FT - COMPANIES &
FINANCE UK & IRELAND:
Meyer flexes NanoMuscle with VW link
By Peter Smith, Private Equity
Correspondent
Financial Times; Mar 10, 2003
Julie Meyer, founder of the First Tuesday
networking parties, has linked with
Volkswagen, the German car group, to invest
in an early- stage business that makes
miniature motors for the toy and automotive
industries.
NanoMuscle, based in California, has
received a $10m (£6.4m) capital injection
from Ariadne Capital, a venture capital
group which Ms Meyer founded, VW and
Crossbow, another venture capitalist.
Ms Meyer set up Ariadne with Bundeep Singh
Rangar, the group's chief operating
officer, in late 2000, a few months after
selling First Tuesday.
The match-making club for internet
entrepreneurs began with £50,000 of seed
capital from Ms Meyer. Less than two years
after it started out in a basement bar in
London's Soho, it was sold for $50m to
Yazam, an Israel-based company focused on
early stage investments. The sale came near
the peak of the interent boom.
The lossmaking company, which has sales of
more than $1m, has already attracted
financial support from DaimlerChrysler,
another German car group, and Jetta, one of
the world's biggest manufacturers of
children's toys.
Mr Rangar said VW's investment, through its
corporate venturing unit, provided "massive
industrial validation of its commercial
prospects".
Ariadne said it had taken a "minority"
equity stake in the business.
NanoMuscle was set up by Rod MacGregor, a
UK entrepreneur who founded Nasdaq-listed
Insignia Solutions.
Mr Rangar said standard motor vehicles can
use 100 small motors, which are used to
power rear view mirrors, door locks,
instrument clusters and comfort seating.
However, the technology is not suitable for
many applications. |
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