Mark Hurd in Discussions to Join Oracle as a `Top Executive,' WSJ Reports (Bloomberg)

Virtual Public Art Comes to Philadelphia (Arts, Culture and Creative Economy)

The Struggle for What We Already Have (New York Times)
On Net neutrality.

VC Profile: Radnor's Cross Atlantic Capital Partners

Cross Atlantic Capital Partners has been a relatively quiet venture capital firm compared to some others located in the Philadelphia area. But the Radnor-based firm (also known for short as XACP), with more than $500 million in assets under management, has had its share of major success stories.

Cross Atlantic truly spans the Atlantic, with offices in Ireland and Scotland, and portfolio companies based over there as well. A significant portion of its capital base comes from two co-investment funds it manages for the the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS). It focuses on the commercialization of patented or specialty know-how in early to mid-stage technology companies. The firm was founded by Chairman and CEO Donald Caldwell, who had previously served as President & COO of Safeguard Scientifics. It raised its first fund in 1999.

Significant exits have included leading software as a service (SaaS) provider Netsuite (IPO), Rubicon Technology, which manufactures materials for light-emitting diodes (IPO), Kanbay International, a technology consulting firm (sold to Capgemini), and Ecount, a provider of internet-based payment systems(sold to Citi). It also recently sold a small stake in ICG Commerce of King of Prussia, a once struggling but now successful procurement outsourcing provider, back to its founder Internet Capital Group.

Cross Atlantic recently lead a $6.1 million Series B funding round in King of Prussia's Health Market Science (HMS), which provides an extensive database on healthcare providers. Cross Atlantic invested $4 million, and was joined by return investor Edison Venture Fund of Lawrenceville, New Jersey and other institutional investors. This was XACP's first investment in HMS; Edison has invested a cumulative total of $18.5 million in the company. XACP Managing Director Richard Fox joined the HMS Board of Directors.


Although HMS has traditionally focused on serving the marketing function in the healthcare industry, Cross Atlantic sees opportunities for significant growth due to changes in the healthcare regulatory environment, the Healthcare Reform Act and the HITECH Act. One example is real-time prescriber eligibility validation services, which helps prescibers meet federal, state, Medicaid and scope of practice eligibility attributes. A major area of potential growth is Master Data Management, in which HMS uses proprietary tools to help match and integrate various sources of data for the customer, and maintain the database on an ongoing basis, either on the customers's premise or via a cloud-type service.

Health Market Science reported revenue of $22.1 million in 2009, compared with $28.7 million in 2008,according to Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 issue. (These figures are presumably correct as they are self-reported by the company.) This followed several prior years of strong growth. In a telephone interview, Fox declined to discuss HMS' current financial position except to say that they expected growth of 15 to 20% this year (and have recently posted several open positions).

Another recent XACP investment that Fox is enthusiastic about is Interactions Corporation, a Massachusetts-based provider of interactive voice response (IVR) systems for call center management.

Other Philly-area companies in the XACP portfolio include Voxware, a Hamilton, New Jersey provider of voice-directed systems for warehouse picking applications, and NTERA, a Radnor-based producer of printable electrochromic materials for display and color-changing applications used in Smart Cards, Smart Packaging, and Smart Objects. MobileAware, which is based in Ireland, has its US offices in South Jersey.

Another interesting fact about XACP is that it has an outstanding patent lawsuit against Facebook. The suit, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners Inc. v. Facebook Inc, was filed in 2007 on the basis of a patent XACP owns via a former startup entitled "System for creating a community for users with common interests to interact in" that was filed and issued before Facebook was launched. In September 2009, the Patent & Trademark Office examiners issued a decision that reaffirmed the validity of XACP's patent; Facebook is currently challenging that decision before the Patent Office Board of Patent Appeals (though even if Cross Atlantic's patent claim is upheld, the process will be far from over).




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SAP Sees `Limitless' Potential in `Second Home' China (Bloomberg)

Liberty Media Corporation Announces the Refinancing of QVC Bank Credit Facilities (PR Newswire)

For Comcast-NBCU, Charity Begins at the FCC (The Wrap)

Disney, Time Warner Cable strike new deal (LA Times: Company Town)

Comcast Teams Up With Novatel, Sells High-Speed 2go (CrunchGear)

Comcast upgrade erases DVR programming
Up to 10 percent of Comcast's York-area digital cable customers might have been affected, a company spokesman said. (York Daily Record)

NJ Transit seeks to add WiFi on rail lines (Philadelphia Inquirer)

SCVNGR to launch rewards program for Philly September 14

SCVNGR, the Cambridge, Massachusets-based startup that originated as a project at Princeton and went through the first DreamIt Ventures program in 2008, will launch its SCVNGR Rewards program for Philadelphia on September 14 at Social Media Day Philadelphia, according to the event's website.

SCVNGR Rewards, which was just rolled out in Boston this past Tuesday, enables local businesses advertising with SCVNGR to offer freebies or discounts to people who have earned points using SCVNGR's mobile apps.

SCVNGR is backed by Google Ventures, among others, and reportedly employs more than 60 people.

Daily Links 9/2/2010: King of Prussia's GreenLink Launches Local Group Buying Product for Television

GSI to shed sporting goods inventory in a deal with Sports Authority
GSI will sell most of its remaining sporting goods inventory to Sports Authority. (Internet Retailer)

GreenLink Launches Local Group Buying Product for Television (Business Wire)

Five predictions to watch when a new Comcast/NBC emerges (Sports Business Journal)

Is Charles Phillips Leaving Oracle? (IDG via New York Times)

SAP's Sybase deal requires customers to update their mobile CRM strategy (SearchCRM.com)

New, Interactive Website CommonSpace Launched to Connect Philadelphia Friends to Social Fun, Seeks Consumer Input (PR Newswire)

University of Pennsylvania Awarded $7.5 Million From NSF to Contribute "Nebula" to Next Internet Architecture (Media Newswire)

FCC net neutrality proposal delayed (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Verizon officially announces prepaid smartphone data packages (Engadget)

Thomson Reuters buys health care data company (AP via Business Week)
Acquires Healthcare Data Management Inc. of King of Prussia.

How to Solve the TV Guide Problem (Media Experiences 2 Go: Motorola Home Blog)




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Daily Links 9/1/2010: Sprint ponders possible T-Mobile investment in Clearwire

Kenexa To Acquire Salary.com In $80 Million Deal (TechCrunch)

Three Things Investors May or May Not Like About Kenexa Buying Salary.com (Seeking Alpha)

Philly union says Tierney-could-return rumor is false (Poynter Online: Romenesko)

Startup Incubator TechStars Invades New York City (TechCrunch)

Report: Apple TV to launch with Netflix (CNET News)

Tiny New Apple TV Costs $99, 99-Cent TV Rentals Confirmed (GigaOM)

Sprint debates rival Clearwire investor: report (Reuters)

Clearwire, Sprint, Comcast break Boston's 4G floodgate (Mass High Tech)

Comcast Takes 100-Meg Internet Down Jersey Shore
Business Service Based on DOCSIS 3.0 Priced at $369.95 Per Month (Multichannel News)
Great for surfing.

FCC Asks for More Feedback on Net Neutrality
(IDG via New York Times)


Complex SAP project expected to succeed
Airgas expects many millions in annual benefits, in contrast to recent SAP failures in Marin County and elsewhere (Network World)

Viridity Energy and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Awarded $900,000 from the State of Pennsylvania for Innovative Project to Recycle Energy Produced by Electric Public Transit (Business Wire)

A Smart House at Drexel University in Philadelphia Is a Living Laboratory of Sustainability (Forbes: The CSR Blog)

Motorola Unit to Be Spun Off With $3.5 Billion (Bloomberg)

Healthfirst to Use Portico Systems Solutions to Transform Contracting Process (Insurance & Technology)




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Daily Links 8/31/2010: GSI Commerce's Rue La La growing rapidly

Pressmen reject Philadelphia newspapers' contract offer (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Rue La La fashions a niche in tough online sales market (Boston Globe)
GSI Commerce acquisition reportedly doing well in hot market.

Industry Minds Appear To Be Meeting Over Net Neutrality
Parties face Sept. 2 deadline for FCC meeting agenda (Broadcasting & Cable)

FCC Releases Details From Comcast, NBCU Meeting (National Journal: Tech Daily Dose)
Not much.

Alabama county mulling whether to keep, jettison SAP (Reuters via IDG)

Airgas Provides Update on Value of Highly-Customized SAP Implementation (PR Newswire)

Alteva Announces Cuthbert New CEO
New Successor Comes at a Time of Tremendous Growth (Marketwire)

Aria Systems and VMware Collaborate to Redefine Cloud Services Monetization (Marketwire)

Verizon, VMware Create Cloud Services (Light Reading)

Motorola Upgrades Software To Manage 'Multiscreen' Home
EDGE Software Suite Includes Renamed NBBS Platform (Multichannel News)




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Daily Links 8/30/2010: The World of Comcast

Online video key to Disney, Time Warner Cable row (Reuters)

Google in talks with major studios to rent movies via YouTube (Ars Technica)

The Full-On Assault On Cable Is Underway (TechCrunch)

DOJ Investigating Internet Video Antitrust Issues
Above and beyond Comcast/NBC impact on Hulu (Broadband Reports)

Cable Bills Rise as Economy Forces People to Stay on the Couch
(Bloomberg)


Comcast pushes for business services (Denver Business Journal)

Clearwire Launches Rover Prepaid Brand (PC World)
Clearwire Press Release

UnitedHealth Races McKesson in $11 Billion Tech Hunt (Bloomberg Business Week)
Mentions Portico Systems of Blue Bell as a potential acquisition target.

Interview with Gabriel Weinberg (This Week in Startups)

Interview with Philly-area resident Gabriel Weinberg, founder of search engine Duck Duck Go.

First Look: eLocity’s Android Tablet Makes Great Media Player (Wired: Gadget Lab)


EM Photonics and University of Delaware Team Up To Develop Advanced Algorithms on Multi-GPU Cluster for Air Force (PR Web)

Two Iconic Philly Images

My brother Rob recently was visiting Philadelphia and took this cool photo of the new Apple Store with Two Liberty Place (I believe that's Two Liberty; I sometimes get them mixed up) in the background:

(Photo by Rob Paine)

Philly Tech People News: 8/29/2010

QVC appoints a vice president for e-commerce and e-marketing
Alex Miller joined the retailer in 2001. (Internet Retailer)

iMANY Names Vice President of Global Sales
Jerry Schorn Hired to Lead Sales Organization (Marketwire)

Innovative Solutions & Support appoints Ronald Albrecht as CFO (Business Wire)

Growing Energy Efficiency Firm Expands Market With Philadelphia Office
Performance Systems Development welcomes a new member to its executive team – Pauline Warren, Vice President of Enterprise Sales. (I-Newswire)