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Astia Companies Show Record Q1 Momentum Despite Tough Economy
Astia Companies Show Record Q1 Momentum Despite Tough Economy; Reap Rewards of Increases in National Venture Capital Funding SAN FRANCISCO, NEW YORK AND LONDON – April 14, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aligning with U.S. trends showing a rise in venture funding in the first quarter of 2010, Astia, a premier venture accelerator that targets exceptional start-ups with women on their founding teams, today announced that 11 of its member companies have secured funding and one has had a successful exit in Q1. Additionally, several Astia clients have demonstrated exceptional growth and revenues. Astia member companies that have secured funding in 2010 include Arcxis Biotechnologies, Avaxia Biologics, HarQen, LearnVest, Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBI) and Renewable Fuels Technology. The cumulative investment total exceeds $25 million. DNA Direct, the leader in providing guidance and decision support for genomic medicine to patients, providers, payors and employees, was acquired by Medco Health Solutions, Inc (NYSE:MHS) in February. Among the Astia clients demonstrating strong business momentum, Blurb and MBI saw significantly increased revenues. Blurb recorded $45 million in revenue in 2009, was profitable for the second straight year since launching in 2006, and shipped 1.2 million books to over 60 countries on five continents. MBI’s first quarter 2010 sales exceeded all of its 2009 revenues. “We are committed to the growth of each of our companies and are thrilled with the strong momentum we’re seeing from our clients in a very tough 2009 and thus far in 2010,” said Sharon Vosmek, CEO of Astia. “Each of these management teams has worked exceptionally hard to achieve success. Astia firmly believes innovation requires gender diversity and our companies’ long history of successes are proof points of this reality.” According to a growing body of research, innovation requires diverse groups. Most notably, Scott Page from the University of Michigan has proven “that diverse groups of problem solvers outperformed the groups of the best individuals at solving problems. The reason: the diverse groups got stuck less often than the smart individuals, who tended to think similarly.” Astia leverages this science and commits to sourcing the best of the best diverse start-ups for the investment community. “The exposure to and commitment from the Astia Advisor Community has been an integral part of getting us to where we are today,” said Alexa von Tobel, founder and CEO of LearnVest.com, an award-winning personal finance website for women. “From start to finish, we were able to close our most recent Series A raise in just six weeks from a top tier firm with the perfect DNA for LearnVest.” • Avaxia Biologics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing oral antibodies for diseases of the GI tract, was awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant for approximately $213,000 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health, to support the development of a novel antibody therapeutic for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). If early results are promising, the Company could receive an additional $750,000 in Phase II funding. • HarQen, a company that combines telephony, web and social networking to provide smart, easy-to-use business applications, raised $2.7MM in funding. • LearnVest, a personal finance site for women, raised $4.5MM from venture capital firm, Accel, and its seed investors, who previously put in $1.1MM. • Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBI), a company that discovers, develops and markets effective and environmentally responsible natural products that focus on unmet needs for weed, pest and plant disease management, raised $7.1MM. • Renewable Fuels Technology (RFT), which converts waste biomass into a high performance fuel that replaces coal, completed development of a demonstration BioCoal processor and closed a round of seed financing. RFT is preparing for a commercial test burn with GWF Energy and is in negotiations for pilot projects in California and Nevada. • Astia Client, Undisclosed Consumer Financial Tech Company, Raised $700K Seed • Astia Client, Undisclosed Consumer Tech Company, Raised $2MM Seed • Astia Client, Undisclosed Clean Tech, Raised over $1MM Seed • Astia Client, Undisclosed Risk Analysis Technology Company, Raised Undisclosed Series A • Astia Client, Undisclosed Consumer Web Service, Raised Undisclosed Seed ### East Coast Media Contact: |