Qualcomm Likes Product of Santa Clara Semiconductor Maker, Invests $25M
Among high-tech startups, San Diego-based Maptrace isn’t on the map at all.
That may change this week if the local software firm makes the right impression at the Sacramento Golden State Entrepreneur Expo and Venture Capital Conference.
Maptrace, which incorporated last February and opened a UTC office in March, is the sole San Diego representative among 39 companies selected by the Golden State Capital Network to make an eight-minute presentation before a group of angel and VC investor groups.
“We’re really thrilled to be selected for this conference because it’s a great opportunity to get our company’s technology in front of so many top investor groups,” said President Jennifer Beckey. “All the name VCs will be there.”
The winner of the entrepreneur competition stands to receive $1 million equity investment, Beckey said. While she would love to be the No. 1 company, just making the cut to get this far is a real coup. There were 450 companies that made presentations to the Network before the field was narrowed to 39.
“We were just blown away by the fact that we were the only ones selected from San Diego,” she said of her firm, which has only six employees.
Maptrace is developing software applications used by wireless geo-positioning services. The technology is essential to wireless cell phone carriers, which are mandated by the Federal Communications Commission to provide enhanced 911 location systems by October.
Beckey said Maptrace has raised $500,000 since last March from a few angel and private investors and is attempting to raise between $3 million and $6 million in its first official round.
Given the initial response by Golden State Capital Network and what has happened at earlier entrepreneur conferences, Maptrace has excellent prospects. To date, 60 companies featured at the network’s conferences have collectively raised some $85 million, according to the organization.
After Maptrace makes its pitch in Sacramento, Beckey hopes to make the same pitch back home at a similar investment conference sponsored by UCSD Connect called the San Diego Technology Financial Forum.
The conference, scheduled for Feb. 21 at the Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel, will feature 30 startups.
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Qualcomm Invests $25 Million:
Qualcomm Inc. said it invested $25 million in ChipPAC Inc., a Santa Clara-based maker of semiconductor test and packaging services. Qualcomm also said it has an agreement with ChipPAC, which is traded on the Nasdaq, to purchase supply and assembly packages.
ChipPAC President Dennis McKenna said the agreement will enhance the company’s ability to capture more of the wireless consumer market in China. ChipPAC is one of the largest independent suppliers of high-end test and packaging solutions, employs more than 7,000 workers, and operates manufacturing plants in South Korea, China and Malaysia.
Medibuy Buys Firm:
Medibuy.com, a San Diego-based health e-commerce firm, completed the $565 million purchase of Premier Health Exchange, another local health e-commerce firm last week, and is in the midst of a consolidation involving several other smaller firms.
The company confirmed it laid off 70 employees, or 20 percent of its total staff, earlier this month as part of a restructuring. Of the 70 people cut from the payroll, 40 were located in San Diego. The company has offices in Palo Alto, Salt Lake City, Nashville and Cincinnati.
Following the staff reductions, Medibuy has a staff of 280. Last year, the company cut 24 jobs. Medibuy.com, which planned to go public and then withdrew its filing last year, said it is committed to breaking even this year.
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Cayenta Cuts 33:
Cayenta, a software business subsidiary of Titan Corp., cut 33 people from its payroll earlier this month, including about 10 locally.
Titan spokesman Wil Williams said the company is making every effort to match the laid-off personnel with some 123 existing vacancies within Titan’s San Diego operations. Titan has about 8,000 employees nationwide, including about 1,100 in San Diego.
Anacomp Sells docHarbor:
Anacomp Inc., the Poway-based document management services company, said it reached a definitive agreement to sell its docHarbor business unit to an unidentified buyer at an undisclosed price.
The unit, which was touted by the company in recent quarters as having excellent growth prospects, provides document management services over the Internet. It has a hosting center in Herndon, Va., and a headquarters/R & D; site in Redding, Mass. CEO Phil Smoot said the deal should be completed by March 15.
“This sale will provide docHarbor’s customers, employees and partners with the continued support and backing they need and deserve,” Smoot said.
Following the sale of the company, which has some 120 employees, Anacomp will consist of two business units: Document Solutions and Technical Services. Anacomp’s worldwide employment is just under 2,000 people, including about 400 in its San Diego headquarters.
The firm, now traded on over-the-counter exchange, lost $111.4 million on revenues of $383.2 million during the last fiscal year ended Sept. 30. Its stock was trading at 35 cents on Jan. 23.
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Spiegel Joins Mission Ventures:
Leo Spiegel, former president of San Francisco-based Digital Island, an Internet firm that had $65 million in revenues last year and 1,100 employees, joined San Diego VC firm Mission Ventures as a general partner.
Spiegel is the former chairman, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Sandpiper Networks, as well as one of its first employees, He was recruited by Mission Ventures partner Robert Kibble. Mission was an early stage investor in Sandpiper, which was merged into Digital Island in December 1999.
“At the time, we did the deal for Sandpiper with Digital Island, it was valued at about $635 million,” said Spiegel, who will be working for the first time in his adopted hometown. He’s a 1983 graduate of UCSD, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in management sciences.
Spiegel said joining Mission Ventures wasn’t a tough decision. He is one of six partners in the firm that has some $280 million under management.
Says Kibble: “It would be difficult for me to name a person who is better suited to the venture capital business than Leo.”
JMAR Gets Biotech Orders:
JMAR Technologies, the maker of lasers and X-ray light technology used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, said it received $2.1 million in new orders from two biotech firms, Affymetrix Inc., based in the Silicon Valley, and Packard Bio-Sciences Inc. of Illinois.
JMAR’s products will be used to assemble DNA biochips, or miniature testing laboratories that allow scientists to conduct several experiments simultaneously.
The company has been selling its products to the biotech industry since 1999 but it is gradually increasing sales in the market, said CFO Dennis Valentine.
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LearningFramework Attracts $1 Million:
San Diego-based LearningFramework, Inc., a software and systems service provider operating in the corporate training arena, said it received $1 million in an extended second round of financing this month, bringing the total in that round to $5 million. Since its inception, the company has raised $8 million in investment capital.
Send any high-tech finance items to mallen@sdbj.com.
