Executive moves, week of Nov. 26, 2007

Ignition names three to partner

Ignition Partners has promoted Adrian Smith, Michelle Goldberg and Richard Fade each to partner.

Smith has been with Bellevue, Wash.-based Ignition for eight years as a principal, focused largely on investments in the wireless industry. Prior to joining Ignition, he served in various roles at British Telecom Labs, McCaw Cellular and NextLink Communications. Smith currently serves on the boards of Ignition portfolio companies Twisted Pair Solutions, SinglePoint, Melodeo and Sotto Wireless.

Goldberg has also been with Ignition Partners for the last eight years as a principal, focused largely on investments in Internet and consumer software. She previously served as an investment banker at Olympic Capital Partners and as a management consultant with AT Kearney. Goldberg currently serves on the boards of Ignition portfolio companies Mpire, Visible Technologies and SeaMOZ.

Fade has been with Ignition for four years as a venture partner with a focus on investments in the software infrastructure segment. Prior to joining Ignition, Fade worked at Microsoft for 16 years. Fade currently serves on the boards of Talyst, GotVoice, Consera Software and Azaleos.

The promotions come just a month after Ignition announced its fourth early stage fund, which closed at $400 million, and the launch of its new Ignition Growth Capital fund, which closed at $275 million.

Edison welcomes Totia on board

Edison Venture Fund announced last week that it has added Sever Totia as principal. Totia will lead investments in software companies primarily located in Maryland, Virginia and the Washington, D.C., area. Before joining Edison, he was vice president with Lazard Technology Partners. Lawrenceville, N.J.-based Edison last year raised about $260 million for its sixth expansion stage fund.

General Atlantic adds Bahl to lineup

Tracy Bahl

, former CEO of Uniprise, has joined General Atlantic as a special advisor to the Greenwich, Conn.-based firm’s health care practice. Bahl will provide industry insight and strategic counsel to General Atlantic and its portfolio companies.

BioMedical Innovations adds to staff

BioMedical Innovations Ltd., a Zurich-based venture capital investment management firm, named Rafael AndĂºjar as managing general partner in advance of its upcoming second fund targeting the European and Israeli medical technology sector, VentureWire reported last week. AndĂºjar was previously a vice president for Arterial Vascular Engineering and president of international global operations for C.R. Bard Inc. VentureWire reported that BioMedical is planning to raise a $147 million fund.

Tonn joins Vestar

Jens Tonn

has joined New York-based Vestar Capital Partners, for which he will launch and run a new office in Munich, Germany. It will be the firm’s third office in Europe, including paris and Milan. The firm raised $3.7 billion for its fifth buyout fund in 2005. Tonn was previously a managing director with Candover, where he was responsible for German operations.

Scale adds Mehandru

Karan Mehandru

has joined Scale Venture Partners as an associate on the firm’s technology team. He previously was a sales account manager with Synopsys Inc. Scale, f.k.a. BA Venture Partners, is based in Foster City, Calif.