Chicago area last in venture capital activity in 1Q
Venture capital activity in the Chicago area slowed to a crawl in the first quarter of the year, according to data released Thursday by Dow Jones VentureSource.
Chicago-area companies raised $20 million in eight deals in the quarter. This was a significant decrease from the first quarter of 2012, when companies raised $93 million across 15 deals.
Dow Jones VentureSource noted that U.S. venture investment has shown quarter-on-quarter declines since the second quarter of 2012. In the first quarter of 2013, U.S.-based companies raised $6 billion in 752 deals, down from $7 billion across 800 deals in the fourth quarter of 2012. On a year-on-year basis, investment was down 12 percent and the number of deals dropped 11 percent.
The metro Chicago area’s relative inactivity in investment put it last out of 11 subregions tracked by Dow Jones VentureSource. The top subregion was the San Francisco Bay Area, where companies raised $2.3 billion in 229 deals. Chicago ranked behind areas such as San Diego, Seattle and Dallas-Fort Worth.
The quarter’s largest local deal — and the only one over $10 million — belonged to Chicago-based Novian Health, which makes technology for minimally invasive treatments of tumors. The company raised $11 million from investors led by Pittsburgh-based iNetworks, which focuses on the health care and life science industries. Novian said it would use the funding to conduct clinical trials for treating breast cancer in the U.S., Britain and France.
Another notable local deal during the quarter was Abe’s Market, an online retailer of natural and organic products. It raised $5 million from investors led by Israel-based Carmel Ventures. Abe’s Market, founded by two Chicago natives, moved its headquarters from Minneapolis to the River North neighborhood last year.
About Novilase
Novilase is a laser-based device for destroying tumors. This minimally invasive alternative to conventional surgery provides a safe tumor treatment alternative while preserving the patient’s options for additional procedures or adjunctive therapies. This image-guided outpatient procedure does not require general anesthetic or a hospital stay. Multiple tumors can be treated during a single visit. Therapy outcomes may be assessed using a variety of currently available imaging technologies and other methods. Therapy consists of physician placement of two small gauge needles into the tumor site after localanesthetic, followed by initiation of the computer-controlled Novilase system. Treatment times vary from 15-30 minutes
About Novian Health
Novian Health Inc., located in Chicago, is a privately held medical device company with proprietary technology for the treatment of tumors using Interstitial Laser Therapy (ILT). Developed as an alternative to surgery, the company’s technology uses parametrically controlled heating for the ablation of tumors.Image-guided treatment of breast tumors is the first application of the technology, and Novilase also has the potential to treat tumors elsewhere in the body.
For more information, call (312) 266-7200 or access www.novianhealth.com and www.novilase.com
