NMSS - Investments

NMCCap funds ABQ Natural Plaster Firm

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:11:23 -0600

New Mexico Community Capital completed a $500K investment round in American Clay, and ABQ-based manufacturer of natural clay plaster products for home and business interiors. The plasters contain no volatile organic compounds and are counted toward green building certifications.

Albuquerque Journal, May 12, 2008

Angels and Academics

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:18:00 -0600

The NM Angels and UNM's Science and Technology Corp. have struck a unique partnership to pair academic inventors with business-savvy investors at the earliest stages of development, easing the transition from lab to market. By getting Angels involved from the start, they can help inventors identify target markets and mentor them about business plans, prior to raising private equity. Many participating Angels will most likely want to invest their own money and form a startup as their own company, as many academic inventors prefer to become a chief scientific officer or consultant, but not have the lead role. Partnerships can help keep more technology startups from leaving the state, because local investors would be involved from the get-go and can help anchor the companies here. If successful, the university-Angel partnership could pave the way for similar strategies elsewhere as a new model for technology transfer.

New Mexico Business Weekly, March 28, 2008

Tred Gets First Major Investment Round

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:41:22 -0600

Tred Displays, with its low-cost sign technology, has received its first major investment round. The unspecified, under-$1M investment came from Flywheel Ventures and Japanese trading firm Sojitz-Pla-Net. Tred will use the investment to seek their first customers, trying to generate a new market in the signage industry. They aim to replace signs that use hand-changed numbers, such as the gas station price board; and LED displays, the higher cost substitute to their technology. Their display involves about 25% the costs of LED displays. Their first targeted customers will be small sign shops, and retailers with frequently changing prices, such as convenience stores.

Albuquerque Journal, March 24, 2008

Venture Capital Remains Robust Despite Economic Downturn

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:51:01 -0600

The US economic slump creates challenges for NM startup firms, but venture capital investment in local companies is unlikely to slow anytime soon. Following a record year for VC deals in NM, 2008 is already off to a good start, with a number of transactions that just closed or are about to close. NM is now the fastest-growing region for VC nationwide, with their share of investment growing 375% between 1997 and 2007. Sun Mountain Capital, which runs the State Investment Council's $90M Co-Investment Fund, participated in the biggest deal of the year so far, contributing up to 10% of a $20M investment in Los Alamos Renewable Energy LLC. Other companies that have received funding so far include:

Lumidigm Inc. - $7M Series C round of funding for light-based fingerprint scanners
Tred Displays - $750K from Flywheel Ventures for digital sign technology
Hyperion Power Generation - undisclosed amount from Altira Group LLC for the world's first portable nuclear generator

NM is well positioned to attract a steady flow of investment because promising clean energy and life science technologies, which attract unprecedented interest from venture firms, continue to emerge from the national laboratories and local universities. As venture investments increase, the pool of skilled managers and professionals available to NM startups has grown, making the local investment climate even more attractive to VC firms. Some tips for firms looking for follow-on investments include:

Hitting goals and targets in business plans
Strengthening performance in sales, marketing, and distribution
Building sales in overseas markets - take advantage of rapidly-growing demand in places like Russia, China, and India

New Mexico Business Weekly, March 21, 2008

Equity for NM Films

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:27:22 -0600

Another film begins shooting in NM next week, but this one will be the first effort of a Santa Fe production company that is using a venture capital model to create home-grown independent films inspired by creative talent from NM and funded, in part, by New Mexicans. Luminaria Films, formed in 2005, manages the NM Media Partners, a private equity fund. Both were formed by screenwriter Bill Conway and producer Karen Koch to keep the ownership and profits from films in the state. They have raised about $8M so far and have 4 films in development in addition to the one they will begin shooting. The goal is to raise $25M and split profits 70/30 in favor of the investors. Returns aren't guaranteed, but investors do get paid back first and investors can spread their risk by investing in a slate of films, rather than just one.

New Mexico Business Weekly, March 21, 2008

Clean Power Pioneer Altira Group Invests in NM

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:31:33 -0600

Altira Group LLC closed in early March on its 5th fund with $176M in capital, and it made a first investment from that fund in a NM startup. The Denver-based venture capital firm, which specializes in traditional and renewable energy technology, is scouting for more local investments. Having strategic partnerships at the national laboratories, they are looking for all the energy deals they can out of NM. Albuquerque's Enerpulse Inc, got a %5.5M follow-on investment from Altira's previous fund last July for its "Pulstar pulse plugs," and Santa Fe's Hyperion Power Generation received an investment from the latest fund for their portable nuclear generators.

Business Weekly, March 14, 2008

NM 1st in Venture Capital Growth

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:30:15 -0600

Thanks to aggressive government and community efforts, NM's venture capital industry ranks No. 1 for growth over the past decade. Investment activity here grew by 375% between 1997 and 2007, putting NM well ahead of traditional venture capital hot spots like Austin and the Silicon Valley for growth. In 2007, investors put $128M into 21firms, compared to $27M invested in 3 companies in 1997. The state is well-positioned to take advantage of expected growth in renewable energy and other "green" technology, and expects venture activity to continue to grow. Local investors credited several factors for the growth including:

Investment of state permanent fund money into venture capital funds that open local offices and commit to making investments here ($340M to 26 VC firms since 1994)
Investment of permanent fund cast directly into companies (establishing Sun Mountain Capital, a privately managed investment pool)
The work of local nonprofits (Technology Ventures Corp, Small Business Investment Corp, etc.)
Efforts by trade organizations like NM Angels and Coronado Ventures Forum (hold regular meetings for potential investors to learn about new opportunities)
Existing R&D at the state's national labs, universities, and other institutions in hot investment realms (renewable energy, life sciences technology, etc.)

Albuquerque Journal, March 12, 2008

Solar Startup Gets $20M in Venture Capital

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:43:12 -0700

Pojoaque-based Los Alamos Renewable Energy LLC is acquiring a $20M venture capital investment to market synthetic fuels made with breakthrough solar technology. Sun Mountain Capital, which manages the NM State Investment Council's Co-Investment Fund, is the only local VC firm participating. They'll contribute up to 10% of the investment. Renewable Energy, which will change its name to Solar Drop Fuels Inc., licensed a patented process from Los Alamos National Lab. The process reduces carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, which it can convert into hydrogen, methanol, and other fuels. The process helps reduce greenhouse gases by breaking down carbon dioxide obtained as a waste product from ethanol and natural gas plants. The company uses parabolic solar reflectors to generate the intense heat needed for the process. They received a $50K grant from Pojoaque Pueblo to build a parabolic array, and $363K from the state's recently set-up Energy Innovation Fund. The company will use the new VC investment to market synthetic fuels for transportation, rather than pursue pursue solar electric generation, which the gov't hopes to apply at concentrating solar power plants in the future.

New Mexico Business Weekly, March 7, 2008

Equity Capital Symposium Returns

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:55:47 -0700

16 local companies are set to pitch their products to investors during this year's Technology Ventures Corporation Equity Capital Symposium. The symposium, now in its 15th year, is the flagship event for TVC. Each year it attracts more than 100 venture capitalists and private "angel" investors. According to TVC, the symposium has helped secure $913M in funding for more than 90 companies. Presenters include:

Hyperion Power Generation - Santa Fe startup - hot tub-sized, self-contained nuclear reactor that is completely self-contained that could power up to 20,000 homes
Concho LC - ABQ engineering firm - high-pressure technology that converts crop oils into jet fuel, exploring alternatives from soybean oil to algae
eQsolaris Inc. - Los Alamos - solar power generation modules for architectural skylights, at a quarter of the cost of existing photovoltaic systems
Therma Sun - Santa Fe - low-cost solar thermal systems for domestic hot water and heating
Arrakis Corp. - Santa Fe - devices that clean byproducts of oil and gas drilling, using waste heat or other renewable energy
Enerpulse Inc. - ABQ - high-power automotive spark plugs to increase power and fuel efficiency
Green Polymer Technologies - ABQ - technology that allows plastics manufacturers to use mixed plastic scrap without expensive hand sorting and processing
Por Fin, Nuestra Casa - Corrales - aims to use low-cost recycled materials and surplus shipping containers to build low-cost housing
Global Haptics - ABQ - the GeoOrb: a handheld peripheral for 3-D computer gaming and modeling programs
Knowledge Reef - Santa Fe - Web-based system for distribution of information between members of "knowledge" communities
Quid Interactive Inc. - ABQ - software: pre-programmed architecture for instruction programs, allowing users to drag and drop content (audio, video, and text) into a multimedia system rooted in adult learning theory
Perma Tools - ABQ - seeking to commercialize oil and gas well monitoring technologies developed at Sandia National Laboratories
TransEL Corp. - ABQ - lower-cost computer memory products that use less energy than existing technologies; for aerospace, defense, industrial, and telecomm. applications
Bio-Detector LLC - ABQ - highly sensitive devices that rapidly detect food-borne micro-organisms such as E. coli during processing and at distribution points
EM Optomechanical - ABQ - measurement (metrology) equipment for the micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) industry
Incitor - ABQ - developing ethanol fuel for less than $1 per gallon using cellulose from waste, wood, and nonfood plants

Albuquerque Journal, February 25, 2008

Startup and UNM Paving the Way

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:48:07 -0700

Albuquerque-based Nanocrystal LLC, formed last year, is developing advanced semiconductor wafers based on UNM-developed technology and $450K from the Verge Fund. Expecting to raise another round of funding later this year, the nanotechnolgoy company is developing gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires that will be used to build a new generation of high-quality, low-cost semiconductor wafers, paving the way for wafer fabrication. Gallium nitride is considered important because it can facilitate a much higher flow of power than silicon in a much smaller space. Researchers at UNM have developed a process to rapidly create uniform, high-quality GaN nanowires at a low cost; useful for commercial scale wafer fabrication. Nanocrystal is part of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, which allows companies to access university laboratories, equipment, and technical assistance. Currently housed at Technology Ventures Corp., Nanocrystal soon could move into the UNM Science and Technology Corp.'s recently renovated business incubator, which provides space for startups that license UNM technology.

New Mexico Business Weekly, February 22, 2008