By all accounts, accounting not the same

Jerry Mahoney
Austin American-Statesman
Monday, August 21, 2000

As reported last week, PricewaterhouseCoopers said U.S. companies received a record $19.6 billion in VC money in the second quarter, up 14 percent from the first quarter. In Austin, venture capitalists poured $562 million into the coffers of young companies, breaking the record set in the fourth quarter of 1999.

The National Venture Capital Association, a trade group, and Venture Economics, a Boston consulting firm, say venture capital has slowed two consecutive quarters. U.S. Companies raised $24.6 billion in the second Quarter, compared with $24.8 billion in the first quarter and $25.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 1999, according to their Aug. 7 release.

Moreover, their study said Austin companies raised $572.2 million, which was pretty close to the PWC findings. But the study said that was 4.7 percent below a record $600.1 million in the first quarter. That study might be a sign of what PWC finds about the next quarter or two. That's because the association and Venture Economics tally commitments made in a quarter, while PWG reports only checks written in the quarter.

Meanwhile, VentureOne of San Francisco reported $17.2 billion invested in the second quarter, down 6 percent from the first quarter. Unlike PWC, the firm does not count money from angel investors.

PricewaterhouseCoopers made a couple of changes to its Austin data.

  • Ineto Inc., raised $37 million in the second quarter from Broadwing, Austin Ventures, TL Ventures, the Intel Communications Fund, Dell Ventures and mortonsgroup. Ineto helps startups establish customer-communications services via e-mail, phone and the Internet.
  • Techxas Ventures was among the firms investing $47.8 million in TManage, the telecommuting-services company.
  • The chart with last Monday's venture capital package should have included WhisperWire, which makes software for telecoms. The company raised $9 million, led by Austin Ventures.

Recent rounds:

  • Banderacom, a startup formerly known as INH Semiconductor, raised $9 million in first- round backing from Intel Capital, Austin Ventures, Jato Tech Ventures and Crossroads Systems. A fabless operation, Banderacom designs chips for devices that connect storage, LAN and peripheral devices to servers using "lnfiniBand" architecture, an emerging input/output technology coordinated by the InfiniBand Trade Association, www.infinibandta.org.
  • All Pro Training Inc. raised $2 million from a group of individuals, including Tom Meredith, director of Dell Ventures; and Steve Hicks, chairman of AMFM Inc. The company offers personalized, expert information on physical condition, rehabilitation and nutrition.
  • Electrocast Inc. said it raised $1.1 million from Avantus Group Inc., a Texas financial consulting group, and individuals. The company provides a range of services, including Webcasting and content management. Robert Carsia recently joined the company as chairman and CEO.
  • iMediaplus Inc. raised $500,000 in seed stage capital from a group of Austin investors. The company helps niche retailers like ski shops and golf shops tap the Internet for marketing and a link to loyal customers. It was founded by Alan Lish, who merged it with CompuNet Communications, which he owned.