VSP Capital lives on. Ok, not really, but some of its former partners are still doing deals together.
The latest is San Francisco-based Doppleganger, a onetime VSP portfolio company (then known as Evil Twin Studios) that provides avatar-based IM environments for music fans in conjunction with entertainment and media companies. VSP sold its stake via a controversial auction to former venture partner Vince Vannelli, and the company subsequently raised $8.5 million in Series B funding from Trident Capital and return backers DFJ and Draper Richards.
Now Doppleganger is closing in on a $5 million Series C round led by Greycroft Partners, a New York-based firm whose West Coast office is run by former VSP partner Dana Settle (who also briefly worked at the company between VC stints). Its already listed as a portfolio company on Greycrofts website, while a regulatory filings shows that Vannelli remains a director (download filing: Evil Twin.pdf). Other directs include Van Toffler of MTV Networks, Andreas Stavropoulos of DFJ and Evangelos Simoudis of Trident. I left voicemail messages with Settle, Vannelli and Doppleganger CEO Andrew Littlefield, but havent heard back.
In related news, it seems that the legal maelstrom related to VSPs implosion are still going strong. Documents from the San Francisco Superior Court indicate that Joanna Rees-Gallanter and John Hamm (who allegedly lied to other partners about being in a relationship) are still locked in suits and countersuits with both Vannelli and fellow ex-VSP pro Matt Crisp. And for the sake of forwarding addresses, Rees-Gallanter was last spotted in October giving away Wi-Fi routers, as part of her new gig overseeing U.S. operations for FON USA.
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