Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public. In the field of finance, private equity is offered instead to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage, "private equity" can refer to these investment firms, rather than the companies in which they invest.
Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number of employees, annual revenue, scale of operations, etc. Venture capital firms or funds invest in these early-stage companies in exchange for equity, or an ownership stake. Venture capitalists take on the risk of financing start-ups in the hopes that some of the companies they support will become successful. Because startups face high uncertainty, VC investments have high rates of failure. Start-ups are usually based on an innovative technology or business model and often come from high technology industries such as information technology (IT) or biotechnology.
Garrett Gruener is an American venture capitalist, most known as the founder of Ask.com and a co-founder of Alta Partners. He was also a candidate for the 2003 California recall special election from the Democratic Party, finishing 28th in a field of 135 candidates with 2,562 votes.
A private equity fund is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity. Private equity funds are typically limited partnerships with a fixed term of 10 years. At inception, institutional investors make an unfunded commitment to the limited partnership, which is then drawn over the term of the fund. From the investors' point of view, funds can be traditional or asymmetric.
William P. Egan is an American venture capitalist. He is the founder and general partner at Alta Communications, a venture capital firm, and Marion Equity Partners, a private equity firm, both based in Boston, Massachusetts. Egan also founded Alta's predecessor firm, Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. (BEDCO) in 1979 and has identified and backed several of America's leading growth companies in the information technology, life sciences, and communications industries. Egan is also a limited partner, along with fellow BEDCO founder Craig Burr, at Nobska Partners, also in Boston.
The history of private equity, venture capital, and the development of these asset classes has occurred through a series of boom-and-bust cycles since the middle of the 20th century. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel, although interrelated tracks.
Fox Paine & Company is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. Fox Paine & Company, LLC was founded in 1996 by former Kohlberg Kravis Roberts partner Saul A. Fox. Former Kohlberg & Co. partner W. Dexter Paine III was brought on as Fox's Partner in 1997. In December 2007, after several months of litigation, the partners separated, with Saul Fox retaining the firm's name, while Dexter Paine formed a new firm, Paine & Partners, with the legacy Fox Paine investment team.
The early history of private equity relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.
Kosan Biosciences, Inc., was a pharmaceutical company which dealt with cancer therapeutics medications. The company was working on advancing two new classes of anticancer agents through clinical development: heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors and epothilones.
Alta Partners is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco which invests primarily in biotechnology and life science companies.
Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. (BEDCO) was a venture capital firm which focused on investments in information technology, communications, and healthcare/biotechnology companies.
Polaris Partners is a venture capital firm active in the field of healthcare and biotechnology companies. The company has offices in Boston, Massachusetts, New York, NY and San Francisco, California.
Craig L. Burr is an early venture capital investor, notable for his role in the founding of two venture capital firms, Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. (BEDCO) in 1979 and Alta Communications in 1996.
Morgenthaler is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the US investing through both venture capital and leverage buyout transactions. Morgenthaler operates two connected private equity businesses:
Sofinnova is the name shared by two venture capital firms, Sofinnova Partners and Sofinnova Ventures. The name Sofinnova is a contraction of the French, "Société de Financement de l’Innovation" or, Innovation Venture Capital Company. Both firms trace their roots back to Sofinnova SA, an investment institution founded in Paris in 1972. The two firms have raised ~$4B since inception and have generally shared a similar investment strategy of financing projects and ideas in the life sciences and technology sectors. The firms distinguish themselves on the basis of their target geographies, stage of investment, and sectors. They have been independent entities since 1997.
Jean Deleage (1940–2011) was an early venture capital investor responsible for the founding or co-founding of three notable venture capital firms since 1971: Sofinnova, Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. and Alta Partners.
Terry McGuire is a co-founder and general partner of Polaris Partners based in the Boston office. McGuire focuses on life sciences investments.
Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C. is an American local private investment group formed to purchase the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Jonathan A. Flint is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur who co-founded venture capital firms Polaris Partners and Polaris Founders Capital, as well as the companies Living Proof and Icelandic Provisions.
