Eamon Murphy
Middle-market private equity firm Calera Capital appointed Bob Bianco as operating partner. Formerly CEO of Menlo Worldwide, Bianco is to assist with investments in transportation and supply chain management, committing $40 to $200 million of equity per investment, with a focus on "third party logistics".
Corporate governance and shareholder services firm Sodali Inc. acquired Morrow & Co., LLC of Stamford, CT, to form Morrow Sodali Global LLC. Investment banking firm Sperry, Mitchell & Company, Inc. initiated the transaction and served as financial advisor to Morrow & Co., a provider of proxy solicitation and corporate governance consulting services.
Frontier Capital invested $31 million in Zephyr, a Newark, California-based provider of software test management solutions. Zephyr's products are sold directly to companies and through the Atlassian Marketplace. Based in Charlotte, Frontier invests exclusively in companies offering software and technology-based business services.
Huron Capital Partners LLC portfolio company The XLerate Group, which provides dealer-to-dealer auction services in the used car business, acquired Grand Rapids Auto Auction. The transaction is XLerate's second expansion in Michigan, and GRAA is now the seventh member of the XLerate Group.
Epic Health Services Inc., a provider of pediatric skilled nursing services, acquired Virginia Beach-based Rehabilitation Associates, a pediatric therapy provider. Based in Dallas, Epic is a portfolio company of Webster Capital.
Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services, a portfolio company of Summer Street Capital, appointed Jack Perko as President and CEO. Perko was formerly managing director of Australia's Cleanaway Waste Management LTD. Curtis Bay is a regulated medical waste disposal company serving hospitals on the East Coast.
Big news in tech this Tuesday, as HP announced a new venture arm that will invest in a range of technologies, and Amazon launched its YouTube killer platform, Video Direct.
This week's opportunities include positions at Cornell University's endowment and the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's largest philanthropic organization dedicated to the visual arts.
TVM Life Science Venture VII led an $8.15 million Series B financing in Acer Therapeutics Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing therapies for rare disorders. The proceeds will be used to prepare a new drug application for a vascular syndrome and to develop a treatment for two series genetic diseases. Luc Marengere, managing partner of TVM Life Science Capital, joins the board, alongside Cynthia Lavoie, who led investments by TVM Life Science Venture VI into the Series A and B rounds.
Silicon Valley and China-based GGV Capital led a $30 million financing in BigCommerce, an ecommerce platform for mid-size online retailers. All of BigCommerce's existing investors, including Stephen Schambach, founder and former chairman of Demandware, also participated. Jeff Richards, managing partner at GGV Capital, will join BigCommerce's board of directors.