From the May 15th Rust Report:
A group of Australian venture capital companies hit the headlines this week because of their involvement in a couple of investments in the US. Aussies Southern Cross Venture Partners (www.sxvp.com), CM Capital (www.cmcapital.com), and Allen & Buckeridge (www.a-b.com.au) took lead roles, along with Silicon Valley investor MDV, in a $US7.6 million round of strategic funding for securities trading specialist Mantara Inc, and Southern Cross also led a $US13.85 million round of series C funding for wireless networking chip maker Quantenna Communications.
Dr Larry Marshall, US-based managing director of Southern Cross, acknowledged that the economic environment is tough, but said that Quantenna is generating “substantial interest” from top consumer electronic manufacturers and “presented a great investment opportunity for us”.
Similarly, Mantara is making waves in tough conditions, noted Bob Christiansen, Australia-based managing director of Southern Cross. “We believe this funding will help build out its cutting-edge technology infrastructure and deepen its product and service offering at a time when its solution is resonating with a growing population of trading professionals.”