Open Prairie Ventures raises $30M, hits Kansas Bioscience Authority threshold
Kansas City Business Journal
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Open Prairie Ventures announced Wednesday that it has raised $30 million in its investment fund, making it the third venture capital firm to meet both requirements set out by the Kansas Bioscience Authority.
The financing is a combination of investments from Nueterra Capital Management and the KBA, which gave the firm $5 million from a $50 million pot a year ago.
To date, Open Prairie has made four investments from the fund, one of them being KCBioMedix, a medical device company in Shawnee, Kan., working to solve feeding issues in premature infants.
Open Prairie, which has offices in Illinois and Olathe, was one of eight venture capital firms to receive investment dollars from the KBA in October 2009. The money came with two stipulations: First, that the firms raise at least $25 million for a fund to invest in life sciences, and second, that the firms establish an office in Kansas.
Almost exactly a year later, only three - Boston-based MPM Capital, Open Prairie and IN Partners/MidPoint Food & Ag of Carmel, Ind. (now Cultivian Ventures) - have met both requirements. The remaining five have yet to meet either one.
KBA President Tom Thornton said the fact that the three firms raised the capital despite the decline in venture investments in the third quarter demonstrated the strength of the firms chosen to receive KBA financing.
"We're fortunate to have picked some well-respected funds, and they're clearly showing success in raising capital," Thornton said.
Here's the breakdown of the venture firms and the financing the KBA gave them in October 2009:
- Burrill & Co., San Francisco: $10 million
- MPM Capital, Boston: $10 million
- IN Partners/MidPoint Food & Ag, Carmel, Ind.: $5 million
- Meadowlark Venture Partners, Chicago: $5 million
- Midwest Venture Partners, Chicago: $5 million
- Open Prairie Ventures, Olathe: $5 million
- Prolog Ventures, St. Louis: $5 million
- Triathlon Medical Ventures, Cincinnati: $5 million