  Michael D. Bloom, managing director of Mazzone & Associates and director of the MIT Forums in Atlanta for 2010, told us the next event on April 20 will focus on sustainability. The MIT Forums hold 8 to 10 events a year and four workshops where member companies present their business plans to potential investors. Online: www.mitforumatlanta.org
HR Strategies & Solutions: www.hras.com
Hydro Phi: www.hydrophi.com
U.S. energetics: www.usenergetics.com
Tags: Atlanta, Events, HR Strategies & Soluitons, Hydro Phi, Kinetic Ventures, Michael Bloom, u.s. energetics
Posted in Events, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, Uncategorized | Comments Off
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