Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • April 9, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 15 The deals that made CI's year Like any venture fund, the most common way CI cashes in on an investment is if a portfolio company is acquired or goes public. Several deals made the difference last year. They include: • Avon tech firm iDevices, which was acquired by Shelton's Hub- bell Inc. for $59.2 million. CI had a $3 million stake in iDevices and roughly doubled that investment with the sale. • Norwalk's eTouches, which provides event management software and sourcing services, was bought by Palo Alto, Calif., private-equity firm HGGC for an undisclosed sum. CI had a $6.7 million stake in eTouches and roughly doubled that investment. • Branford biopharma AxioMx was sold to the British company Abcam for $20 million plus up to another $25 million in potential perfor- mance payments. CI expects to earn back four times its initial $2 million investment. In addition, New Haven-based BioHaven's $194 million initial public offering last May will lead to 2018 returns for CI, which took a $2 million eq- uity stake in the company in 2014. BioHaven is developing a migraine pill it acquired from Bristol-Myers Squibb. CI's core fund invests in bioscience, medi- cal device and technology com- panies, particu- larly those that have shown the potential to draw other outside funding and that have a revenue-generating product, or at least a strong drug candidate. It often targets companies that are five to 15 years away from potentially getting acquired or going public, if they're successful. CI holds some form of board seat on most of the companies into which it invests $500,000 or more. About 50 of its portfolio companies have been acquired or gone public in recent years. CI has earned $309 mil- lion in investment returns since 1995. It invested in 75 companies last year, but evaluated more than 500. The number of companies CI assess- es has grown, up from 200 to 300 per year, with the introduction of the annual VentureClash competition, which is open to startups globally. Foot to the pedal, for now McCooe, a software entrepreneur, corporate VC and university tech trans- fer executive, arrived at CI in 2015. Since then, he says CI's board has urged him to be aggressive. And he and his team have been. CI has been ranked regularly by Crain's as one of the most ac- tive VC firms on the East Coast. It did 75 deals last year, up about seven fold com- pared to 2009. "Right now our board says 'put your foot to the pedal, we want more deals, not less,' " McCooe said, adding that the Connecticut market produces about 25 new compa- nies per year that CI can invest in. But he is starting to think about hitting the brakes at some point down the road. At an upcoming retreat, he and his team plan to discuss the fact that CI will soon have 200 companies in its portfolio. That means follow-on invest- ments could quickly add up, perhaps $100 million a year, which is more than CI typically has available in state bond autho- rizations. "We need to make sure we're selective and scaling back our commitments," he said. "And we're also trying to get [compa- nies] to the point where they don't need CI dollars." Cantor said the board discusses CI's future at every meeting. They want CI to keep growing its portfolio, he said, but without great- er participation from other venture funds its impact will be limited. One key, he said, will be getting more venture capital firms to move into Connecticut. "We need you in New Haven, we need you in Hartford," Cantor said. Movers & Shakers Christopher Canna has been promoted to assistant director of real estate development at CIL, a Hartford- based real estate development company. Canna served as lead developer and owner's representative for Capewell Lofts, the $27 million conversion of the historic Capewell Horsenail Factory into 72 apartments and 5,400 square feet of commercial space. Nadine Brennan, Rosaida Morales Rosario, Ryan Taylor and Lauren Thorner have joined the board of directors of Leadership Greater Hartford (LGH), and Gioia Molinaro Zack was appointed to serve on the executive committee as secretary of the LGH board. Brennan is associate campus director at UConn Hartford and was primarily responsible for the relocation of the UConn Hartford campus from West Hartford to downtown Hartford. Morales Rosario is a leadership and organizational development consultant with Rosario & Associates LLC. Taylor is the senior supervisor system operations for Eversource Energy. Thorner is health service leadership program director for Cigna. Molinaro Zack is a commercial broker with O,R&L Commercial and chairman of the Wethersfield Economic Development and Improvement Commission. Keith G. Wetjen, Peter C. Pabich and Marilyn Steinmetz have joined Private Capital Group (PCG), a West Hartford-based wealth management and advisory firm. All three are certified financial planners. Wetjen also in an attorney. John C. Ryan has been appointed the new general counsel at Jackson Laboratory (JAX). Ryan will ensure JAX's activities meet all legal and regulatory requirements and will also facilitate commercial transactions, licensing, spin-offs, sponsored research agreements and other strategies to help commercialize JAX's intellectual property. Prior to joining JAX, Ryan was president and CEO and a member of the board of directors of Unilife Corp., a development-stage medical device company. Michelle DiMartino has been promoted from senior portfolio administrator to chief compliance officer at YHB Investment Advisors Inc., an independent investment advisory firm based in West Hartford, and T. Matthew Manning has been promoted to senior portfolio manager. DiMartino, in addition to her portfolio administration experience, has held a variety of positions in accounting and finance within the insurance and long-term care industries. Manning has more than 12 years of investment, financial analysis and corporate finance experience. Carolyn Welch has been promoted to senior vice president, commercial lending manager at Chelsea Groton Bank to lead its commercial lending team in attracting, developing, and growing commercial relationships throughout its market area, including Hartford County. Welch joined the bank in 2016 as vice president, commercial loan officer. Nick Pescosolido has taken on the new role of director of operations at Manchester-based Empire Industries Inc. Pescosolido has spent about 15 years at Empire in numerous roles, including production assembler, die setter, toolmaker, machinist and others. Scott Schinlever has been hired as president and chief operating officer leading the automation solutions business for Gerber Technology in Tolland. Schinlever joins Gerber from EFI, where he was senior VP and general manager of EFI's inkjet business. Christopher Canna John C. Ryan Nadine Brennan Rosaida Morales Rosario Carolyn Welch Michelle DiMartino Ryan Taylor Lauren Thorner Gioia Molinaro Zack Connecticut Innovations Chief Investment Officer Dave Wurzer (left) says CI is drawing more interest from venture firms. Jobs Created by Connecticut Innovations' Investments Source: Connecticut Innovations 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 No. of jobs 971 1,104 1,224 1,552 1,618

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