Sources inform "Globes" that venture capital fund StageOne Ventures is in the advanced stages of raising a $100 million follow-on fund. A good portion has already been pledged to the fund by investors from abroad. StageOne was not available for comment.
StageOne was founded in 2001 by managing partners Adoram Gaash and Yuval Cohen, who raised $40 million from Discount Investment Corporation (TASE:DISI) and Bezeq (TASE:BZEQ).
StageOne deals in seed stage investments in communications and Internet protocol (IP) companies. In 2002, it purchased the Nitzanim Initiative Center technology incubator, then located at Nahal Soreq. Nitzanim was relocated to Tel Aviv, and renamed Lab-One Innovations.
StageOne has 15 portfolio companies in which it invests directly, as well as indirectly via Lab-One. The outstanding companies are Crescendo Networks, which develops technologies to improve server performance; Mplicity, which designs semiconductors to improve processor performance, and is currently under negotiation for sale to Synopsys Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) for $25 million; cVidya Networks, which provides revenue assurance solutions to communications service providers; and Imperative Networks (formerly SANchip), which develops technologies for storage networks.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Tuesday, March 29, 2005