Visto is only the latest, and largest, target of an investment fund targeting an intellectual property opportunity. In that deal announced last week, Altitude Partners invested $35 million to bring wireless e-mail startup Visto's total fundraising to $315 million.
The Deal's Corporate Dealmaker magazine interviewed Altitude founder Robert Kramer in a story featuring the five major IP investors. Here's the part about Kramer:
Kramer was formerly a managing director at Fortress Investment Group LLC, where he developed an expertise in litigation assets, including personal injury claims — an expertise with obvious relevance in his new field. One of the big attractions about Altitude's recently announced investment in DeepNines Inc., a small network security company, is DeepNines' patent-infringement lawsuit against anti-virus vendor McAfee Inc.
But Altitude's stake in DeepNines appears to be more than a bet on the lawsuit. Founded in 1999, the privately held company has multiple products, 37 employees and a management team with a track record. What Altitude has seemingly devised is a novel way of entering the capital structure of the firm. According to a release, the investment combines senior secured notes "linked to IP proceeds" with equity warrants.
It's unclear if the Visto deal mirrored the DeepNines' one. But it is certain that there was no reference to warrants in the Visto release. Here are some other active IP funds:
Tags: visto, ip,vc, venture+capital
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