Fri., July 29, 2011

Boise’s Highway 12 Ventures to stop future investments

Boise-based venture capital firm Highway 12 Ventures announced it's not going to continue raising money. Highway 12 was one of the few intermountain Western VC operations that could claim to be doing major investments.

A recent blog post said its partners will continue to manage the first two funds it created. It also said the firm would not shut down, The entry also noted family considerations by some founders played a role in the decision.

Tom Simpson, Spokane-based manager of Win Partners and manager of Northwest Ventures Associates, said he has participated in several investments with the Highway 12 group.

"It reminds me of the old song 'Another one bites the dust,' " Simpson said.

"The venture capital model is broken. Moreover, access to capital for emerging companies has increasingly become clogged with regulatory roadblocks," Simpson added, in an email.

Here is additional information found in a recent Wall Street Journal online story:

Highway 12, which is affiliated with Village Ventures, raised $100 million across two funds that closed in 2001 and 2007. It backed a couple dozen start-ups in a variety of industries, mostly in Idaho, Colorado and Utah.

Its active portfolio includes medical patient-based social network Alliance Health Networks Inc., which raised $11 million last month; online advertising start-up Lijit Networks Inc., which secured $10 million in April; 4G router company CradlePoint Technology Inc., which raised $7.5 million in December; and robotic ball developer Orbotix Inc, which received $5 million in April.

Posted July 29, 2011, 2:04 p.m.