Venture Firm Also Announces Two New Funds; Adds Two Managing Directors
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 7, 2000 - H&Q Venture Associates, LLC, a leading, early-stage high tech venture capital firm, today changed its name to Granite Ventures, LLC. The firm also announced that it has closed new funds with two of its existing limited partners, Adobe Systems Incorporated and Texas Instruments, bringing total capital under management to more than $465 million. In addition, Granite Ventures has added two managing directors.
“Under the new banner of Granite Ventures, we are expanding our commitment to build some of the most important companies in the technology industry,” said Standish O’Grady, senior managing director of Granite Ventures (www.granitevc.com). “We have a powerful set of strategic partners in Adobe Systems Incorporated, Texas Instruments and Chase H&Q. Our experienced team has been enhanced with two high-profile hires, and we have a strong record of success financing leading technology companies such as DigitalThink, InterNAP, Siebel Systems, Sierra Wireless, Tumbleweed Communications and Vignette.”
Two years ago, the founders of Granite Ventures created H&Q Venture Associates as an independent firm focused on early-stage investments in software, communications and the Internet. Today’s name change marks the last step in the creation of an independent firm.
Granite Ventures also announced that both Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) have increased their investments with Granite Ventures via two new funds, Adobe Ventures IV and TI Ventures III, bringing Granite’s total capital under management to more than $465 million.
The firm also added that it will continue to have a working relationship with Chase H&Q, which will be an ongoing investor in certain Granite Ventures funds.
“We are delighted with Granite Ventures’ achievements and with its commitment to our long-standing relationship,” said Dan Case, chairman and CEO of Chase H&Q.
John Warnock, co-founder and chairman of Adobe Systems Incorporated, said the latest commitment by his company extends a rewarding relationship.
“We are pleased to announce Adobe Ventures IV in partnership with Granite Ventures. Since 1994, our series of venture capital funds and working relationship with Granite Ventures have provided us a strategic path into new markets and business opportunities, while generating high financial returns,” said Warnock.
John Scarisbrick, senior vice president and worldwide manager of application-specific products at Texas Instruments, echoed those comments in referring to TI Ventures III, the latest in a series of early-stage venture funds managed by Granite Ventures that are focused on digital signal processing and related opportunities.
“Our partnership with Granite Ventures has been a tremendous financial and strategic success, and we view the TI Ventures program as an important component of our longstanding commitment to reach out to early-stage companies of strategic importance to TI,” said Scarisbrick.
Granite Ventures also announced the addition of Tom Furlong and Eric Zimits as managing directors, bringing the number of the firm’s managing directors to eight. Furlong joins Granite after serving as vice president and general counsel at Zhone Technologies. Prior to Zhone, he was with the law firm Gray Cary Ware and Freidenrich, LLP, where he practiced corporate, securities and intellectual property law for 13 years, counseling technology companies, venture capitalists and investment bankers.
Zimits joins Granite Ventures after spending four years at Chase H&Q, where he was a managing director in the Communications Research Group focusing on emerging Internet and communications technologies. While at Chase H&Q, he was involved in several private equity investments, including InterNAP, Paragon Software (acquired by Phone.com), Subscriber Computing (acquired by Corsair Communications) and Wavtrace (acquired by Harris Corporation). Prior to that, he was a general partner at Volpe, Welty & Co., where he launched the research effort in the telecommunications and wireless industries. Zimits now will be an advisory director to Chase H&Q.
Granite Ventures invests in early-stage technology companies in the areas of software, communications and the Internet. Granite Ventures has invested in more than 60 companies, and it has been a successful early investor in such industry leaders as Digimarc Corp. (NASDAQ:DMRC), DigitalThink Inc. (NASDAQ:DTHK) Esps Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPS), InfoGear, which was acquired by Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), InterNAP (NASDAQ:INAP), NetBoost, which was acquired by Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Nexabit Networks, which was acquired by Lucent (NYSE:LU), Siebel Systems (NASDAQ:SEBL), Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ:SWIR), SnapTrack, which was acquired by Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Tumbleweed Communications (NASDAQ:TMWD), Vignette (NASDAQ:VIGN) and Virage Inc. (NASDAQ:VRGE), among others.
For more information on Granite Ventures, please call 415-591-7700 or visit the firm’s Web site at http://www.granitevc.com
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