VentureWire
By Brian Gormley
Alimera Sciences Inc., which pulled its registration to go public in April, has tapped insiders for $5 million while it awaits top-line Phase III data in December for its new diabetic macular edema therapy.
With positive results, the company could take a second shot at going public or consider other options, such as a partnership to bring the drug, Iluvien, to market. The financing, which adds to a $30 million Series C announced in March 2008, gives Alimera a runway that extends beyond the clinical data coming in, according to Garheng Kong, a general partner of company backer Intersouth Partners. Intersouth participated with insiders Domain Associates, Polaris Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners and Venrock. Valuation was not disclosed.
These investors received warrants for an additional $10 million in Series C preferred stock. The financing calls for them to have up to 30 days from the delivery of Phase III top-line data to exercise them. If the majority of the warrant holders exercise their options, all the warrant holders will be required to exercise their warrants in full, according to the company. Alimera executives declined to comment.
Alimera filed to go public in July 2008, but concluded early this year that an initial public offering wasn't practical in today's market. This new financing gives the Alpharetta, Ga.-based company extra breathing room and enables its backers to put more money in if they're satisfied with the Phase III data.
In a somewhat similar arrangement, venture backers of D-Pharm Ltd., which went public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange early this month, recently participated in a financing in which they gained shares and options to buy additional shares within 30 months. This will enable them to wait until D-Pharm has interim Phase III data for its neuro-protective drug for ischemic-stroke patients before deciding whether to exercise the options.
Alimera investors hope the company will become the first to introduce a treatment for diabetic macular edema, a disease of the retina that can lead to severe vision loss and blindness.
Iluvien inserts are designed to provide a sustained therapeutic effect of up to 36 months by delivering a low daily dose of fluocinolone acetonide, a corticosteroid that has been shown to be effective in treating ocular diseases, according to the company. A low-dose Iluvien treatment provides therapeutic effect for up to 24 months.
Local Onliner
Web.com and MerchantCircle are teaming up to leverage Web.com's appeal as a provider of "premium" SMB services, and MerchantCircle's appeal as an introductory-level provider of SMB services that is more oriented towards building traffic and selling advertising.
Web.com is a publicly-owned SMB marketing giant that includes premium Website development and search engine marketing via its Leads.com division. It has 267,000 active accounts. MerchantCircle is a free directory service that upsells a variety of SMB online services to SMBs after they register for its directory.
Partially owned by IAC, MerchantCircle has over 900,000 SMBs registered for its directory, and reports that it has converted "high single digits" to paying accounts with search services and other advertising. Although positioned as a social network, MerchantCircle also reports 20 million unique visitors per month, which would make it the fifth largest Internet Yellow Pages.
The deal between the companies has multiple components. Web.com will receive leads from MerchantCircle's large base of SMB registrants for its premium services, which include search engine marketing, premium web site building, ecommerce and analytics. At the same time, MerchantCircle's various free and premium tools are being provided to Web.com customers as a way to boost their presence throughout the Web. The tools include a "verified by Merchant Circle" page for reputation management, blog and newsletter software, and coupons.
Initially, 100,000 Web.com accounts will be offered the Merchant Circle services; the remaining 167,000 accounts are indirect accounts via affiliate relationships, and may be added later. Presumably, both companies will receive bounties for any business they hand over, although arrangements aren't being publicly discussed. Brown only says that "money will flow in both directions."
The deal obviously limits the horizons for both companies as they shrink their focus to existing strengths – both companies had previously been providing the full range of SMB services. But that isn't being described as a negative. "The way we look at it, the market is so big that this partnership is one of the ways to create more value for our customers," says Web.com Chairman and CEO David Brown (who is assuming full leadership of the company as President Jeff Stibel prepares to step down at the end of September).
Brown says that the deal positions both companies to take advantage of the decline of print Yellow Pages and get a jump on providing enhanced services and related advertising to SMBs. "As (print YP) shrinks, we are seeking a mass adoption of services and the adoption of value added products," he notes. "Once SMBs see the Internet work, they're willing to pay for it.
Brown adds that pay per click, search engine optimization, email and a variety of ecommerce have been growing "at a much faster clip than traditional Website products" during the past three quarters. In fact, they now accounts for 30 percent of Web.com revenue.
MerchantCircle VP of Marketing Darren Waddell tells us that the deal is a perfect fit for the company's current positioning. Increasingly, MerchantCircle is focusing on providing simple and efficient "self serve" products for SMBs and targeting the great volume of SMBs that still aren't marketing on the Web.
Last week, for instance, MerchantCircle announced a deal with Demand Media to provide a category-based article and video package to SMBs for $9.99 per month that would form the basis of an instant website. As an example, a lumberyard could provide a variety of articles about pressure treated lumber. Demand Media has developed a rich body of information on every conceivable subject, says Waddell.
Monetizing the directory via Google AdSense is also a major consideration for MerchantCircle, given its heavy traffic. The company has built out 15 million SMB pages, but just 900,000 have been claimed, notes Waddell. "A lot of traffic goes to pages that haven't been claimed."
"We've chosen to focus more on what we've been doing," Waddell adds. "When a merchant really wants a consultative approach to building out their Web presence, that's where we end."
Screenwerk
By Greg Sterling
MerchantCircle has expanded its relationship with Web.com, making the latter the exclusive online and search marketing partner for the social directory. According to the press release out this morning:
MerchantCircle's local business members will have access to Web.com-powered marketing products and services designed to help them successfully market their businesses online. Participating merchants will gain the following benefits:
» A professionally built or redesigned website with enhanced Web design and marketing features on a unique domain address
» Inclusion on top-tier search engines
» An Internet Scorecard that tracks website performance in real-time
» Secure and cost-efficient eCommerce options that will allow merchants to safely transact with their customers
As part of the agreement, Web.com customers will receive a free profile page with a MerchantCircle Verified" business listing on MerchantCircle's popular local directory, extending their online presence further . . . Web.com customers can link their website and their MerchantCircle listing. Web.com is also the exclusive provider of search engine marketing for MerchantCircle customers, in addition to offering their website, lead generation and diverse online marketing suite of products.
There was already a relationship between the two companies but this marks a tighter integration of offerings and also the ouster of WebVisible, which had been the search marketing partner for MerchantCircle to this point.
Web.com is adding 100K of its customers into the MerchantCircle member pool. This allows MerchantCircle to now say that it has over 900,000 local business-owner members."
VentureWire
By Staff Reporters
On the heels of securing a $42 million Series C round, Oraya Therapeutics Inc. has named Jim Taylor president and chief executive.
Taylor comes to Oraya from Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., where he also was president and CEO, and served on the supervisory board of its publicly traded German parent, CZM AG. He previously was president of Coherent Medical Group and Ohmeda Medical Systems.
Taylor replaces Michael Gertner, Oraya's founder, who will remain on the company's board.
Based in Newark, Calif., Oraya is developing the IRay system for the delivery of a highly localized dose of low-energy X-ray radiation for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration.
Oraya most recently raised a $42 million Series C round last month led by Domain Associates and Scale Venture Partners and joined by Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Synergy Life Partners. The company raised $22 million prior to that round, according to VentureWire archives.
SV Business Journal
Oraya Therapeutics Inc. on Tuesday named Jim Taylor president and CEO.
The Newark-based medical technology company is developing radiosurgical treatments for eye diseases.
Taylor joins Oraya after serving for seven years as president and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., which focuses on ophthalmic diagnostic and therapeutic systems for a wide range of eye diseases.
He was also president of Coherent Medical Group and Ohmeda Medical Systems.
In June Oraya said it raised $42 million in a third round of funding led by Foster City-based Scale Venture Partners and Domain Associates, which has an office in San Diego.