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Enron Mail |
ICG Cuts Staff by 35%, to Spin Off Japanese and Euro Units =20
WAYNE, Pa. (VENTUREWIRE) -- Publicly traded Internet Capital Group (ICG),= =20 which funds and supports business-to-business Internet commerce companies= =20 through a network of partner companies, said it laid off 35% of its=20 workforce. The layoffs came with the company's third quarter report, in whi= ch=20 the company reported losing $263.9 million. The company said it would=20 intensify its focus on its top 15 companies. The firm will also spin off it= s=20 European and Japanese units into independent companies in which ICG will=20 retain a substantial equity stake. ICG also said it sold its equity stake i= n =20 technology platform company Centirmed to Global Health Care Exchange for an= =20 undisclosed amount. ICG portfolio companies include AssetTrade.com, Delphio= n,=20 eCatalogs, e-Chemicals, Onvia.com, PaperExchange, USgift.com, and Vivant!= =20 http://www.internetcapital.com ______________________________________________________- X.com Shuts Down Online Banking, Continues Payment Services ?PALO ALTO, Calif. (VENTUREWIRE) -- X.com said it is shutting down its onli= ne ?financial services, including the Internet banking unit of First Wester= n ?National Bank, to focus on online payment systems. X.com said there will= not ?be any lay-offs resulting from the change. The company's financial se= rvices ?will close on December 1st and will stop taking deposits on Novembe= r 20th. ?The company said its online payment business has consistently outs= hined its ?financial services, a situation exacerbated by the company's mer= ger with ?online payment company PayPal in March. X.com is backed by Credit= Agricole, ?Deutsche Bank, Digital Century Capital, Goldman Sachs, Hikari T= sushin, ?idealab! Capital Partners, J.P. Morgan, Madison Dearborn Partners,= Qualcomm, ?and TAMC. ?http://www.x.com?___________________________________= ___________________-??Venture Capital Investment Down in Third Quarter, Rep= ort Says??Venture capitalists curbed first-time investments and focused on = existing ?portfolio companies in the third quarter, leading to a slight dro= p in venture ?funding across the country and in Texas, according to Pricewa= terhouseCoopers' ?MoneyTree report. In Houston, venture capital investing = grew 178 percent ?from the second quarter to $142.3 million, fueled mainly = by the record $90 ?million raised by online research company Questia Media.= ??Nationwide, venture investing dropped from $19.8 billion in the second ?q= uarter to $17.6 billion in the third quarter, but was still almost twice th= e ?$8.9 billion recorded in the third quarter of 1999. In Texas, the figur= e ?dropped from $1.084 billion in the second quarter to $1.013 billion in t= he ?third quarter, but was still more than the $519 million reported for th= e ?third quarter of 1999.??"People have the money to invest but are relucta= nt to be first with a new ?company," said Charles Szalkowski, an attorney w= ith Baker Botts. "There's ?been lots of follow-on money for a company that'= s seen investments in the ?past, but there's not a hurry to be the first wi= th a new, unproven company."??Houston outpaced the $51.4 million raised in = the second quarter of 2000 and ?the $42.9 million reported for the third qu= arter of 1999.??In addition to the record venture capital raised by Questia= , other local ?companies that received money included e-commerce company EC= Outlook ($25.2 ?million), oil-field services firm OneOffshore ($15 million)= , radiology ?network management firm HealthHelp ($3.5 million) and medical = device company ?Interferometrics ($1.5 million).?__________________________= __________________________??Analytical Modeling Software Developer Raises $= 4.2 Million? LONDON (VENTUREWIRE) -- Autonomics, which develops analytical modeling=20 software, raised GBP 3 million ($4.2 million) in its initial funding. The= =20 round was secured from Billam, a publicly traded U.K. venture capital=20 investor recently formed from the shell of an industrial company. Billam sa= id=20 the company will use the funding to take its product to market, ramping up= =20 development and marketing activities. As a result of the investment Billam= =20 will place a representative on the Autonomics board of directors. Telephone= =20 +44-207-702-5544. _______________________________________________ Wireless Firm Blue Wireless Raises $6 Million First Round ?BURLINGAME, Calif. (VENTUREWIRE) -- Blue Wireless, a developer of ?voice-e= nabled applications for wireless services, said it has raised $6 ?million i= n its first round of financing from co-leads Storm Ventures, ?DaimlerChrysl= er Venture, and CMEA Ventures and the rest from Season ?International and u= ndisclosed individuals. Tae Hea Nahm, a general partner at ?Storm Ventures,= and Tom Baruch, a general partner at CMEA Ventures, will join ?the Blue Wi= reless board as its fourth and fifth members. Blue Wireless said ?it will u= se the funds to develop partnerships and to integrate its product ?with mob= ile technology. ?http://www.bluewireless.com?____________________________= ________________??ASP for Legal Service Industry Gets $1.3 Million Seed Fun= ds? SAN FRANCISCO (VENTUREWIRE) -- eJur, which provides Web-based infrastructur= e=20 to law firms, corporate legal departments and government counsel through a= =20 subscription-based application service, announced that it has raised $1.3= =20 million in seed financing from individual investors. The company used the= =20 funds for product development, hiring, and to form strategic relationships.= =20 eJur will begin beta testing by the end of the year. =20 http://www.ejur.com ____________________________________________ Corrent, Semiconductor Developer, Launches With $9.5 Million ?TEMPE, Ariz. (VENTUREWIRE) -- Corrent, which develops semiconductor ?tech= nology, said it launched with a $9.5 million first funding. Battery ?Ventur= es is the sole investor in the company. Corrent is developing network ?secu= rity chips for securing virtual private networks and e-commerce ?transactio= ns at fiber optic speeds over the Internet. The company currently ?employs = 18 and is developing a 12,000 square foot headquarters in Tempe, with ?plan= s to expand to 70 employees over the course of the next year. ?http://www.c= orrent.com??___________________________________________??Israeli Wireless C= ompany WaveIP Gets $5 Million First Round? TEL AVIV, Israel. (VENTUREWIRE) -- WaveIP, an Israeli-based fixed wireless= =20 company that designs, manufactures and markets digital networking=20 transmission products and services, said it has raised $5 million in its=20 first round of funding led by VAL Investments Group, an affiliate of=20 Verticality Investments Group. The company said it will use the funds to gr= ow=20 the company. =20 http://www.verticality.com
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