Advantage Capital Raises Additional $15 Million for Venture Investments in Low-Income Communities;
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS April 23
NEW ORLEANS, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Advantage Capital Partners announced today it has raised an additional $15 million for its New Markets Tax Credit venture fund, Advantage Capital Community Development Fund LLC. The new capital brings the total for this fund, which is focused on venture capital and private equity investments in Low-Income Communities, to $40 million. At least $4 million of the newly raised capital will target investments in the Gulf Opportunity Zone, which consists of parishes and counties affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
"Raising this capital marks another milestone for Advantage Capital," said Steven T. Stull, president. "We were among the first to raise this type of risk capital through the New Markets program, we were and continue to be one of a small number of New Markets participants focusing on the types of entrepreneurial companies that can bring dramatic changes to the communities in which they are located. Our successful deployment of the first $25 million we raised for this fund in 2003 gave us the opportunity to raise more capital in 2007 with our partners at U.S. Bank."
"Our venture fund, when combined with our $32 million small business lending fund raised last year, enables us to provide a capital solution for most low-income community entrepreneurs," Stull said, "whether that be equity capital for an early stage biotech company or a flexible loan that helps a restaurateur open a new location."
Advantage Capital is a leading participant in the New Markets program, having been awarded allocations in three of the four allocation rounds totaling $230 million. To date Advantage Capital has raised more than $120 million in private capital under the program and invested in a variety of businesses, spurring innovative technologies, supported urban redevelopment, job creation and neighborhood revitalization. Companies funded by Advantage Capital under the New Markets program have created hundreds of jobs and brought hundreds of millions of dollars in follow-on capital to their communities, including two of which -- Stereotaxis in St. Louis and Hoku Scientific in Honolulu -- that have completed Initial Public Offerings.
"The power of venture capital to grow companies and revitalize communities is especially important as the Gulf Coast rebuilds from the hurricanes," Stull added. "Considering how long these low-income areas have been underserved by traditional forms of venture capital and other financing, we believe there are many good investment opportunities that can make a positive impact on their communities."
"Access to this type of risk capital is essential for sustainable economic development," said Michael T. Johnson, managing director. "When I consider the impact that some of our early New Markets investments, such as Stereotaxis and Hoku Scientific, have had on their surrounding communities, I can't help but get excited about the potential impact that these types of investments can have on low-income communities in the GO Zone. Growing world-class companies in this area will be vital to the region's long-term recovery and prosperity of the region."
Investments from Advantage's original $25 million fund in 2003 through January 2007 include a variety of businesses in New Orleans, St. Louis and Honolulu:
-- HCI Construction and Design: HCI is an affiliate of Historic
Restoration Inc. in New Orleans, a Low-Income Community Business with a
mission of revitalizing neighborhoods and communities by transforming
historic buildings into hotels, apartments, condominiums and other
commercial assets in New Orleans, St. Louis and other cities.
-- Hoku Scientific: Hoku is a developer of fuel-cell membrane technology,
primarily focused on new membrane for use in Proton Exchange Membrane
fuel cells. The company completed a successful Initial Public Offering
in August 2005, the first by a Hawaii company in several years, and
used some of the proceeds to build a new manufacturing facility.
-- Kereos: Located in St. Louis' Center for Emerging Technologies, Kereos
is an early stage company developing targeted therapeutics and
molecular imaging agents that detect and treat cancer and
cardiovascular disease earlier and more specifically than previously
possible. The specificity and potency of the therapeutics makes them,
potentially, more effective and less toxic in treating disease than
earlier therapies.
-- Quick Study Radiology: Located in downtown St. Louis, QSR provides
hospitals, imaging centers and physician groups with leading-edge
radiology technologies by offering them an affordable, integrated
solution for storing, viewing and tracking all their digital radiology
images.
-- Singulex: Also located in St. Louis Center for Emerging Technologies,
Singulex develops and commercializes innovative technology that enables
disease understanding and management for life science researchers and
clinicians. Utilizing proprietary quantitative single molecule
detection technology, Singulex develops customized biomarker diagnostic
systems that can detect and quantify normal and abnormal protein
biomarkers in a variety of biological samples with extreme accuracy.
-- Soda Fountain Square: Located in St. Louis' historic Lafayette Square
community, Soda Fountain Square was a start-up restaurant when funded
by Advantage. The below-market-rate financing enabled the entrepreneur
to purchase and build out the site.
-- Stereotaxis: Stereotaxis is a growing medical device company engaged in
the field of image guided interventional surgery. Stereotaxis'
proprietary magnetic navigation technology platform sets a new standard
of care in cardiovascular disease diagnosis and treatment, facilitating
life-saving procedures. The company is a leading tenant in the CORTEX
life sciences development near downtown St. Louis and employs more than
125 people at that location.
-- T3: Transaction Transport Technologies is the leading provider of
Internet-based card processing for the brick-and-mortar merchant
community. The company's services, sold directly or through major
processors, merchant banks, and merchant service providers, are
specially designed for merchants wishing to speed up the check-out
process by leveraging new or existing Internet connectivity. It is
based in the historic Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis.
-- Waste Remedies: From its offices in downtown St. Louis, Waste Remedies
provides consulting, management and brokerage services for waste
removal. Teaming with property managers, manufacturers, retailers and
restaurants, Waste Remedies arranges waste removal and recycling at
considerably less expense than most companies obtain for themselves,
often producing savings of as much as 50 percent.
-- 200 Carondelet: 200 Carondelet is a real estate development company in
downtown New Orleans.
Advantage's venture fund complements the firm's other New Markets investment vehicles. These include a small business lending fund of $32 million, urban redevelopments totaling more than $40 million, and other debt or equity transactions totaling approximately $10 million.
About New Markets Tax Credits
The New Markets Tax Credits program is a multi-year, $19.5 billion initiative administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury that promotes economic growth and job creation in low-income communities by providing tax incentives to private-sector investors who commit investment capital to entrepreneurs and businesses in these regions. Organizations receiving allocations are authorized to raise private capital equaling the amount of their allocation and transfer to investors federal tax credits over seven years totaling 39 percent of the amount raised.
Since the program's inception, the Treasury Department has awarded more than $12 billion. Allocations under the program's fifth round will be announced in the fall. For more information, visit http://www.cdfifund.gov/ .
About Advantage Capital
Advantage Capital Partners ( http://www.advantagecap.com/ ) is a private equity firm focused on investing in promising companies in connection located in targeted communities. With offices in New Orleans, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., Austin and other major cities, Advantage has raised more than $750 million in institutional venture capital since 1992.
About U.S. Bank
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), with $221 billion in assets, is the parent company of U.S. Bank, the sixth-largest commercial bank in the United States. The company operates 2,498 banking offices and 4,837 ATMs, providing a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, with assets of nearly $3 billion, is one of the largest new market tax credit investors in the country. It also finances affordable housing and community development projects through the use of low-income housing and historic tax credits. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at http://www.usbank.com/
CONTACT: Carter Dunkin of Advantage Capital Partners, +1-314-725-0800
Web site: http://www.advantagecap.com/
http://www.cdfifund.gov/
http://www.usbank.com/
SOURCE Advantage Capital Partners