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On the Move
Top Of PageExpansion: Sycamore Ventures
A five-year-old venture capital firm, Sycamore Ventures,
has acquired a Princeton address. The 13-person office moved from
4,700 square feet at 989 Lenox Drive to 5,700 feet on the first floor
of the U.S. Trust Building at 845 Alexander Road in January and has
a new phone and fax.
Among the firm’s three founding partners is a man with impeccable
political connections, John Whitman, husband of the former governor.
Peter Gerry and Kilin To are also managing partners. They have
invested
in more than 100 companies and have taken 20 companies public. They
have sold or merged 40 companies, and they have offices in San
Francisco
and Asia.
Sycamore Ventures, the only tenant of U.S. Trust, has a five year
lease with a renewal option. Bob Sobol of the Acclaim Group
represented
the tenant and Buzz Woodworth of Keller Dodds & Woodworth the
landlord.
Architect Joel David Zieden designed the interior to have 14 perimeter
offices, a large interior conference room, and a large file room,
and two secretarial areas. Michael Riesz and Co. of Fords, New Jersey,
was the general contractor.
Except for the new office’s proximity to the train station, Princeton
is not a particularly convenient location for the Whitmans, who live
in Bedminster. “We looked for an office further north, but there
really are not a lot of class A buildings along the 206 corridor that
would be convenient for everyone,” says David Lichtenstein, the
chief financial officer who planned the move.
With $450 million under management, the firm focuses on second stage
through IPO companies in the areas of information technology and
biotechnology.
Its active funds are Sycamore Venture Capital, an SBIC fund started
in November, 1999, that has $51 million in private capital. As a Small
Business Investment Corporation, it gets federal funds matched two
for one, so the fund can be $153 million. The Asia Star IT fund,
started
in May, 2000, has $165 million. Earlier funds are fully invested and
are in “harvest mode.”
An Edison-based consumer products company with brands such as
“Carpet
Fresh”, “X-14,” and “2000 Flushes,” was acquired
by WD-40 Company last April.
One of Sycamore’s first computer investments was Taiwan-based Acer
Group, now the sixth largest PC manufacturer in the world. Other
computer
companies are ASUSTeK Computer, the largest global PC system board
manufacturer; ACM Research Corporation (a semiconductor equipment
manufacturing company for polishing and plating in copper
interconnect,
headquartered in northern California), and three more Taiwan-based
companies.
In the telecommunications and networking industries, Sycamore has
invested in companies based in Texas, Florida, California, India,
Tokyo, and Jedai Broadband Networks in Red Bank.
Among Sycamore’s other companies in New Jersey are two dotcoms.
Edison-based
Easylink (www.easylink.com) provides business messaging services and
went public in June, 1999. RxHope.com, in Hackettstown, is a website
where doctors can request free medication for their indigent patients.
In 1998 these VCs invested in Juno Online Services, helped it go
public,
and sold their position. Software, healthcare and biotechnology, media
and broadcasting, and financial services are among the other
investment
areas.
Whitman went to Yale, Class of 1966, and has a Harvard Business School
MBA. He has had several positions at Citicorp and was an advisor to
such firms as the Ford Motor Company, AT&T Venture Corp., the
Hungarian-American
Enterprise Fund, British and Commonwealth Holdings PLC, Coopers &
Lybrand, the United States Agency for International Development
(U.S.A.I.D.),
and Prudential Securities Inc. From 1987 to 1990 he was CEO of
Prudential-Bache
Interfunding Inc., a merchant banking fund.
Gerry graduated from Harvard in 1968 and received his MBA from the
Harvard Business School. He has been president of two Citicorp equity
investment subsidiaries and president of the New York Venture Capital
Forum.
To earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Princeton
University in 1969 and an MBA from the Wharton School in 1979. He
worked at Philips Electronics, RCA Corporation, AT&T Corporation and
Digital Equipment Corporation, was president of Citicorp Investments
Inc., and vice president at Citicorp Venture Capital Ltd. To divides
his time between the United States and the four Asian offices —
in Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore and Shanghai — which total 10
people. The VCs are hiring for the Asian offices.
— Barbara Fox
Sycamore Ventures, 845 Alexander Road, Princeton08540. Peter Gerry, managing director. 609-759-8888; fax,609-759-8900.Www.sycamorevc.comTop Of PageNew in FiberopticsWith about a dozen companies concentrating on someaspectof fiberoptics, Princeton is acquiring a reputation as a photonicand fiberoptic center. Another company has emerged on the Princetonscene, this one at Princess Road in Lawrence. It set up shop lastyear, has 10 employees, and does some manufacturing of componentshere, though it has also established an assembly and distributioncenter near Beijing.Like PD/LD, founded by Vladimir Ban in 1993, PrinceTel does laserdiode packaging. Among its products are pigtailed modules, receptaclemodules, and turnkey laser diode light sources. Available as stockitems or as custom-order packages these products serve a wide varietyof industries — sensing, test and measurement, biotechnology,medicine, aerospace, and telecommunications. These products constitute60 to 75 percent of the current business.The newest line of products is fiberoptic test equipment, and thisline is expected to grow to 50 percent of sales. “Our testequipmentis specifically for the lab environment, which makes us differentfrom companies that are focused more for the on-road individual,”says Daniel Watts, who is in charge of sales and services.”Becausethe equipment we deal with is so closely linked with our otherexpertise,we have developed a standard of tolerances that we think is betterand more efficient than our competition.” He also claims hisproductshave long term stability and efficiency.The test equipment provides the light source used in testingfiberopticcomponents for power level and loss of power. “Just like householdelectrical jacks that provide a steady electrical source, needed tostart the action for running the computer or the toaster, this actsas a beginning source,” says Watts.The test equipment, called “Cooled Laser Diode Light Source,”is priced in the low thousands, weighs 1.3 kilograms and measures197 x 163 x 58 millimeters. It is often coupled with a power meterto read the power. Says Watts: “The unit is prepared so that itcan be on the desktop of each individual in the lab.”PrinceTel Inc., 4 Princess Road, Suite 209,Lawrenceville08648. Kainan Tang, CEO. 609-895-9890; fax, 609-895-9552. Homepage: www.princetel.comTop Of PageEast-West GrowthAvinash Diwan is finding a way to make manufacturingpay. The Rutgers MBA (Class of 1978) founded an import/export company,East-West Service Co., right after graduation. Diwan’s 23-year-oldfirm sells to distributors around the country, and its marketingoperationsare in Virginia.Among his latest ventures is Brooks Power Systems, a manufacturerof outlet strips and surge suppressors that has opened an office onNami Lane. Diwan’s wife, Veena, runs that 15-person company. Itscustomersinclude Compaq, Apple, Cooper Industries, Dell, Boeing, and theGeneralServices Administration. For the U.S. Navy it designed and made ashipboard surge protector.Diwan and his wife live in West Windsor, where their two childrengraduated from West Windsor Plainsboro High School. Their son, Anurag,works for Salomon Smith Barney, and their daughter, Ambika, is aphysicaltherapist at Livingston Hospital.Several years ago, Diwan purchased Carpenter Emergency Lighting, aVirginia company. Countering the trend of manufacturing going south,Diwan moved Carpenter to New Jersey last year. The company has officesat 2 Marlen Drive in Hamilton. Its products include emergency lightsand exit signs. Carpenter employs 15 people, and Diwan expects toadd 8 to 10 more within six months. Finding employees is not difficultnow, he says, largely because of all the downsizings.Diwan combined Carpenter’s accounting and other administrativefunctionswith those of Brooks Power, and he says that such efficiency is onekey to profitable manufacturing in New Jersey. Perhaps more important,he says, is to “keep it global.” Scour the world for the bestprices on parts and assembly, and then do final assembly here, ishis prescription.One of the products that he makes on a private label basis is awarningsystem for residential basement sump pumps. Instead of relying ona float valve, it senses the water level, starts the motor, and sendsa signal upstairs. It will be available in chain hardware stores thisyear.East-West Service Co. Inc., 2 Marlen Drive,Hamilton08691. Avinash Diwan, owner. 609-631-9000; fax, 609-689-3091. Homepage: www.carpenteremergencylighting.comBrooks Power Systems, 3 Nami Lane, Unit 6,Mercerville08619. Veena Diwan. 609-890-0100; fax, 609-631-9001.Top Of PageExpansionsRadpharm, 103 Carnegie Center, Suite 300 A,Princeton08540. Donald Rosen MD, chief technological officer. 609-924-1067;fax, 609-924-2094. Home page: www.radpharm.comA clinical trial services company has quadrupled in size, going from3,400 feet at Research Park to 15,000 square feet at the CarnegieCenter. Radpharm is a sister company to Princeton Radiology Associatesand focuses on medical imaging.Radpharm is a full-service imaging core lab that manages the imagingsegment of global clinical trials. It has 26 full-time board certifiedsub-specialty trained radiologists on staff, and it proposes to cutthe time that it takes to get a new drug to market. It has a researchfacility in Jamesburg.Top Of PageNew in TownEsoterix, 20 Lake Drive, East Windsor 08520.AnthonyG. Busa, president of clinical trial center. 888-333-3952; fax,512-225-1100.Home page: www.esoterix.comA pharmaceutical company based in Austin, Texas, has taken 32,000square feet at 20 Lake Drive for a clinical trials laboratory. JohnHoran of Coldwell Banker Commercial/Feist & Feist represented thetenant and Bob Sager of Insignia ESG represented the landlord.Headquartered in Austin, Texas, this company has its clinical trialcenter and an endocrinology laboratory in Calabasas Hills, California.It has a coagulation division in Aurora, California, an infectiousdisease center in San Antonio, a molecular genetics office in EdenPrairie, Minnesota, a toxicology laboratory in Woodland Hills,California,and several oncology laboratories in the U.S. and the Netherlands.Top Of PageCrosstown MovesMohrman/Scott Associates Inc., 2681 Princeton Pike,Lawrenceville 08648. Jeffrey Scott, president. 609-434-1500; fax,609-434-1510. Www.mohrman-scott.comThe pharmaceutical marketing research firm moved from 1,600 squarefeet at 14 Washington Road to 1,500 feet at 2681 Princeton Pike.New Jersey Pharmacists Association, 760 AlexanderRoad, Box 1, Princeton 08543. Joseph I. Morris, chief executiveofficer.609-275-4246. Www.njpha.comThe pharmacists’ association has moved from Marlen Drive inRobbinsvilleto 760 Alexander Road, the New Jersey Hospital Association buildingand the home of many other health-related associations. The phoneis new.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
