Private Equity Week Wire for Friday 11/10

? MINNEAPOLIS — St. Paul Venture Capital today announced the formation of its seventh satellite fund. Fog City Fund will invest in life science and health care companies primarily on the West Coast. The $40 million fund will be based in San Francisco and be managed by Nancy Olson, who has headed the St. Paul Venture Capital healthcare portfolio for the past seven years. The existing portfolio has generated gains from Biopsys, Intrabiotics, and Prograft, among others, and currently consists of a number of attractive privately-held companies, for which Olson will continue to have responsibility. Fog City Fund will receive its capital exclusively from the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, which is also the funding source for St. Paul Venture Capital. The fund was created to accommodate Olson’s desire for investment autonomy and independence while satisfying, in part, St. Paul Venture Capital’s commitment to investments in the healthcare and life sciences areas.

NEW YORK — Venture Economics (VE) and the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA) today announced they are partnering to analyze and track venture capital activity in the Mid-Atlantic region. This strategic partnership gives MAVA the ability to provide a consistent and comprehensive statistical analysis of deal flow in the region. VE is now MAVA’s official data provider for venture capital and private investment information. The MAVA/VE joint venture will augment Venture Economics’ quarterly research efforts by increasing its data flow of private venture-backed company statistics. This data flow will be obtained through a quarterly survey of MAVA members and other industry professionals.

? ZURICH — Jefferies (Switzerland) Ltd., the Swiss subsidiary of Jefferies International Limited, which is a member of the holding company Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF), announced today a broad alliance with the renowned private equity specialist Galli, Schneider & Lehner AG (GSL). The alliance gives Jefferies access to recognized research expertise on start-up high-tech companies with above-average growth potential as a basis for investment decisions in the technology area. With its in-depth specialist research and corporate valuation capabilities, GSL, which has been active in the field since 1997, will provide Jefferies (Switzerland) Ltd. with a sound underpinning for its venture capital operations, where it is active in raising equity capital for unlisted companies. For Jefferies, private equity has become an increasingly important business and is now one of the fastest growing of the company’s broad range of activities.

? RICHMOND, VA — Homebytes.com, the country’s first and only nationally licensed residential real estate firm, announced the closing of $12 million in second round funding. The new financing brings the total invested in homebytes.com and its subsidiary, Owners.com to over $30 million. New participants in the round are America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL), and LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: LFG), a leading title insurance company. Joining them in the second round of funding are existing investors FBR Technology Venture Partners, Grotech Capital Group and Monument Capital Partners. The $12 million in funding will be used to continue the ongoing infrastructure development, technology and Multiple Listing Service (MLS) integration to support the national rollout of the company’s residential real estate services.

? BURLINGAME, CA — Blue Wireless, a leading provider of applications for voice-enabled wireless Internet services, today announced it has received $6.0 million in first-round venture capital financing from investors and strategic partners. Storm Ventures, DaimlerChrysler Venture (NYSE:DCX), CMEA Ventures and Sasson International participated in the financing round, which also included several individual investors. Tae Hea Nahm, General Partner at Storm Ventures, and Tom Baruch, General Partner at CMEA Ventures, will represent their respective funds on the Blue Wireless board. Blue Wireless received its seed round of funding in December 1999 from a select group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and executives.