Links 5/30/2014: Are developers disappointed in Comcast?; New SAP channel chief readying new partner business models

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Comcast-Spectacor combines ticket companies; 15 jobs eliminated (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Why Google, Comcast, and AT&T Are Making Power Utilities Nervous (Business Week)

The epic technological transition that explains this year’s spate of tech mergers (Washington Post: Switch)


Comcast, Blasted By Customers, Disappoints Developers Too (ReadWrite)
Not sure if this is an accurate reflection of everything going on in Comcast's tech
ecosystem. Also, on X1, I think Comcast has been focused to this point on maintaining
the quality of the Cloud environment as it rolls out before opening it. Any comments?

Comcast To Give Video Devices A Shot In The ARM (Multichannel News)


Cloudy glasnost for Microsoft and Salesforce.com, but what must Bernard think? (Diginomica)

SALESFORCE MUSCLES IN ON SAP TERRITORY WITH MICROSOFT PARTNERSHIP (Computer Busines Review)

Event Report: Answers To The Top 12 Questions About SAP Ahead of #SapphireNow #ASUG2014 (R "Ray" Wang/A Software Insider's Point of View)

New SAP Channel Chief Readying New Partner Business Models (CRN)

Alibaba among companies looking to invest in AppNexus -WSJ
(Reuters)
AppNexus is a First Round Capital portfolio company. It is reported to be seeking a valuation in the $1 billion range.



Edison Ventures Exits Contact Center Solutions Leader – Uptivity Acquired by inContact (PR Web)
Edison says exit generates 50% IRR for it.

Maryland poaches another start-up (Washington Post)

Publicis adds to area healthcare communications assets, buying Horsham-based Verilogue

Tom Paine

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Publicis, which already owns a number of heathcare communications assets in the area, today announced it was acquiring Horsham-based Verilogue (pdf), a healthcare analytics firm specializing in analyzing patient-physician communications.

By using technology to (confidentially and with patient approval) track and analyze patient-provider interactions, Verilogue may provide insights that can help improve healthcare communications and training.

Founded in 2006, Verilogue will maintain its current headquarters and 31 employees, the company said. It will continue to be run by co-founder and current CEO Jeff Kozloff.

Lead investor Edison Ventures will exit. Terms were not disclosed.

Publicis Health brands with a presence in the Phildelphia area include Saatchi & Saatchi Health, Publicis Life Brands, Digitas Health, Razorfish Healthware, Publicis Health Media, and Publicis Touchpoint Solutions. Another Publicis company, Princeton-based Rosetta, also has a sizeable healthcare practice.

Daily Links 7/22/2013: Unisys snares $460 million Fed contract for border protection systems; Edison Ventures invests in two firms

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Women in the Workplace: Comcast CFO talks candidly about juggling personal life, work (Glenside News Globe Times Chronicle)

Comcast's X1 availability widens, mass-deployment still planned by year's end (Engadget)

Comcast & TiVo Hit Pause (Zatz Not Funny!)

Sprout Adding 3 New Series (Multichannel News)
Sprout, which is owned by Comcast's NBCU, is based in Fort Washington.

Netflix Q2 results are in: close to 30MM US streaming subscribers, $1B in revenue
(Gigaom)

Netflix Subscriber Growth Falls Short of Projections (Bloomberg)


TV tech: SeventySix sells Omek to Intel; Mass.firm moves to Radnor (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

Unisys scores $460M contract to modernize border protection systems
(Washington Technology)

Edison Ventures Announces Investment in RealMatch (PR Web)
Leads $7 million round with $6 million investment.

Edison Ventures Invests in eSentire Provider of Network Security as a Managed Service (PR Web)
Leads $5.5 million investment in a $7.0 million total financing round in Ontario, Canada based eSentire.

RightCare Solutions, Inc. Reports Positive Topline Results with D2S2 in Reducing All-Cause 30-day Readmissions from Pivotal Study (PR Newswire)

Neat: 2012 revenue over $110 million; 57% growth

Tom Paine

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Philadelphia-based Neat (FKA NeatReceipts), a pioneer in providing tools for scanning and digitizing paper-based information such as business cards and expense receipts, crossed the $100 million revenue threshold for the first time in 2012, according to a press release from the company today.

Neat said its revenue surpassed $110 million in 2012, growing 57% over the prior year. The company said it also achieved its third consecutive year of profitability, and grew its customer base by 30% to 1.3 million.

Neat introduced its NeatCloud and NeatMobile services in the third quarter of 2012, and while the company said that 70% of those who signed up for a free 30 day trial subscription became paid subscribers, it doesn't indicate how many customers that involves or how much revenue they generated. Among other benefits, Neat's new offerings enable greater integration of paper-based and digital-based information sources.

Neat also opened a new call center facility in Center City Philadelphia, and said it added new retail distribution partners and strengthened its relationship with other existing retailers.

Neat is expected to make some announcements from CES '13 in Vegas this week. I plan to follow up with more details.

Neat's principal investors have been Ben Franklin Technology Partners SEP, MentorTech Ventures and Edison Ventures. Its CEO is Jim Foster.



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Deal of the day: Billtrust (Hamilton NJ) raises $25 million from Bain Capital Ventures

Tom Paine
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Billtrust, a Hamilton, NJ-based provider of SaaS outsourced billing services, announced this morning that it had received a $25 million investment from Bain Capital Ventures. This brings the total investment in Billtust to $30 million; Edison Ventures had led a previous round. Matt Harris, managing partner of Bain Capital Ventures, will join Billtrust’s board of directors. Billtrust says its revenue grew ten fold over a five year period.

Billtrust says the capital will be used for strategic acquisitions. It provides electronic billing services for both consumers and businesses, but in the press release Bain Capital Ventures' Harris emphasized that "Billtrust is the first company we have seen that is so well positioned to dominate the enterprise market."

Founded 11 years ago, Billtrust is led by CEO Flint Lane. Hamilton is located outside
of Trenton.

Billtrust Press Release (pdf)



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Breaking down some numbers in the Accenture/Octagon Research deal

Tom Paine


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I reported on the closing of Accenture's acquisition of Wayne-based Octagon Research Solutions, which Accenture announced on September 26, and Accenture's post-acquisition plans for Octagon. Accenture did not disclose the purchase price, and since
the deal is likely immaterial relative to Accenture's overall size it probably won't have to disclose it in regulatory filings.

Lawrenceville, NJ-based Edison Ventures, a key investor in Octagon, subsequently issued a press release stating that it had received a 6X return from its investment in Octagon. I thought I'd try to put together all the numbers I could find related to investments in Octagon, although I can't promise this is a complete picture:

February 2003: $3.8 million from Edison and Milestone Venture Partners.

March 2005: $3.5 million Series B preferred equity; three investors, of whom Edison was presumably one.

August 2006: $10 million, of which $2 million was from Edison, bringing its total investment to date in Octagon to $8.4 million. The other investors in this round were Phoenix Life Insurance, Zurich Financial, and Ticonderoga Capital.

September 2008: $12 million, with $10 million coming from Ticonderoga and the other $2 million coming from Edison, bringing its total investment to $10.4 million.

That's the last record I can find of any financing. When Octagon anounced last year it would increase staffing by 100, I presumed it might need some type of bridge financing, but apparently it didn't.

In terms of revenue, Octagon reported revenue to Inc. Magazine for the 2010 Inc.5000 of $37.5 million in 2009. One article cited 2010 growth of 20%. And Octagon said its revenue through the third quarter of 2011 was up 20% for the year. And presumably the staffing ramp up beginning in the middle of last year was in anticipation of increasing revenue streams. So I think it safe to assume Octagon's current run rate is well in excess of $50 million. No word on profitability, but if Octagon has indeed gone since 2008 without significant additional equity financing (although you can't rule out the possibility of some debt financing) it is probably not doing too badly on that score.

If Edison's total investment in Octagon was just over $10 million as last reports indicate, then it probably will receive proceeds in the $60 million range. Although Ticonderoga's total investment of $10 million plus is slightly larger, its return should be lower because it got in later.

The closest comparable deal for which pricing information is publicly available is Oracle's acquisition of Phase Foward, a company with a somewhat similar range of services for clinical trials, in 2010. Oracle paid $685 million, or more than 3 times Phase Forward's trailing revenue, and the company was marginally profitable.

My guess is Accenture paid at least $150 million, perhaps somewhat more, for Octagon.



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Accenture acquires Wayne-based Octagon Research Solutions

Tom Paine

Accenture today announced the acquisition of Octagon Research Solutions, a provider of clinical data services and regulatory submission services headquartered in Wayne.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Accenture's press release says Octagon has a staff of 380, and that the company is the fifth largest user of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) electronic submission gateway. Octagon will be fully integrated into Accenture's Life Sciences industry group, Accenture says. The impetus for the acquisition appears to be the use of Octagon's technology and professional expertise to help Accenture clients speed up the regulatory approval process for new drugs.

Octagon Research Solutions was founded in 1999 by CEO James Walker, Neal Walker, M.D., and President Kirk Gallion. Investors have included Edison Ventures, Phoenix Life Insurance Co. of East Greenbush, N.Y., Ticonderoga Capital of Wellesley, Mass., Zurich Financial and Milestone Venture Partners.

Octagon Research has been the #1 ranked company on Philly Tech News' "Young Companies to Watch" list, based on a rough estimation of potential market value.

Update: I've been able to identify $19.3 million in VC funds that went into Octagon Research, the majority probably from Edison Ventures. I do not know whether this was the total sum invested in Octagon.



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The Neat Company introduces its first Cloud, Mobile offerings

Tom Paine

Philadelphia-based The Neat Company, the pioneer in providing technology for scanning and digitizing information from paper sources such as receipts and business cards, today announced the general availability of NeatCloud and NeatMobile, two products that could potentially be transformative for its business, said Neat Company Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Garton in an interview with Philly Tech News. The products had been previewed in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and have been in private beta since.

NeatCloud will be priced at three tiers between $5.99 and $24.99 per month depending upon the number of users. It is intended to be a cloud-based digital filing system not only for data that originates from paper sources but also for other data that comes directly from digital sources. It will run off the Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 platform.

NeatMobile, which will initially be available for iOS only (an Android version is scheduled for August, the company says), will enable users to take photos of paper documents with the cameras in their mobile devices, from which the content can then be converted into digitized information fields using optical character recognition (OCR). It is available for download from the Apple App Store and is available free of charge to those subscribing to the two highest tiers of the NeatCloud service.







Among the features of its Digital Filing System Neat emphasizes are its abilities to sync Neat data across all devices, to share files or folders with whomever one chooses, to create Neat email addresses through NeatCloud and request vendors or others send receipts or documents directly into your Neat Digital Filing System, and secure backup.

Another feature of NeatCloud is its expanded search capability, through which Neat users can now find information they may have stored in multiple cloud services including Google Docs, Dropbox and Evernote. Users can search across their different cloud services from a single Neat interface.

Neat is also introducing NeatVerify, a subscription service somewhat like that provided by LinkedIn's CardMunch. Blurry or faded images that can't be deduced through OCR receive human verification if necessary.

These new offerings by no means replace Neat's existing NeatDesk and NeatReciepts scanner products, although I could see the possibility of that eventually largely being the case. NeatDesk retails for about $400, NeatReciepts for about $200. The company says it has sold about 1 million of the two devices combined. The aspect that would be difficult to replace would be NeatDesk's capability for scanning a large volume of documents. But for many smaller customers, NeatCloud and NeatMobile could provide the complete solution. Overall, the new offerings should make Neat more hardware independent and more retail channel independent in the long run, and give it greater potential for broadening its customer base.

Garton said while there are other larger players in the Cloud document repository and backup market, Neat planned to focus primarily on the applications it (and its software) know best: receipts and business card information. However, moving into the Cloud should give Neat considerably more ability to integrate that information with other sources and collaboration tools. Garton also said Neat would continue to concentrate on the Soho (small office, home office) market.

After hitting a brief trough in 2009 following several years of rapid growth, The Neat Company's 2010 revenue was $33.3 million, according to its listing in the 2011 Inc. 5000. An article in the Philadelphia Business Journal in late 2011, citing CEO Jim Foster, said 2011 sales were expected to reach $65 million with additional growth of 40% anticipated in 2012. However, the turn towards mobile apps for handling the types of things Neat Company does in turning paper input into digital information has been dramatic in recent years, presumably necessitating Neat's response with the new offerings.

Edison Ventures has been the primary investor in The Neat Company, along with MentorTech Ventures.


Neat press release



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Daily Links 6/8/2012: Comcast CFO tries to debunk NY Times story that its looking at BSkyB

Comcast Is Said to Be Mulling Bid for BSkyB (New York Times: MediaDecoder)
Michael J. Angelakis, Comcast’s vice chairman and chief financial office, commented: "This is complete rubbish". Based on what I'm reading, I don't think I would have run with this story so strongly, or at least headlined it that way. But, hey, I'm sure it will drive some hits on a slow Friday afternoon.

Has Oracle's Ellison finally stepped over the line? (Dennis Howlett/ZDNet Blogs)

Business Software IPOs Look to Reverse Market Woes (Reuters via PE Hub)

Continue Reading

Highlights: Last week on Philly Tech News (2/27/2012 to 3/4/2012)

I profiled the objectives, agenda and participants for the upcoming Phorum 2012 Cloud Computing Conference to be held on March 28 at World Cafe Live.

King of Prussia-based BuySide Partners (formerly A-Frame Technology Assurance) separated from A-Frame Technology Services to focus primarily on its opportunities in helping the Department of Defense improve the efficiency of its massive IT operations. I discussed BuySide Partners' plans with Managing Partner Chris Panaro.

New Jersey Tech Weekly's Esther Surden contributed an article to Philly Tech News about TechLaunch, New Jersey's first tech accelerator.

Lawrenceville, NJ-based Edison Ventures' newest fund, Edison VII, closed with $249 million raised, and as usual it hopes to invest a good portion of that in the Philly area, the Inquirer's Mike Armstrong reported.

Online advertising platform OpenX (a First Round Capital portfolio company) acquired King of Prussia-based startup LiftDNA; there is some talk that Pasadena, CA-based OpenX might be thinking about an IPO.

Philly's 3D printing and prototyping lab NextFab Studio, headed by Evan Malone, is planning a second, much larger facility on Washington Ave. in South Philadelphia, the Inquirer's Joe DiStefano reported.

A Politico reporter at a media event ran into Ed Rendell, and asked about the status of his bid for Philadelphia Media Network. He is reported to have replied that "the bids went in today" (this past Friday). Whether that quote is completely accurate or that it means there are multiple bidders is not entirely clear. As you may know, impromptu Rendell quotes may sometimes later be disavowed.



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Daily Links 3/6/2012: SAP rolling out multitenant version of Business One; also targets collaboration software

PhillyInc: New Edison Ventures fund to invest in Philadelphia-area tech firms (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Servigistics Merges with Philly-based software firm MCA Solutions (PE Hub)

SAP rolling out cloud-savvy version of Business One
Partners will now be able to sell a multitenant version of the ERP (enterprise resource planning) software for small companies (IT World)

SAP's Snabe: Next Target, Collaboration Software (Eric Savitz/Forbes)
Start up the rumor mill again about whether SAP will make an acquisition in this area.

Interview with SAP co-CEO Snabe at CeBIT (Reuters Video)

SAP Offers Share-Based Pay to All Staff as Stock Nears Highest in 11 Years (Bloomberg)

FCC Seeks Cell Phone-Jammer Input
(Yidio)

AppMobi Accelerates Android HTML5 Performance With new directCanvas SDK (Read Write Web)

Temple University Establishes a Presence at the University City Science Center (Globe Newswire)

Verizon challenges cable MSOs, AT&T with HomeFusion wireless broadband service (FierceCable)

AT&T May Sell Off Many DSL Markets
Upgrades Schmupgrades (Broadband Reports)

Rivals Try to Freeze Verizon-MSO Spectrum Buy (Light Reading Cable)

Exclusive: Netflix in talks for cable partnership (Reuters)

Daily Links 3/2/2012: Report: Rendell says PMN bid is in

It’s baaaack. Net neutrality to get its day in court (Gigaom)

Ed Rendell: Philly Inquirer bid in today (Politico)
Although you must remember, Rendell is sometimes quoted as saying things he really didn't intend to say.

NextFab plans larger studio, cafe on Washington Ave. (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

East Coast venture capital firm sets sights on SaaS investments (Med City News)
On Edison Ventures.

Pa. Insurance Dept. gets $33M for health insurance exchange (Central Penn Business Journal)

MetaLayer launches community to make better infographics (exclusive) (VentureBeat)
metaLayer, currently based in DC, was in last Fall's DreamIt Ventures class in Philadelphia. It will participate in the Demo Pit at the Phorum 2012 Cloud Computing Conference in Philly on March 28.

Broadcasters don't like "tiny antennas," sue TV streaming startup (Ars Technica)
First Round Capital was an early backer of Aereo.




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Daily Links 2/28/2012: Edison Ventures raises $249 million for new fund

OpenX Acquires SSP LiftDNA, Pulls Demand Channels Into One Place (Adotas)

OpenX opens kimono to reveal financials – prepwork for an IPO? (Reuters Blogs)

Edison VII Raises $249 Million (PR Web)

Safeguard Scientifics Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2011 Financial Results (Business Wire)

Cisco wants to light up data centers
Cisco buys Lightwire to create high-speed, high-volume switches that are priced for data centers. (IT World)

SunGard: Cloud Concepts Are ‘In Our DNA’ (Data Center Knowledge)


Baltimore's top IT official resigns after alleged ethical violations emerge in N.Y.
Public official sought job for himself, girlfriend with software vendor after contract award, N.Y. audit says (Baltimore Sun)

Malone’s Transparency Reversal (Wall Street Journal: Overheard)

MediaMorph Raises $8 Million From Motorola Mobility, Smedvig Capital
Startup Provides Cross-Platform Audience Measurement and Analytics (Multichannel News)

Comcast’s Xfinity Home and EcoFactor Announce Agreement to Deliver Cloud-Based Energy Management Solution to Residential Customers (Business Wire)

Comcast Files First NBCU Condition Compliance Report
Says conditions have become part of company's DNA, and that it has overdelivered on some promises (Broadcasting & Cable)
"Company's DNA" rapidly becoming one of the most overused buzzwords.

Angelakis: No Usage-Based Pricing For Now
Comcast CFO Says Cable Giant Won't Rock The HSD Boat (Multichannel News)

Cablevision Declines After Forecasting Lower Free Cash Flow in 2012 (Bloomberg)

Cable Operator Knology Explores Potential Sale (Wall Street Journal: Deal Journal)

Epicor suit claims company is providing third-party support illegally (IDG News Service)
TomorrowNow-like suit.

ICON Acquires PriceSpective (Applied Clinical Trials)

EResearch 4Q profit rises and stock advances (AP via CBS News)



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Daily Links 2/1/2012: Senate to hold hearing on Verizon Wireless/Cable deal

Facebook Files for an I.P.O. (New York Times: DealBook)

Verizon’s wireless, marketing deal with cable firms to be considered at Senate hearing (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Comcast offers discount on Verizon Wireless service (San Jose Mercury News)

Comcast Takes Home Security To Mile-High City
'Xfinity Home' Service Provides 24-Hour Monitoring, Home Automation Features (Multichannel News)
Already available in Philly market. Anybody out there using it?

Comcast Signs Multiyear Extension With Amdocs
Vendor Also Cites Strong Performance in Europe, Emerging Markets (Multichannel News)

Unisys stock drops on decrease in quarterly profit, revenue (Philadelphia Business Journal)

SaaS valuations come back to earth — sorta (Gigaom)


D.C.’S IT ECONOMY: READYING FOR THE SEISMIC SHIFT (Edison Ventures Blog)

Quantum Leap’s tweet counter picks up more buzz (DelawareOnline: Delaware Inc.)

Infographic: Mobile ads show staggering growth, clicks up 711 percent (Gigaom)



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Daily Links 1/27/2012: Datatel says 'fewer than 40' cuts after SunGard HE deal closes

Datatel cuts 'fewer than 40' after deal with SunGard Higher Ed closes (Washington Business Journal)

Motorola Mobility's Cable Sales Fall 11% In Q4
Set-Top Shipments Down 3% in Fourth Quarter But Up 6% for Full-Year 2011 (Multichannel News)

Like Sports On Cable? Pay Up. Don’t Like Sports On Cable? Pay Up, Anyway (Peter Kafka/All Things D)

Comcast's Split-Personality Problem (Jonathan Takiff/Philadelphia Daily News)

SAP Takes On Oracle Database, Salesforce Cloud
(Information Week)

SAP Extends Offer For SuccessFactors While Government Entity Investigates (CRN)

Ametek Q4 beats Street, sees strong 2012 (Reuters)
Also acquires O'Brien for about $175 million from Industrial Growth Partners.


Investors bet $16 million on growth in application delivery market (Computerworld)
On Kemp Technologies, New York-based firm in which Edison Ventures just led $16 million round.

The Neat Company Is Putting Paperless in the Cloud [Macworld / iWorld 2012] (Cult of Mac)
Neat's soon to be launched Cloud services may open new opportunities for it.

More Venture Capital Dollars Flow To Health IT (Information Week)

FiOS Being Installed in East Mt. Airy (Mt. Airy Patch)


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Daily Links 8/2/2011: Comcast's diversity progress questioned

Apply to Open Angel Forum Philly II (Gabriel Weinberg's Blog)

Web 1.0 Winners Aim For Lucky Strike #2 With Internet of Things Startup, ThingWorx (Read Write Web)
ThingWorx is based in Exton.

Kenexa Announces Financial Results for Second Quarter 2011 (Business Wire)

SevOne Continues Strong Growth and Expands Product, Partnerships and Leadership Team (Marketwire)

Earnings Preview: Comcast to report 2Q earnings tomorrow (AP via Bloomberg Business Week)

Comcast-NBCU Under Fire for Not Moving Fast Enough on Diversity
(The Wrap)

NBC's Robert Greenblatt: 'It's My Schedule for Better or Worse' (Hollywood Reporter)

Does Cable Have a Wireless Plan B? (Light Reading Cable)

FiOS dominates as FCC measures actual Internet speeds (Ars Technica)

Edison Ventures Completes 16th IPO with Tangoe (Nasdaq: TNGO)
6X Return Reinforces Edison’s SaaS Leadership (PR Web)

VectorLearning Completes $24 Million Investment from LLR Partners to Support Continued Growth & Acquisitions
Leading online education provider VectorLearning has received funding from private equity firm LLR Partners. (PR Web)

Turntable.fm closing $7.5M round led by Union Square Ventures (VentureBeat)
First Round Capital was an early backer.

Vishay Reports Results for Second Quarter 2011 (Business Wire)

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2011 Results (Business Wire)

Donald Farmer’s Take on Business Discovery (The QlikView Blog)

RES Software Achieves 185 Percent Growth in Target Markets and Accelerates Expansion within Key Geographies
50 Percent Overall Year-Over-Year Growth and Record First-Half Bookings Realized, RES Poised for Aggressive Second-Half Growth (Business Wire)

Christie: Technology investments a priority in NJ
(AP via NJ.com)



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Guggenheim Venture Partners is now Alara Capital, and other Philly area VC news

Guggenheim Venture Partners, based in King of Prussia and Austin, is now Alara Capital, the firm has announced, and is no longer affiliated with Guggenheim Partners, LLC. Guggenheim Venture Partners managing directors Mike Burns and Eric Rothfus will lead Alara's operations.

Alara said it will continue its strategy of investing in undercapitalized technology companies with practices in distressed venture capital, early stage ventures and technology spin-outs, and will expand that focus into growth equity and active value investing with future private equity funds. Alara will manage Guggenheim Technology Ventures I, a fund begun in 2008 with a total today of $65 million in capital and stakes in nine technology companies. It is also raising money for a new fund; Pensions & Investments reported in March that PennSERS (Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System) had committted up to $10 million to Guggenheim Technology Ventures II.

GVP's portfolio has included Bethlehem-based Ciclon, which was spun off out of Agere Systems and acquired by Texas Instruments in 2009; it also includes social commerce platforms provider GreenLink of Wayne.

Mike Burns was a co-founder of Traffic.com and and was with Agere Systems and TL Ventures; Eric Rothfus was CEO of Agere and was also with TL Ventures.

The State of Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority (BFTDA) has approved a $30.6 million investment to support the four regionally based Ben Franklin Technology Partners, it was
announced on Friday. Of that amount, $16.6 million will focus the on development of alternate energy start-ups and new product innovations. It appears that the apples to apples comparison for the regional funding (excluding the alternative energy part) is $3.5 million next year vs. $4 million the past two years and $6.9 million per year before that.

DreamIt Ventures is currently working to finalize its selections (15 including 5 in the Comcast Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program) for its Fall 2011 Philadelphia class. Kickoff Weekend will held on September 9-10.

CloudBees, a Boston-based startup providing a Cloud Platform as a Service for Java Web Apps, raised $10.5 million in Series B funding, bringing its total investment to $14.5 million. Philly area entrepreneur (Bluestone, JBoss) and angel Bob Bickel was an early investor in CloudBees and is a board member.

John Martinson, founder and Managing Partner of Lawrencevile-based Edison Ventures, and his wife Eileen Martinson, are bringing minor league hockey back to Trenton after the recent demise of the Trenton Devils. The new team will have the name of Trenton's old hockey team, the Titans, and will be affiliated with the Flyers. Eileen Martinson is the CEO of Sparta Systems, a Holmdel-based software company. The investment is a personal one, not related to the venture firm.

Edison Ventures announced today that it is investing $5 million in Salsa Labs, a DC-based fundraising software firm.

Cross Atlantic Capital Partners of Radnor has participated in a in $12 million Series E Funding in Interactions Corporation, a Massachusetts-based provider of interactive voice response (IVR) systems for customer care. Cross Atlantic led Interactions' Series C Round last year.



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Daily Links 12/9/2010: Edison Ventures increasing New England presence

SERS to cut private funds, buy stocks and bonds (Philly.com: Philly Deals)
Could have an impact upon some area PE and VC firms.

Edison Ventures growing Boston investment deals (Mass High Tech)

The Real Mobile News from the SAP Influencer Summit (ZDNet Blogs)

SAP Cloud Platform, App Store Set For 2011
(Information Week)

What’s Next for NBC’s Jeff Zucker? Maybe Private Equity (Wall Street Journal: Deal Journal)

Kerry Asks Copps, Clyburn To Back Net Neutrality Compromise
The chairman of the Senate Communications Subcommittee says item may not be perfect but is good enough (Multichannel News)

InterComponentWare Enterprise Master Patient Index Achieves First Milestone at New York State HIE (PR Newswire)

Air Products Makes Best and Final Offer for Airgas; Increases All-Cash Offer to $70 Per Share (PR Newswire)

Tyco Electronics Completes Acquisition of ADC (PR Newswire)

Larry Ellison Vows To 'Go After' HP; Is Alliance Dead? (Information Week: Global CIO)

Wolters Kluwer Health Announces the Acquisition of iCare Educational Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Software (PR Newswire)

AdMob Founder Omar Hamoui Is Already Working On A Secret New Project (Silicon Alley Insider)
Hamoui founded AdMob while at Wharton.




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Daily Links 6/22/2010: IBM will ‘vigorously’ fight $100M alleged racketeering suit from Devon IT

Is Malone Planning to Go Shopping? (New York Times: DealBook)
Renewed speculation about QVC ( through Liberty Interactive) buying out HSN.

IBM will ‘vigorously’ fight $100M alleged racketeering suit from IT partner (Local Tech Wire)

The Neat Company Raises $2.75 Million (PE Hub)
Edison Ventures' total investment in Neat now $15.5 million.

Verizon Canceling Wholesale FiOS?
DSLExtreme tried, failed to renegotiate new contract (Broadband Reports)

Global CIO: An Open Letter To Apple CEO Steve Jobs
(Information Week)

Newspapers' owners choose Philadelphia Media Network Inc. as company's new name (Philadelphia Daily News)

Study: Pennsylvania slow in Internet speed (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)


NBC's John Miller To Concentrate On Comcast/NBCU Integration
Veteram CMO Will Hand Off Marketing Duties For TV Group To Adam Stotsky (Multichannel News)

EarthLink opposes Comcast acquisition of NBC (Associated Press via Forbes)
Earthlink left Philly high and dry, as I recall.

Clearwire Raises $290M in Rights Offering (PC World)

Fiberlink Communications rolls out cloud-based patch-management service (ZDNet Blogs)
Fiberlink is based in Blue Bell.

After Four Months In Private Beta, Salesforce Chatter Finally Arrives As A Public Conversation (TechCrunchIT)

Enterprise-Software Makers Taking Cues From Facebook, Twitter (Dow
Jones Newswires via NASDAQ.com)

Dow Electronic Materials to Expand TMG Capacity to Serve LED Market (Business Wire)




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