INSIGHT / News
November 13, 2006
Baird Venture Group Plans to Extend Reach
With Successes of State-based Firms Pinstripe, Caden Biosciences to its Credit Branch Wants to do More
Milwaukee, WI, November 13, 2006 - In a world where a company like Citigroup hires a new employee every three minutes, Sue Marks is trying to make the process faster, better and cheaper.
Similarly, Bill Checovich wants to use his company's patented technology to help drug companies swiftly come up with more products and discoveries.
They're in very different industries, but both companies have been able to pull in money and advice from Baird Venture Partners.
More state companies may be getting the same opportunity.
Baird Venture Partners, the 6-year-old venture capital arm of Robert W. Baird & Co. that focuses on business services and health care/life sciences companies, has stepped up its investments in state companies.
"We have a big push in this region for sure," said William J. Filip, a partner.
Baird Venture Partners has been getting more "creative" by scoping out top executives, and tracking and supporting them in an effort to team with young companies in need of management expertise, Filip said.
Fillip and Baird Venture Partners associate Michael Liang spoke Monday at a Wisconsin Innovation Network lunch at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. Marks, of Brookfield-based Pinstripe, Inc., and Checovich, of Madison-based Caden Biosciences Inc., also made presentations at the lunch.
Baird led a $5.85 million financing round in August that moved Caden to Madison from Evanston, Ill.
"Wisconsin has this entrepreneurial mind-set I don't think Illinois has," Liang said.
Caden is the third state-based firm in Baird Venture Partner's portfolio of 10 life sciences companies.
Baird's Caden deal followed $3 million financing in Pinstripe led by Baird in November 2005.
Before Pinstripe, Baird Venture Partners had not invested in a first financing round that involved a state company since 2001.
Baird Venture Partners in 2001 made the first of several investments in NimbleGen Systems Inc. and TomoTherapy Inc., both based in Madison.
Baird Capital Partners, the part of Baird's private equity area that does mergers and acquisitions, has invested in 12 state companies, said Angela Pittman Taylor, a Baird spokeswoman. Baird's two private equity groups have invested in a total of 51 companies in the U.S., she said.
Pinstripe, which should have about $2.3 million of revenue this year, works with big companies in the financial, health care and technology industries that contract out the job of finding, assessing, interviewing and hiring new employees, said Marks, who in 2000 sold her two companies, the largest independent staffing company in Wisconsin along with an enterprise-wide recruitment process outsourcing firm to a Fortune 500 company. Pinstripe sometimes also provides orientation programs and determines job satisfaction once the new employees have begun work.
Caden, which should have about $750,000 of revenue this year, is developing screening tools to sell to pharmaceutical and biotech companies that target specific G-protein coupled receptors to help identify new drugs for a variety of diseases, Checovich said.
The company, previously known as Cue Biotech Inc., was focused on using its unique screening technology to find drug candidates that target the receptors. A variety of existing drugs, including antihistamines, anti-depressants and pain killers, target about 40 of the nearly 400 pharmaceutically relevant G-protein coupled receptors, which transmit signals into cells.
About Pinstripe, Inc.
An innovator in recruitment and employment process outsourcing, Pinstripe, Inc. designs, builds and manages talent acquisition and management systems for healthcare, financial services and technology companies. The company’s proprietary Requisition-to-Results (R2R®) platform is the first solution of its kind to integrate sourcing, recruiting, hiring, on-boarding, and off-boarding practices into a complete, end-to-end outsourced approach to employee acquisition and retention. By partnering with Pinstripe, clients are able to maximize the economic, operational, and strategic benefits of a high performing workforce, while minimizing compliance, security and other risks.
Based in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Pinstripe, a woman-owned business enterprise (WBE) was co-founded by Susan Marks and Anne Nimke, both 25-year industry veterans who previously established the largest independent staffing company in Wisconsin along with an enterprise-wide recruitment process outsourcing firm. Both companies were sold to a Fortune 500 company in 2000. Baird Venture Partners, the U.S.-based venture capital affiliate of investment firm Robert W. Baird & Co., is a major investor in Pinstripe. For more information about Pinstripe, please visit http://www.pinstripetalent.com.
About Baird Global Private Equity
With more than 40 investment professionals in the United States and Europe, Baird's global private equity business has raised and managed $1.5 billion in capital. Baird Capital Partners provides change-of-control capital and growth capital to U.S.-based, middle-market companies in the Business Services and Manufactured Products sectors. Baird Venture Partners makes venture capital investments in early- to growth-stage companies in the Business Services & Software and Healthcare/Life Sciences sectors. Granville Baird Capital Partners is a long-established private equity manager targeting mid-market growth companies in the UK and Germany with a focus on the Business Services, Healthcare and Industrial Products sectors. Baird Private Equity also has an operating team located in three offices in China, focused on facilitating and executing Asia sourcing, manufacturing and distribution opportunities for portfolio companies. The group’s investments are supported by Baird's full range of financial advice, operating expertise and industry research, providing a unique full-service approach to the entire private equity investment process. For more information, please visit http://www.bairdventurepartners.com.