Alitum Divests Unit of Solutions Consulting
Good news for all those struggling new tech firms looking for investor money. A new venture capital firm was created and should open an office soon in San Diego.
The new firm, Miramar Venture Partners, is headed by two former attorneys, Rick Fink and Bruce Hallett, who decided to make a career change of sorts.
“The type of work both of us had been doing (at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison) for our clients over the last five to 10 years was more strategic advisory and consultative, the same type of work venture capitalists should do for their clients,” said Fink.
The risks will certainly be greater but so will the rewards.
“We’ll be participating in the equity of the companies rather than charging hourly rates,” he said.
So far, Miramar has initial commitments from about 20 investors for $62 million, but Fink says the fund should close by the end of the year at $100 million.
The targets for the fund in order of preference will be early stage firms (those that have at least found seed capital) in the following areas: communications and networks; storage technology; semiconductors; Internet infrastructure; and wireless.
While they may be newcomers to the arena, Miramar Partners feel they have a huge advantage over many other VCs.
“There are a large number of VCs and sources of venture capital but many of those sources are pre-occupied with their existing portfolios,” Fink said, referring to a large number of struggling startups. “We’re coming to the party clean, and don’t have any baggage. We’ll be able to focus all our time and energy on new opportunities.”
Still in the formation stage, Miramar now operates from an Orange County office it shares with its largest investor, Dr. Henry Samueli, co-founder and co-chairman of Broadcom Corp. But Fink said the partners are seeking an office in San Diego. The VC’s territory will stretch from Santa Barbara to the border.
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SCG Grows After Leaving Alitum:
About a year after local software developer Alitum purchased Solutions Consulting Group, one unit of SCG was divested and is doing just fine, says CEO Bill Edmett.
“They kept part of SCG, but for the most part, we’re still doing what we’ve always done , develop custom database software,” Edmett said.
Headquartered in San Diego since 1993, SCG now has 20 employees, but that should grow. Looking at the present work load, Edmett predicted the head count would reach between 50 to 60 by the end of 2002, while revenues will rise to about $5 million from this year’s $1.2 million.
Among recent contracts for SCG are two local firms, Interior Specialists and LifeForce International. Other top clients include Sony Corp., Kaiser Permanente and Ingram Micro.
Venture Catalyst Delisted:
Venture Catalyst, which provides technology consulting mainly to the Indian gaming industry, wadelisted from Nasdaq effective Aug. 15 after it failed to meet minimum capital bid and other qualifications to trade on Nasdaq’s Small Cap Market Exchange.
The firm said it won’t appeal the delisting which has been in the works since May.
VCAT, which finished its final day of trading on Nasdaq at 22 cents, will now trade on the Over The Counter board. Its 52 week range is $5.34 to 18 cents but has been below 40 cents for the past two months.
Based on the Aug. 15 price, VCAT’s market cap is $1.58 million. For its nine months fiscal year, VCAT lost $12.8 million on $8.6 million in revenues.
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Anacomp Loses Less:
Anacomp Inc., the Poway-based document management firm, reported a third quarter net loss of $12.8 million on sales of $73 million, compared to a net loss of $43.1 million on sales of $88.9 million for the like period in the past fiscal year.
For the nine months, Anacomp lost $36.1 million on sales of $235.4 million versus a net loss of $70.5 million on sales of $295.6 million in the like period in the previous fiscal year.
The company, which now consists of two business units, continues to shop its European document management business.
Jmar Reports Loss:
Jmar Technologies Inc., a provider of precision nano-technology products used in semiconductor manufacturing, reported a net loss of $477,546 in its second quarter on sales of $3.3 million, compared to a net loss of $994,441 on revenues of $5.1 million for the like period last year.
For the six months ended June 30, Jmar had a net loss of $1.5 million on sales of $7.8 million, compared to a net loss of $778,626 on sales of $9.9 million for the same period in 2000.
CEO John Martinez said while the global market looks weak for the rest of the year, the company had a strong order activity, which bodes well for the firm’s near term.
For the first seven months of the year, Jmar had a 1.7 book-to-bill ratio, meaning for each $1.7 million in bookings, it gets $1 million in sales.
In recent months, Jmar received more than $9 million in two government contracts, including a $7.8 million from a U.S. Army agency for a system to produce high speed semiconductors.
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Altris Reduces Loss, Triples Sales:
San Diego-based Altris Software, which produces document management software, reported a net loss of $94,000 on sales of $3.1 million for its third quarter ended June 30, compared to a net loss of $340,000 on sales of $1.7 million for the like period of last fiscal year.
For the nine months, Altris lost $56,000 on sales of 9.3 million, compared to a net loss of $1.5 million on sales of $5 million.
Altris has 91 employees.
Huntington Capital Inks Deal:
Huntington Capital, a San Diego VC, signed its first investment client, Terra Kleen Response Group providing $1 million, including $500,000 in up-front money.
Terra Kleen, based in San Diego with offices in Washington, D.C., and Seattle, cleans contaminated soil at military installations and other facilities. In 1999, it was recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the 500 fastest-growing private firms in the nation.
Licensed in January, Huntington focuses on non-high-tech growth companies in Southern California that have been in business at least two years.
Send high-tech finance news to mallen @sdbj.com
