RESILIENT MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT : January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

#FACEBOOK to file for 5 Billion #IPO

#Facebook to file for 5 Billion #IPO
#PrivateEquity, #HedgeFunds, #VentureCapital, #InvestmentBanking, #CapitalMarkets, #MergersAndAcquisitions, #WallStreet, #IPO #ResilientMediaEntertainment, #IPO, #BennyQuetell
http://goo.gl/DH3nR
http://goo.gl/DH3nR

6th Annual #PrivateEquity Summit for

6th Annual Private Equity Summit for Institutional Investors

New Relationships, New Markets, New Models: How to navigate the evolving and shifting landscape
March 26-27, 2012
Hyatt at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA

Conference Details:

6th Annual Private Equity Summit for Institutional Investors is designed for institutional investors to address current trends in Private Equity, Venture Capital and Leveraged Buyouts. Set to take place in San Francisco, CA this private equity conference will investigate a variety of investment avenues and the most effective strategies for investing in each by calling upon leaders across the industry from investment advisory firms, private equity funds and PE advisors within institutions including but not limited to:

Public and Corporate Pension Funds
Family Offices
Insurance Companies
Fund of Funds
Endowments
Foundations
Sovereign Wealth Funds

CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION

Sharing News/Information 25/8 About: #PRIVATEEQUITY #VENTURECAPITAL

#HEDGEFUNDS #INVESTMENTBANKING & a few fun things as well.
Check US OUT:

http://on.fb.me/vch6FQ

http://linkd.in/oiB29l

http://on.fb.me/sdaWqc

http://bit.ly/uhH9hQ

http://bit.ly/trKLuj

RESILIENT MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT

#PrivateEquity, #HedgeFunds, #VentureCapital, #InvestmentBanking, #CapitalMarkets, #MergersAndAcquisitions, #WallStreet, #IPO #ResilientMediaEntertainment, #IPO, @Resilient_Ent

http://goo.gl/d5gJK

+PrivateEquity, +HedgeFunds, +VentureCapital, +InvestmentBanking, +CapitalMarkets, +MergersAndAcquisitions, +WallStreet, +ResilientMediaEntertainment, +@Resilient_Ent

http://goo.gl/d5gJK

Monday, January 30, 2012

SPOTLIGHT SHINING ON VENTURE FOR AMERICA

About Venture for America

THE CHALLENGE

Enterprising college graduates crave hands-on business experience to learn how to develop a business and create value. At the same time, many promising businesses struggle to identify, recruit, and enlist talented college graduates, in large part because they lack the resources and scale to engage in on-campus recruiting.

OUR MISSION

Venture for America will recruit the best and brightest college grads to work for two years at emerging start-ups and early-stage companies in lower-cost cities (e.g., Detroit, Providence, New Orleans). Modeled after Teach for America, Venture for America will provide a path for entrepreneurship to college grads who want to learn how to build companies and create jobs.

Goals:

Drive talent to create jobs and spur enterprise in lower-cost cities.

Provide a path for entrepreneurship for young, talented college graduates.

Encourage entrepreneurship in parts of the United States that struggle to attract young college graduates.

The goal is that a substantial proportion of the VFA Fellows will become successful entrepreneurs, preferably rooted in the communities to which they’re assigned. Venture for America's purpose is job generation - our goal is to generate 100,000 U.S. jobs by 2025.

OUR STRATEGY & IMPACT

Funnel a generation of young people toward American start-ups in areas of need

Socialize college grads and train them to become action-oriented, enterprising and innovative

Provide structure and a community to cohorts of future entrepreneurs

Redirect talent and help renew our economy and our culture

Firmly establish entrepreneurship as a professional aspiration for our best and brightest

Create Venture Fellows, past and present, to become job creators and entrepreneurs in communities throughout the country

Over time, present a new set of role models for students to emulate

JOIN OUR TEAM

Sharing News/Information 25/8 About: #PRIVATEEQUITY #VENTURECAPITAL

#HEDGEFUNDS #INVESTMENTBANKING & a few fun things as well.
Check US OUT:
http://on.fb.me/vch6FQ
http://linkd.in/oiB29l
http://on.fb.me/sdaWqc
http://bit.ly/uhH9hQ
http://bit.ly/trKLuj
RESILIENT MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
#PrivateEquity, #HedgeFunds, #VentureCapital, #InvestmentBanking, #CapitalMarkets, #MergersAndAcquisitions, #WallStreet, #IPO #ResilientMediaEntertainment, #IPO, @Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK
+PrivateEquity, +HedgeFunds, +VentureCapital, +InvestmentBanking, +CapitalMarkets, +MergersAndAcquisitions, +WallStreet, +ResilientMediaEntertainment, +@Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK

BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS BY BENNY QUETELL
http://goo.gl/FbVoV

SAIL Venture Partners Extends To Canada

Costa Mesa-based SAIL Capital Partners, the clean technology investor, said today that it has created a joint venture in Canada, to invest in early stage cleantech companies. SAIL said that the move comes as part of a joint venture with a Canadian subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp. The new joint venture will be located in Toronto, and invest in early stage cleantech companies. Size of the firm's Canadian venture capital fund was not announced.

Sharing News/Information 25/8 About: #PRIVATEEQUITY #VENTURECAPITAL

#HEDGEFUNDS #INVESTMENTBANKING & a few fun things as well.
Check US OUT:
http://on.fb.me/vch6FQ
http://linkd.in/oiB29l
http://on.fb.me/sdaWqc
http://bit.ly/uhH9hQ
http://bit.ly/trKLuj
RESILIENT MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
#PrivateEquity, #HedgeFunds, #VentureCapital, #InvestmentBanking, #CapitalMarkets, #MergersAndAcquisitions, #WallStreet, #IPO #ResilientMediaEntertainment, #IPO, @Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK
+PrivateEquity, +HedgeFunds, +VentureCapital, +InvestmentBanking, +CapitalMarkets, +MergersAndAcquisitions, +WallStreet, +ResilientMediaEntertainment, +@Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK

Bain Capital Raises $600M Fund

The venture capital wing of Bain Capital announced Monday that it had raised $600 million for a new fund—its largest to date. Bain Capital Ventures had previously raised a total of $1.48 billion, meaning the new capital will make up about 15 percent of the firm. With its new fund, Bain Capital Ventures, a LinkedIn investor, plans to use its traditional strategy of making investment in enterprise technology, e-commerce and health care. Monday’s announcement comes around the same time that other Silicon Valley venture capital firms are bulking up their funds, with several having raised funds containing more than half a billion dollars in the past year alone.
READ MORE ABOUT IT AT DEAL BOOK

Sharing News/Information 25/8 About: #PRIVATEEQUITY #VENTURECAPITAL

#HEDGEFUNDS #INVESTMENTBANKING & a few fun things as well.
Check US OUT:
http://on.fb.me/vch6FQ
http://linkd.in/oiB29l
http://on.fb.me/sdaWqc
http://bit.ly/uhH9hQ
http://bit.ly/trKLuj
RESILIENT MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
#PrivateEquity, #HedgeFunds, #VentureCapital, #InvestmentBanking, #CapitalMarkets, #MergersAndAcquisitions, #WallStreet, #IPO #ResilientMediaEntertainment, #IPO, @Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK
+PrivateEquity, +HedgeFunds, +VentureCapital, +InvestmentBanking, +CapitalMarkets, +MergersAndAcquisitions, +WallStreet, +ResilientMediaEntertainment, +@Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK

SPOTLIGHT SHINING ON THE SHIRAM GROUP

Genesis of the Shriram phenomenon

The 30,000 Cr Shriram Group had its humble beginnings in the Chit Fund business over three decades ago. R Thyagarajan, AVS Raja and

T Jayaraman were the “three musketeers” who ventured into these businesses. Not many in the Financial services industry thought at that time, this small Chit Funds business in Chennai would indeed be the foundation for the financial conglomerate that Shriram is today.

The Shriram Way!

Shriram Group’s businesses strive to serve the largest number of common people. Consider these: Commercial Vehicle Financing, Consumer & Enterprise Finance, Retail Stock Broking, Life Insurance, Chit Funds and Distribution of Investment & Insurance Products. Our foray into Non-Life (General) Insurance, is again a strong expression of this commitment.

Industrial Investments

The Group has also made investments in Manufacturing, Value Added Services, Project Development, Engineering Services, Pharmaceuticals, Machined & Auto Components, Press Dies & Sheet Metal Stamping, Packaging, Information Technology, Property Development etc.

@bsindia India

India's leading business news resource

http://www.business-standard.com/

Sharing News/Information 25/8 About: #PRIVATEEQUITY #VENTURECAPITAL

#HEDGEFUNDS #INVESTMENTBANKING & a few fun things as well.
Check US OUT:
http://on.fb.me/vch6FQ
http://linkd.in/oiB29l
http://on.fb.me/sdaWqc
http://bit.ly/uhH9hQ
http://bit.ly/trKLuj
RESILIENT MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
#PrivateEquity, #HedgeFunds, #VentureCapital, #InvestmentBanking, #CapitalMarkets, #MergersAndAcquisitions, #WallStreet, #IPO #ResilientMediaEntertainment, #IPO, @Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK
+PrivateEquity, +HedgeFunds, +VentureCapital, +InvestmentBanking, +CapitalMarkets, +MergersAndAcquisitions, +WallStreet, +ResilientMediaEntertainment, +@Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK

SPOTLIGHT SHINING ON @stratandbiz strategy+business @BoozCompany

About strategy+business

strategy+business (s+b) is an award-winning management magazine, published in print and on the Web for decision makers in businesses and organizations around the world. Our purpose is to illuminate the complex choices that leaders face — in strategy, marketing, operations, human capital, public presence, governance, and other domains — and the impact of their decisions. Our pragmatic but far-ranging focus helps companies navigate the transition into the emerging global economy.

strategy+business is published by the global management consulting firm Booz & Company. The articles we publish are characterized by:

Distinguished contributors. We feature writing by chief executives and other well-known corporate leaders, best-selling business thinkers and philosophers, prominent academics and researchers, seasoned practitioners from Booz & Company, and journalists with a track record in revealing the patterns below the surface.

Distinctive content. Our purpose is to find and share the ideas and stories that raise the game for management, written and expounded clearly enough to provide the basis for thoughtful action. Through in-depth feature stories, thought leader interviews, and strategic commentaries, each issue of strategy+business provides an informed, global perspective on ideas and practices relevant to large-scale corporations. Ongoing features and studies include:

•The “Global Innovation 1000” study, examining corporate spending on research and development each year

•“CEO Succession”: an overview of the trends affecting the length of chief executive tenure and the nature of turnover in the role

•Our compendium of “Recent Research,” summarizing academic studies and their implications for real-world corporate action

•“Author’s Choice,” in which writers introduce favorite excerpts from other business and management writers’ books

•A set of roundtable discussions being organized with the World Economic Forum

•Provocative “Thought Leader” interviews and “Creative Mind” profiles, going in depth with notable figures such as former chief executive and author Lawrence Bossidy; Harvard Business School professor and author Clayton Christensen; psychologist and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman; Internet pioneer and Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig; and Kishore Mahbubani, author, diplomat, and professor at the National University of Singapore.

•Coverage of trends in neuroscience, lean thinking, emerging markets, corporate governance, and digital media, and their implications for business leadership

•Valuable thinking and practice in marketing, media, operations, health care, innovation, finance, energy, and more

To propose articles for s+b, see our writers guidelines.

Discerning readers. strategy+business has a global audience of more than 500,000 readers, which includes print and digital subscribers and website registrants. More than 170,000 readers have signed up for s+b’s weekly and monthly e-newsletters; 30,000 tech-savvy readers have subscribed to s+b’s digital edition, and the s+b iPad app is downloaded an average of 1,000 times per week. A Monroe Mendelsohn Research study of s+b’s audited print circulation found that 74 percent of s+b readers were C-suite executives ranked vice president or higher. More than a third held the position of chairman, CEO, or president of their company. In all, a majority of s+b’s readers are top corporate decision makers at major U.S. and international corporations (those with at least US$1 billion in assets). Our audience also includes decision makers at smaller companies, managers rising within companies, prominent business and management academics, and others with an interest in understanding the systems, practices, and ideas that define our world.

For more on our audience, see our online media kit.

Diverse channels. We make our material available to you in a variety of ways.

•The strategy+business quarterly print magazine is available via subscription and on newsstands.

•The strategy+business website, where new articles are published every week.

•enews, a weekly e-mail newsletter, is our exclusive platform for business analysis, insights, commentary, and other intellectual capital from the authors, strategists, and editors at strategy+business.

•s+b at a Glance, a monthly e-mail newsletter, provides updates on what’s new at strategy-business.com. Each issue briefly describes articles by Booz & Company thought leaders and/or experts from the business world, selected for their management insight.

•s+b Thought Leaders, an exclusive monthly newsletter featuring our latest interviews with business leaders, authors, strategists, scholars, and other experts.

•s+b Recent Research, a monthly report that cuts straight to the bottom line, allowing busy executives and decision makers to stay informed of cutting-edge academic research on management and strategy.

•s+b Business Literature, a monthly newsletter featuring excerpts from the latest business books introduced by noted authors, as well as critical essays and book reviews.

•Booz Foresight, a quarterly selection of the best, most provocative, and timely work from Booz & Company, publisher of strategy+business.

s+b also publishes books, e-books, and multimedia content, including videos.

Praise for strategy+business:

“I find many, many things that I want to read in strategy+business. Month after month, year after year they’ve got what I think is the right stuff.… [The] content is solid gold.” — Tom Peters

The work s+b is doing is the best in the field.” — Joseph Jaworski, author of Synchronicity

Booz & Company “scores highest overall when it comes to distinctive, opinionated and interesting thought leadership, much of which appears in its magazine, strategy+business,” according to White Space, a report by Arkimeda on intellectual capital by the world’s 40 biggest consulting firms.

It is a real contribution to the practice of leadership.” — Ram Charan, coauthor, Execution (and s+b contributor)

“I usually measure the ‘value’ of a business magazine by the percentage of articles that are directly relevant to my corporate role. Over the last year or so, I have found that strategy+business grades out at about 75 percent on this scale, making it by far the highest ‘value’ business magazine I read.” — Mel Bost, ConocoPhilips

“My only disappointment is that the magazine comes only four times a year. I am left wanting more!” — James O’Toole, the Bill Daniels Distinguished Professor in Business Ethics at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business, author of Creating the Good Life: Applying Aristotle's Wisdom to Find Meaning and Happiness (and s+b contributor)

For a closer look at our philosophy and approach, read this 2009 interview with Booz & Company Chief Marketing & Knowledge Officer Tom Stewart and s+b Editor-in-Chief Art Kleiner.

Awards Highlights for strategy+business:

•2010 Folio “Eddie” Bronze, B-to-B Banking/Business/Finance Website

•Two 2010 Folio “Ozzie” Gold awards that recognized specific issues of s+b

•2010 American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) Top 10 Magazine of the Year, under $2 million

•Six other ASBPE Gold awards that recognized specific s+b articles

For a complete list of our awards, visit our media kit.

Booz & Company @BoozCompany New York, NY

Booz & Company is a leading global consulting firm with over 3,300 people in 60 offices around the world.
http://www.booz.com

Sharing News/Information 25/8 About: #PRIVATEEQUITY #VENTURECAPITAL

#HEDGEFUNDS #INVESTMENTBANKING & a few fun things as well.
Check US OUT:
http://on.fb.me/vch6FQ
http://linkd.in/oiB29l
http://on.fb.me/sdaWqc
http://bit.ly/uhH9hQ
http://bit.ly/trKLuj
RESILIENT MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
#PrivateEquity, #HedgeFunds, #VentureCapital, #InvestmentBanking, #CapitalMarkets, #MergersAndAcquisitions, #WallStreet, #IPO #ResilientMediaEntertainment, @Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK
+PrivateEquity, +HedgeFunds, +VentureCapital, +InvestmentBanking, +CapitalMarkets, +MergersAndAcquisitions, +WallStreet, +ResilientMediaEntertainment, +@Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK

Nicola Horlick launches #privateequity business

@Reuters

Reuters.com brings you the latest news from around the world, covering breaking news in business, politics, technology, and more. http://www.reuters.com/

Nicola Horlick launches #privateequity business

Nicola Horlick, one of the most high-profile women in Britain's financial industry, is launching a business aimed at making it easier for wealthy individuals to make private equity investments.

Rockpool Investments, which Horlick is launching with two former 3i Group executives, will try to capitalise on recent regulatory changes in Britain designed to encourage greater investment in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Horlick first made headlines in 1997 for successfully confronting Deutsche Bank over her suspension as Managing Director of its UK unit Morgan Grenfell Asset Management amid allegations she was planning to defect to a rival firm with her team.

She flew to Frankfurt along with 40 journalists to watch as she demanded her bosses reinstate her.

Her recent record has been more mixed.

Horlick faced intense criticism after Bramdean Asset Management, a London-based investment house which she founded and still runs as chief executive, lost $20 million of investors' money to Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme in 2008.

A battle followed with property magnate Vincent Tchenguiz, who had invested about 40 million pounds in Bramdean at its float and successfully pushed to replace the board after the losses came to light.

Bramdean sold the bulk of its funds business to Aberdeen Asset Management in 2009.

Rockpool will seek to exploit the growing demand for individual investments in SMEs as bank financing becomes harder to come by.

Under changes to the UK's Enterprise Investment Scheme, individuals can now reclaim more of the cost of investments in SMEs against income tax, while the number of eligible companies -- and the amount they can raise in any one year -- has increased.

Rockpool will seek to sign up rich private investors to its network happy to invest a minimum of 25,000 pounds per deal. The business will focus on deals requiring between 2 and 10 million pounds of equity.

Horlick will take on the role of Chairman at Rockpool, with Gary Robins, formerly chief executive of Hotbed and Matt Taylor, a former partner at Foresight Group, jointly managing the business.

Last year Horlick told Reuters she was planning to set up a a "fund-supermarket type-platform."

At the time she also said she was setting up a chain of private member clubs in London's suburbs, to be named after her late daughter, Georgina, as well as pursuing a $150 million farmland deal in Brazil's Bahia region for two UK institutions.

Sharing News/Information 25/8 About: #PRIVATEEQUITY #VENTURECAPITAL

#HEDGEFUNDS #INVESTMENTBANKING & a few fun things as well.
Check US OUT:
http://on.fb.me/vch6FQ
http://linkd.in/oiB29l
http://on.fb.me/sdaWqc
http://bit.ly/uhH9hQ
http://bit.ly/trKLuj
RESILIENT MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
#PrivateEquity, #HedgeFunds, #VentureCapital, #InvestmentBanking, #CapitalMarkets, #MergersAndAcquisitions, #WallStreet, #IPO #ResilientMediaEntertainment, @Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK
+PrivateEquity, +HedgeFunds, +VentureCapital, +InvestmentBanking, +CapitalMarkets, +MergersAndAcquisitions, +WallStreet, +ResilientMediaEntertainment, +@Resilient_Ent
http://goo.gl/d5gJK

SPOTLIGHT SHINING ON THE VANGAURD GROUP

Choose a different way to invest—Vanguarding

Many investors chase something—the hot mutual fund, a stock tip, the mirage of getting rich quickly. At Vanguard, our clients take a prudent approach.

They don't overpay for investments.

They don't pursue the hot funds.

They don't settle for being just clients—

they're client-owners.

Vanguarding is rooted in common sense and decades of investing wisdom:

Keep what's yours

What can be better than low-cost? At-cost investing. At Vanguard, a fund costs you what it costs us to run it. On average, other mutual funds are five times more expensive than ours.*

Saturday, January 28, 2012

SPOTLIGHT SHINING ON C5 GLOGAL

For over 10 years, events produced by C5 (formerly Euroforum) have provided the business intelligence that corporate decision-makers need to respond to challenges and opportunities around the world.

A unique organisation, C5 is staffed by industry and country specialists; lawyers and other professionals. We operate as a think tank, monitoring trends and developments in all major industry sectors, the law, and emerging markets, with a view to providing up to date and comprehensive business information.

Based in London, C5 holds conferences across Europe and has grown to produce over 90 events a year, attended by thousands of senior delegates from all over the world.

Market-Driven Approach

Our conferences, summits, and executive briefings provide 'need-to-know' information that keeps you on top of what's happening today in your industry. A combination of lectures, hands-on workshops, panels, roundtables and case studies ensure that the right information is delivered in the right format.

Each of our events is based on a solid foundation of research conducted with industry key players. Before we can develop a program that delivers the critical information our delegates demand, we first carry out detailed market research to ensure we understand and hit the “hot button” issues. As an objective third party, we strive to add value to the industries we serve by producing unbiased events that balance the needs and views of different stakeholders.

Our Global Reach

C5 – together with its affiliates, Canadian Institute (Toronto) and American Conference Institute (New York) – offers over 500 conferences, forums, and summits each year around the globe. Over 25,000 senior business and public sector executives, lawyers and other professionals from the UK, North America, Europe, Russia and CIS, China, Australia, Asia and Africa will attend our events this year.

Expanding Our Vision

An important part of C5’s role is that of “relationship broker.” We ensure that each event offers ample opportunity for our delegates to meet colleagues from across the country or around the world – and to learn about the latest products and services that can help their organisations succeed. Our sponsors and exhibitors tell us they depend on our events to help them reach highly focused market segments, expand customer networks, build brand equity, and make a lasting, positive impression on existing and potential customers. Learn more about our Sponsorship Opportunities.

C5 also publishes comprehensive materials for the majority of our conferences. These materials are especially developed by the speakers and are designed to be used by delegates as a practical reference source long after the conference is over. Learn more about our Publications.

Sharing News/Information 25/8 About: #PRIVATEEQUITY #VENTURECAPITAL

Friday, January 27, 2012

New York’s Zelkova Ventures tries an evergreen approach to funding startups

@VentureBeat San Francisco

Technology. People. Money. We bring you news on what matters in the tech business world. http://venturebeat.com/
Ben Popp

Jay Levy at Zelkova's Manhattan office

Investing in startups is a funny business. Sometimes venture capitalists find themselves with a company that is growing and profitable. But if there is no opportunity for an IPO or acquisition by a bigger competitor, there may not be an exit on the table that allows the VCs to get a return on the money they invested which satisfies the backers who support their fund.

“It’s a broken system in some ways,” says Jay Levy, co-founder and partner at Zelkova Ventures, over a lunch at Five Napkin Burger in Hell’s Kitchen. “The problem is that most funds are structured so that you can’t reinvest gains from an exit. This can put VCs in a position where their incentives are misaligned across multiple funds. We think allowing returns to be put back to work is the healthiest system for us, our backers and the companies we invest in.” An evergreen fund, Levy believes, allows for success with smaller returns.

Levy, with gelled black hair and thick silver watch, looks a little more Wall Street than most Silicon Alley venture capitalists. After college he went to work at Morgan Stanley, building software platforms for the banking giant. From there he spent time at the consulting firm MPI, which was eventually acquired by a financial services giant. VentureBeat asked if it was his background in finance that inclined Levy to try out a unique approach to venture investing.

“Not at all, it has more to do with my early experiences as an entrepreneur,” Levy said. He formed a company, UConnections, while he was an undergraduate at Rutgers. “We were pushed by our investors to expand quickly and win the market. In doing this we moved from being profitable to burning considerable cash.” When the venture markets tumbled in 2001, UConnections couldn’t raise cash or scale back quickly enough. It was a powerful and formative lesson for Levy. As for being Wall Street, “When we first started in 2008, I was the only VC coming to meetups in jeans,” Levy joked.

Over the last year Zelkova’s profile has grown as two of its portfolio companies, Fab and Klout, raised significant series C rounds that valued the startups in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Overall Zelkova is backing 35 companies across verticals like the consumer web, green tech, and software as a service. And as the infographic below shows, there has been substantial growth in its portfolio, doubling the employee count among Zelkova companies since this time last year. But can it become a bigger player without raising fresh capital?

We’ve had three exits in four years. The pool of capital we have to work with is growing. We think maybe this is a sustainable model,” Levy said. It certainly gives them a unique ability to focus. Most venture funds raise capital on a ten year cycle. By the third or fourth year investing, they already have to be out working on a fresh fundraise. Zelkova’s small pool of backers seems content to experiment, although their lack of interest in a cash return can’t last forever.

“It’s an interesting approach, much closer to what angel investors do,” said one New York VC, when VentureBeat asked for an opinion of Zelkova’s model. “In some ways it definitely allows them to be more nimble. But just like all funds, it only works while things are going well. At some point you might still need to go out and raise again.”

To track their growth over the last four years, Levy created this infographic charting everything from his firms investments, to their tweets, to what their portfolio companies think of themselves. “We asked all our companies to rank themselves from 1-10. We have a couple startups I might call a ten in there, but they didn’t think so highly of themselves,” Levy said. “There was one company that gave themselves a perfect ten, I don’t know quite what they were thinking.”

Duet, Vasari partner for Ethiopia’s largest private equity deal

Duet, Vasari partner for Ethiopia’s largest private equity deal
by: Dave

UK-based asset management firms Duet Group and Vasari have partnered with the TIRET Group, an Ethiopian endowment fund, in the brewery sector, in what will become the largest private equity investment in Ethiopia to-date.

Duet Group has a made significant investment into Dashen Brewery in the form of an equity injection from the newly-formed Duet Beverages Africa company, which will be managed by the Duet Africa Private Equity team together with Vasari as the company’s industrial partner.

Dashen Brewery is the only independent brewery in Ethiopia, with a market share of nearly 20 per cent. It has two popular brands, Dashen and Royal. Proceeds of the investment will be used to expand the company’s capacity and enhance distribution channels, the firm said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Ethiopian brewery sector experienced significant M&A activity in 2011, with international operators paying more than $400m for three state-operated breweries.

The sector, which has grown by more than 25 per cent annually over the last five years, is expected to continue to grow in line with Ethiopia’s double-digit GDP growth, which is forecast to be the fastest in Africa and third fastest in the world.

Henry Gabay, a co-founder and co-chairman of Duet Group, said, “The economic performance of Ethiopia over the last eight years has been nothing short of outstanding. We are very excited about consumer-driven businesses in the country.”

Duet Group is a London-based asset management firm with over $2.7bn of assets under management. Also based in London, Vasari is an international private wealth, multi-asset investment firm with a history of growing businesses in South Africa, Europe, Asia and South America.

In December last year Duet Group also announced it had invested in Expatcare Health International, a Nigerian health maintenance organisation.

Copyright © 2012 AltAssets

@altassets London

AltAssets (The Alternative Assets Network) aims to inform the global private equity and venture capital community and connect LPs & GPs worldwide. http://www.altassets.net/