Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com July 27, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 5 Biotech boosts CT's 2Q venture funding After a slow start to the year, venture funding in Connecticut surged in the second quarter thanks largely to continued investor interest in biotechnology companies. Venture capitalists injected $117.6 mil- lion in Connecticut companies during the second quarter of 2015, up from $109.3 mil- lion a year earlier and $24 million in the first quarter. Nationally, venture investment spiked 30 percent. Overall, 15 Connecticut companies received funding during the April-to-June period, compared to 18 a year earlier, according to the latest MoneyTree report, a joint effort of PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), using data from Thomson Reuters. New Haven's Melinta Therapeutics Inc. scored the biggest deal raising $67 million. The biotech company is using the money to help it complete a Phase 3 clinical study of its investi- gational antibiotic for drug-resistant infections. Melinta hopes to get approvals for its drug, delafloxacin, to treat patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. The company said it is also con- sidering applying to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approvals for delafloxa- cin to treat a type of bacterial pneumonia. Another New Haven company, SeeClick- Fix Inc., recorded the second biggest deal raising $13 million from various investors including Connecticut Innovations, Elm Street Ventures and LaunchCapital. The company is developing a web tool that allows residents to report non-emergency neighbor- hood issues to local law enforcement. Windsor-based ZoneFlow Reactor Tech- nologies LLC raised $3.2 million, while Hartford's Amp Electrical Distribution Services and Farmington-based BioArray Therapeutics Inc. raised $2.7 million and $1.3 million, respectively. Biotechnology continues to be one of Connecticut's most attractive industries for investment. It secured nearly $80 million in the second quarter. Software companies raised $16.7 million, followed by media and entertainment, which raised 13.6 million. Nationally, $17.5 billion was invested in 1,189 deals in the second quarter, with software companies bringing in more than a third of that total. — Greg Bordonaro CT Venture Capital Funding 2014 2015 Quarter # of Deals Amount Invested # of Deals Amount Invested 1 13 $196,924,800 10 $24,137,000 2 18 $109,344,000 15 $117,609,900 Grand Total 31 $306,268,800 25 $141,746,900 S O U R C E : M O N E Y T R E E R E P O R T , A J O I N T E F F O R T O F P R I C E W A T E R H O U S E C O O P E R S A N D T H E N A T I O N A L V E N T U R E C A P I T A L A S S O C I A T I O N ( N V C A ) , U S I N G D A T A F R O M T H O M S O N R E U T E R S PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. Valenti Chevrolet Dealership | Wallingford, Connecticut PDS Engineering & Construction served as design/builder for this 16,888 SF addition to the existing dealership. Design elements included civil, structural, and MEP. Project Features: • Showroom and offices • Service department • Detailing area • Technician space • Storage Highly recommended, competitive, straightforward ... on-time and on-budget. – David Valenti, President, Valenti Auto Sales 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS SPOTLIGHT ON: Commercial PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Report: Family businesses not prepared for succession planning Nearly four out of five family owned busi- nesses are not prepared when current man- agement retires, a new report says, indicating there is a major succession-planning gap for many U.S. and Connecticut companies. The report by accounting firms BlumSha- piro (West Hartford) and Baker Tilly Inter- national (London) found that key challenges faced by family business owners include being ready for transition or market sale, and ensuring that the business has the financial capacity to support both retirement and the next generation. And those issues come at a time when a major generational shift among family businesses is about to hit, as Baby Boom- ers inch toward retirement and exit man- agement and control. The size of the family-business sector means that if this transition is not managed well, the impact on state, national and global economies will be significant, the report said. "Family businesses valuing trillions of dollars will change hands over the next decade as the Baby Boomer generation pass on their businesses," said Carl John- son, managing partner with BlumShap- iro and chairman of the North American Regional Advisory Council of Baker Tilly International. "Many of those retiring cur- rently have no succession strategy. If this transition is not managed well, the econom- ic impact on will be significant." Johnson said this is a new era of succes- sion planning in which the notion that the eldest child is going to take over the business when the parent is ready to retire is not a via- ble option for the continuity of many family owned businesses. In fact, 73 percent of the 2,650 U.S. and international business owners surveyed said they do not see a compelling rationale to pass their business to a family member and would consider a sale instead. Johnson also said the key to succes- sion planning today is just as much about the transfer of knowledge and skills as it is about the transfer of wealth. "This is because the level of skills required to effectively run a business in today's environment is far greater than it was in previous generations," Johnson said. "If business owners haven't helped the next generation develop these skills, the capital value of the business is going to be impact- ed. If a skills gap causes a vacancy in lead- ership, then it's going be hard to maintain the desired business continuity." According to the study, business continu- ity, family harmony and sustaining ongoing jobs for employees are key outcomes sought in the succession process. — Greg Bordonaro From Central Connecticut's trusted business news source. It's the up-to-date information you need to do better business! and HBJToday Get local breaking business news daily! HBJToday and CT Morning Blend are FREE and you may unsubscribe at any time. Sign up today at HartfordBusiness.com: Click on the 'suBscriBe' button

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