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Maryland TEDCO Tops VC List for Third Year in a Row

September 18, 2006

For the third year, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) has been named the nations most active source of early-stage or angel capital. TEDCO leads the list of the 100 top venture capital firms, based on the quarterly MoneyTree survey published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The 2005 list appears in the July issue of Entrepreneur magazine.



Each venture capital firm on the list reported at least three deals in 2005. Because of ties, this years ranking includes 120 firms. Maryland TEDCO improved on its figure of 15 deals in 2004 to fund 23 early-stage firms.



TEDCO bucked the national trend, which showed the number of initial venture capital deals dropping significantly. Entrepreneur reports the total number of companies that won initial capital fell from 654 in 2004 to 608 last year. On average, these companies received $4.8 million, for a total of $2.9 billion. Both figures are at their highest point in four years.



Five organizations on the list managed to complete more than 10 deals last year. California is again the most active state for funding with 56 of the ranked venture capital sources, 12 of which were in the top 25 percent.



Several funds on the list make use of public funds in their capital pools; however, a few are directly supported or administered by state and local tech-based economic development organizations. By making the list, these organizations are highlighting the work and success of public venture capital funds. Examples, with their ranking, include:

1. Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO). Maryland TEDCO's most active capital funding program is the Maryland Technology Transfer Fund. The fund supports collaborations between private companies and federal laboratories or in-state universities. Up to $75,000 is available per award to defray the direct cost of developing early-stage technology. Participating companies must have fewer than 15 people or be a previous spin-off of a federal laboratory or university founded less than five years before applying. http://www.marylandtedco.org/



2. Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. The Maryland Venture Fund, administered by the Department of Business and Economic Development, offers new firm support through its Challenge Investment Program for early-stage seed projects and its Enterprise Investment Fund for high-tech companies seeking initial rounds of private equity. The fund has invested $40 million in 190 Maryland technology companies since it began in 1994. Its number of deals leaped from four in 2004 to 14 last year. http://www.choosemaryland.org/



6. (tied) BioAdvance. BioAdvance's $20 million Greenhouse Fund, allocated from the state's settlement with tobacco companies, supports the growth of the life science industry in southeastern Pennsylvania by investing in promising proof-of-concept projects related to biotherapeutics, biomedical devices, diagnostics, and platform technologies. Applicants can receive up to $500,000 in seed-stage funding in the form of convertible debt. In the two years since its founding, BioAdvance has invested $10.5 million in life science companies. http://www.bioadvance.com/



13. (tied) Center for Innovative Technology (CIT). Northern Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology GAP Fund invested in seven regional high-tech firms in 2005. CIT assists early-stage companies with a significant portion of their operations in Virginia that are commercializing new technologies in IT, communication, biotech, nanotech, and materials or sensors. Companies may receive up to $100,000 in convertible notes. Deals require a one-to-one match of outside funding. http://www.cit.org/



31. (tied) IllinoisVENTURES. IllinoisVentures provides early-stage capital with funding and other support for high-tech start-ups in partnership with the state's Emerging Technology Fund and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The fund targets commercialization of new technologies in IT and software, life sciences, and basic engineering and physical, derived from research at the University of Illinois and several other regional research institutions. IllinoisVENTURES completed five deals in 2005. http://www.illinoisventures.com/

71. (tied) New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC). Since 2001, the NJTC Venture Fund has actively invested in early-stage businesses seeking public funds to leverage additional private capital. Its investments typically have a three-to-seven year horizon and range from $250,000 to $5 million over the course of the company's development. The fund's capital pool is drawn from public and private sources. http://www.njtcvc.com/index.asp

The full list is available on the Entrepreneur site and includes a separate ranking of VC funds supported later-stage companies. The list is available here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/vc100



SSTI's coverage of last years top 100 is available here: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2005/072505.htm



[Editors Note: The significant roles publicly supported angel and VC funds can play in many regions are often overlooked by the equity industry. It could be, in part, because several programs do not report their deal flow to respected surveys such as MoneyTree. If your publicly supported fund made three or more investments in 2005 but did not respond to the survey, make sure to promote your hard work by participating next year. More information on MoneyTree is available at http://www.nvca.org.]



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