Welcome to the news section of the Ecosystem Ventures website. Here you will find recent news coverage on Ecosystem Ventures and our portfolio companies. Be sure to check back often for regular updates.

Business Finance Climate 2006: A Perspective from German-American Venture.
GABA and the German Consulate present this opportunity to meet leading international venture capital and private equity fund managers from Europe, Germany and the U.S. who will share their views of next year's overall financial climate and funding for international technology companies. Speakers include: George Pierce, Operating Partner, Primus Capital Partners; Thomas Gieselmann, General Partner, BV Capital; Alexander Fries, President, Ecosystems Ventures and Co-Founder, European American Angels Club; Tom Schulz, Member, The Angels' Forum and Partner, Halo Fund.

Comment ces entrepreneurs suisse sont réussi aux Etats-Unis
«Ici,c’est la jungle,il y a une vraie guerre économique» Alex Fries est un entrepreneur né. On ne compte plus le nombre de sociétés qu’il a fondées. A 40 ans, ce Zurichois d’origine vit dans la Silicon Valley mais travaille entre la Suisse et les Etats-Unis. Sa société, Ecosystem Found, finance des start-up. «J’investis à hauteur de 1 million
en moyenne. Cette somme permet à des start-up de passer d’un prototype à un pilote», explique-t-il. Une étape
importante, qui donne des chances à un projet de voir le jour. Aujourd’hui, il chapeaute 15 jeunes pousses et travaille sur la commercialisation d’une eau grisonne au label «PURE SWISS». «Les Etats-Unis offrent beaucoup
d’opportunités, les gens se battent, ce qui les conduit au succès», affirme-t-il. Il s’est installé là-bas parce que le
marché est colossal. Mais il reconnaît aussi: «C’est la jungle, il y a une vraie guerre économique.» L’entrepreneur
avoue qu’il regrette que la Suisse ne soit pas plus ambitieuse: «Je pousse le gouvernement à créer une Silicon Valley helvétique car nous avons des compétences technologiques extraordinaires et il y aurait aussi de l’argent à faire chez nous.»

Massage chair company Zubio gets funding to help stressed techies relax

The weekend’s here at last, and thank goodness — I’m totally beat and stressed from a week of blogging and running around at Web 2.0. If you’re feeling the same way, now might be a good time to enjoy a massage at Zubio in downtown San Francisco. Not only was the company co-founded by David Palmer, inventor of the massage chair, it also just raised a second round of funding, according to VentureWire.

Dubbed as the potential “Starbucks of chair massage” (because Palmer is working hard to make massage mainstream) by the Atlantic Monthly and others, the company raised an undisclosed first round and opened the studio in 2006. Zubio’s financial district location puts it in a prime spot for both SoMa-based techies and the financiers who back them, but the company also makes its massages (and specially-designed massage chairs, which support you as a specialist works over your acupressure points) available in other locations like corporate offices and malls. The company’s website even suggests holding meetings and conferences in its studio, which would certainly be a memorable experience.

The size of the new funding was not disclosed, but chief executive Sam Keller told VentureWire it was “not far off from” the $2 million to $5 million that he was targeting earlier. It comes from individual investors including Philip Schlein of U.S. Venture Partners, former Yoga Works co-chief executive Rob Wrubel, Gary Grace of Supercuts and Rob Wilson, president of Tiburon Research Group. Keller plans to go out for more funding to finish the round in June, and to open at least one more studio by the end of this year.
Tags: co:Zubio, people:Gary Grace, people:Philip Schlein, people:Rob Wilson, people:Rob Wrubel

POOCH in the News:

Tux and Tails

In Tokyo, High Fashion Is Going to the Dogs

The Wall Street Journal Online

February 1, 2008

TOKYO -- Flaunting a neon-green wig and red-and-black vest, the model sashayed down the runway to the beat of Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out?" Then, rather than pose for the photographers, she turned tail and sniffed the floor, before being whisked away by her handler.

Roll over, Gisele Bündchen. The stars on this catwalk last month were pooches like Honoka, a yellow Labrador retriever, primped for Tokyo's first Pet Fashion Week. Her vest -- fashioned from figure-hugging breathable rubber and lined in faux fur -- was designed by MODRuff of Toronto. Other "models" were clad in creations by such canine clothiers as Manfred of Sweden, Doggi Dog Paris and Milan's For Pets Only.

Pet Fashion Week New York, a U.S.-based concern that started holding dog runway events at trade shows it organizes in New York two years ago, targeted puppy-mad Tokyo for its first overseas foray. "In the U.S. dogs are dressed to a degree, but not as meticulously or as coordinated as you see" in Japan, says Mario DiFante, a partner and executive director of Pet Fashion Week. "In terms of pet boutiques," he declares, "Tokyo may even have reached the point of oversaturation."

Pet fashion has been hot ever since Paris Hilton was snapped toting her uber-chic Chihuahua Tinkerbell to society soirees (Ms. Hilton has since launched her own line of pet clothing and accessories). Yet the industry is still novelty-driven, with "a lot of holiday items, like when you dress your dog as Santa Claus," says Alexa Cach, a Pet Fashion Week executive director. "We're trying to lift it out of that, to take the design aspect and the utilitarian aspect and combine them." Dressing pets is particularly popular in Japan, which has a declining population. "The low birthrate here has left a niche for something to fill, and it seems that pets are filling it," says Adam Bigelow, Japan representative for San Francisco-based Poochonline.com, a purveyor of designer apparel and furnishings for dogs and cats. According to market research company Euromonitor International, Japan is home to more than 13 million dogs, ranking it fourth globally behind the U.S., China and Brazil. The research company credits the "humanization of pets" as "the main driver of growth" behind certain products aimed at their care. Tokyo-based Yano Research Institute estimates that owners in Japan spent $10 billion in 2006, the latest figures available, on everything from food to clothes to the purchase price of the pets. Phenomena that would be noteworthy in some places -- restaurants that allow pets, for example, or state-of-the-art pet spas -- are taken for granted in many Tokyo neighborhoods. Dog strollers are common; in fact, the audience assembled at the fashion show, which was part of a two-day trade show called New Year Dog Party, looked like a toddlers' convention, but for the wet black noses poking inquisitively out of the passing baby carriages. "In contrast to the U.S. or China, the Japanese tend to see their dogs as a reflection of their own status," says Naohisa Tsujihara, chief executive of Sepia Pet Care School and Sepia Grooming Shop, which provided the dogs for the runway show. "It's a way of projecting themselves to outsiders." That may be why mutts and mongrels appear scarce: Walk through a Tokyo park and nearly all the dogs on parade appear to be purebreds, a preposterous percentage are miniature dachshunds or toy poodles -- and few of them are naked.

Among the hundreds of dogs attending the event, along with an estimated 20,000 humans, was a handsome Dalmatian who wore just his birthday spots and a firehouse-red collar. He seemed scandalously underdressed next to the pair of Italian greyhounds decked out as harlequins. A bull terrier managed to make a sailor suit look both dapper and intimidating; a trio of panting Maltese sported matching denim bodysuits and yellow booties.
And then there was Hana-chan, a 10-year-old toy poodle dressed as Audrey Hepburn in a white satin dress with black lace trim, and a matching bonnet. Her owner, Kazuo Nagai, 56, an entrepreneur, looked more like a truck driver than the kind of guy who would spend his time shopping for frilly dogwear. But he even brought two additional outfits for Hana-chan -- a replica of the gown that enka singer Hibari Misora wore for her legendary farewell performance at the Tokyo Dome, and a miniature kimono. "Time for a costume change!" Mr. Nagai chirped as he slipped off the "Breakfast at Tiffany's" ensemble and struggled to get the kimono over Hana-chan's trembling legs. "I'm not sure if the dogs are enjoying it, but the owners are," he exclaimed. Most of the dogs in the audience seemed to welcome the chance to socialize at the trade show, which among other things offered pet yoga classes, an area for testing vacuum cleaners -- which sent passing dogs into fits of terror -- and endless opportunities to sniff and be sniffed. "I think they're enjoying it," Hiromi Sato, 40, a housewife, said of her Wilshire terriers Choco, 7, and Banana, 3. Banana looked chic in a black sweater, white collar and black-, gray- and white-checked pants. But she wasn't quite as hip as Choco, whose identical outfit was topped by dark goggles worn on his forehead. Between them, the pair has more than 100 changes of clothes. "It seems to relax them to wear clothes," Ms. Sato confided.

Manfred of Sweden displayed a Swarovski crystal-bedecked gold-and-silver colored leather jacket retailing at $5,000 at the trade show. Manfred also makes a $20,000 diamond-encrusted leather doggie jacket. At the lower end, there are "hoodie" sweatshirts, made of stretchable sport material emblazoned with a snapshot of the Beatles, which sell for about $300 each. "Our main goal is that the clothes should have both functionality and design," says the line's designer, whose name is not Manfred -- that's the three-kilogram Yorkshire terrier that serves as a muse -- but Bjorn Gardsby. "And all the materials should be good for the dog." For the pet with a more hip-hop edge, designer Pup Rock showed doggie dresses fashioned from Gorillaz or Outkast concert T-shirts.

Some of the humans came hoping to leave with new ideas to spur their puppy-fashion sales. "The challenge that the market has right now is that it's difficult to find really innovative fashion," laments Poochonline.com chief executive Marjorie Scholz. "That's one reason we came to Japan, not only to show what we're innovating but also to see what they're innovating here. The Japanese take everything they do very seriously, and they do it to extremes."

--Hiroyuki Kachi and Megumi Fujikawa contributed to this article

Zikon Inc. to present at the Nanotech Ventures 2007 on May 23rd at 5pm http://www.nsti.org/Nanotech2007/Development/ventures.html

6th Grader Gets $6.5M Funding For In-Game Commerce Startup

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070921/tc_cmp/201807910

Autonet Mobile in the news: http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=20532&hed=Wi-Fi+On+Wheels

Svox in the news: http://www.svox.com/News-Items-SVOX-wins-Intel-for-the-Navigation-Day-at-CeBIT-2007.aspx

May 10-12, 2006 - Crowne Plaza Downtown San Jose, San Jose, CA                                                                               

Zikon Inc. will be presenting a Paper on Applications for Electronic Inks. Speaker will be Mr. Steve Winters, CEO Zikon Inc. www.intertechusa.com/flexible.html