|
Press Release EML3534 Photo: High res. JPEG available on request from pond@eml.com Pond
Venture Partners wins ' Early stage investor of the year' award for bringing
Silicon Valley-style venture capitalism to Europe London 8 March 2002. Pond Venture Partners, the European venture capital firm which specialises in early stage investment, has been named 'Early stage investor of the year' by the UK Technology Partnering & Investment Forum. The award recognises the company's role in bringing Silicon Valley-style venture capitalism to Europe. One of Pond's portfolio companies, Transitive Technologies, also collected the 'Innovator of the Year' award at the Forum dinner held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 7th March. The forum is sponsored by a number of organisations including PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the London Stock Exchange. Pond Venture Partners, formed in 1998, manages venture capital funds and exclusively targets early-stage companies in the UK and Europe which possess breakthrough technology in communications infrastructure and processing platforms. It is currently working with its $80 million Pond 2 Fund and currently has over $90 million under management. Pond's most notable success to date was its $3 million investment in Microcosm which was sold to Connexant in 2000 for approximately $200 million. One factor contributing to Pond's success in winning the award is that, being staffed by technologists, it has brought Silicon Valley-style venture capital to Europe. Pond's chairman, Charles Irving, explained: "Pond operates on a VC model more akin to that found in Silicon Valley than in Europe. In this respect, I believe we have a far better understanding of the technologies in which we specialise than most other early-stage VCs, and, furthermore, we will actively seek technologies and opportunities in which to invest." Also in common with Silicon Valley VCs, Pond's investment opportunities may emanate from frustrated entrepreneurs who have developed potentially significant technology but need early-stage backing. Alternatively, they may be found in the research departments of universities. In all cases, the company has a history of working with companies such as these as partners to develop and investigate the business opportunity, often before the formation of a company or making the initial investment. Transitive Technologies, which Pond spun out of Manchester University, received the 'Innovator of the Year' award at the event for its Dynamite software. Dynamite runs on microprocessor CPU (central processing unit) chips and enables them to achieve maximum performance while running their own or a different CPU's code: for example, in an embedded application such as a set top box, it could enable access to X86 code (such as plug-ins) and execute it in the set top box MIPS CPU; or in mobile applications, it could take ARM-code and execute it on non-ARM CPUs with complete transparency to both the system and the user. In non-embedded applications, Dynamite could enable makers of "non -X86 " workstation, desktops, laptops, etc., migrate to X86 based platforms from Intel, AMD, or Transmeta, if they wanted to take advantage of a more aggressive price/performance roadmap. The UK Technology Partnering & Investment Forum The UK Technology Partnering & Investment Forum is a three-day event organised by the European Technology Forum (ETF), an organisation which enables senior executives working with, or advising, the technology industry to meet on a regular basis. The ETF has a pan European network of 1200 members who meet on a quarterly basis in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Munich. Their web site is www.euro-techforum.com. Contact Charles Irving, Pond Venture Partners, Marpol House, 6 The Green, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1PL, Tel: 020 8940 1001 charles or Geoff Boyes, EML, Tel: 020 8408 8000 Transitive
Technologies contact: Ed Fernandez, Vice President of Marketing, 16875
W. Bernardo Dr. Ste. 220, San Diego, CA 92127. Phone: 858-674-2244; email:
ed@transitives.com |