| Herbal concentrates from high-altitude alpine farms. Bizzmo'z Manager of "Venture Zone", Geneva's first startup and co-working center in Geneva. Brightec Night-luminescent photographic paper. IPO at $0.25-$1.00 per share, traded to $4.20, valuing the company at USD 85m. Cats & Dogs Swiss pet-supplies retail chain - national favorite for its funky TV ads, comic truck-decor and pet-nut staff.
Many people see China only as a manufacturing play and that's a mistake. They also have exciting and welcoming world-class innovation and entrepreneurial environments. Most of our work was at the start of the new era. - Forlink Software Inc. (see below) - Beijing's first international venture capital conference (with the Chinese Innovation Office). - E-Law China online legal database, sold to local interests. - Wearable GPS receivers, sold to local interests. - Mega-volume video storage devices, sold to local interests. - Phonecard service for expat Chinese, sold to local interests. Curtisium Labs Incubated with alumni of Istanbul Technical University, technology for night-luminescent tiles, mosaics, sheeting, moldings, paints, cosmetics. Private. Extra 2000 Incubated with alumni of Plovdiv University, dealership specialising in medical and bank vehicles which started the first professional ambulance company in Bulgaria. Private. Forlink Software Incubated with alumni of Tsinghua University and Chengdu University who had helped set up Yahoo Japan, this Beijing software company was the first online retailer of software in the Chinese provinces, a portal, search and hosting pioneer. Expanded to systems and billing software for telecoms, ISPs, government departments, online trading exchanges for commodities. Forlink was a driver of the digital revolution in China and was the first mainland Chinese internet company to be quoted in the US, the first to do a San Francisco launch with real-time Beijing/Frankfurt internet videolink, and the first search engine in China. IPO at $1.00 per share simultaneous with China's WTO membership announcement, traded to $25.00 per share. Group 7 Engineering Incubated with alumni of Bergamo University, this company manufactured carbon, aramid, metallic and ceramic composites for Airbus, Douglas, Boeing, Fokker, and defence groups. Factory produced under FAA/AI inspection certificates. Technology leader in these fields: a. Non-metallic bulkheads for civil aircraft, resistant to fragmentation and metal-piercing munitions. b. Explosion-resistant vehicle floors. Ceramic-faced composite armor for tanks and APTs. c. Riot-police helmets resistant to metal-piercing munitions. Anti-ballistic upgrades for helmets and vests used in most NATO PASGT equipment. d. Robotic hyperbaric water-jet cutters and specialty steel tools for processing of aramid composites to aeronautical precision standards. e. Machinery for shredding and recycling aramid flock for asbestos replacement in brake and clutch linings. f. ULW structures for mini-drones, rescue sleds, sports, land-art. Business sold to sub-contractor. Haas Neveux Incubated with alumni of Geneva University, this company started the trend for reviving historical Swiss prestige watch brands. It raised its first round of finance from watch distributors in the Emirates, and a second round from watch industry veterans associated with watch auctioneer Antiquorum. The watch business was bought by Samsung's Swiss manufacturing operation. The holding company took over several Chinese projects which were later spun off to Chinese interests. The holding company examined takeover candidates including forests and sports-grounds in Latin America, mine clean-up projects in USA and Canada, a tunnel and light-rail project in Colorado, etc. In 2003 it was bought by a Beijing real estate developer and became Sino Real Property Development Corp. The new owners have not maintained a public market in the shares. IPO shares were originally placed at $0.50 and traded to $2.00 per share, valuing the company at USD 40m. Kolorfusion International Incubated with inventors from France's 'Plastics Vallée' near Geneva, this Denver and Shanghai surface-decor process company works with camouflage, sports equipment, building materials, hardware, etc. IPO at $0.50 and $1.00 traded to $1.80 per share, valuing the company at USD 36m. Lexon Technologies Eurasia GPS and mapping software company in the first days of this technology - representation for eastern Europe and Asia. Lexon was too early in this market and subsequently entered a new field.
Social enterprise incubated with a mentoring center for violent youngsters in Glasgow, this business exported Shetland sweater rejects from Scotland to Spain's fashionista boutiques. Return trip with then ultra-hip flamenco bell-bottoms and heeled boots sold to UK pop groups and Carnaby Street outlets. Later added reject Harris Tweed fabrics, sold with hacking-jacket pattern via riding clubs and provincial tailors in Spain. North Wool Incubated with mountain shepherd communities, this hand-knitting co-operative in the Pyrenees made chic Aran- style écru ribbed sweaters sold via yacht clubs, and earthy hand-spun plant-dyed styles for hippies sold via craft markets. The 'Aran' name was a word-play on the Irish island of Aran and the Pyrenean valley of Aran. Incubated with HR specialists from the UK, this company advised multinationals on performance review methodology, job and salary assessments, with US and European benchmarking. Pricer Sollentuna, Sweden maker of wireless digital price-labels for supermarkets. Installed at retail chains including Metro, Leclerc, Carrefour, etc. they allow prices to be changed via satellite from another continent, real-time feedback protocols relative to inventory, buyer-flow, etc. Structured and placed pre-IPO convertible debenture with investors who exited when Pricer listed its shares in its Stockholm IPO. Puntapolo Corporation Incubated with alumni of Royal Agricultural College Cirencester, this company organized stud, stabling and logistics for the polo industry, managed players and instructors. Activities were spun off after death of the two founders. The long-term objective of the company was to launch a new game called "Rolo" aimed at the sponsor- loved teenage male demographic, using a large inflated ball (150 cm diameter) and played like soccer so everyone knows the rules. Actually it had already been invented in the 1800s by Cavalry Regiments in India but was never much developed. Most versions (in US and NZ) have the horse pushing the ball, but in Rolo the riders kick the ball, which makes it a much faster game with a real dynamic. Rolo has other advantages - the big ball means you can play on rough fields or beaches or desert or snow or frozen lakes, you can ride any quality of horse (or camel or bike or scooter or on foot), there are no mysterious polo rules and it can be played in urban or rural locations. The game really develops riding skills. We founded a club in Edinburgh to establish historical precedence and as a glamor home-venue we started to buy the old Punta del Este Polo Club on the wild Uruguayan coast at the now uber-chic but then unknown village of José Ignacio. The first Rolo games were played in UK, Spain, UAE, Pakistan, Uruguay and the US. But unfortunately our partners in Punta had political problems and the partners in the UK and Argentina died. Re-organized as a "country polo" operation in the UK, the company continued happily for years. Renaissance Golf (Fila Golf USA) This Utah golf products company, which operated the Fila sport/fashion brand's US golf license, was well-known for its 'Latitude' product-line of clubs, bags and clothes. It was spun off after the IPO to Japanese interests. Young Venture Associates Incubated with students of Business School Lausanne, this teenpreneur company was launched in 1990 to fund and mentor other youth startups. All its staff was transferred to its first startup (Cats & Dogs). The corporate structure was used temporarily by a number of other startups and finally put into receivership. |
Here's a few startups we worked on... there's more
| Extra 2000 |
People-tools - doing the physical parts that digital can't. Interaction tools for business, cities, and organizations. |
