Friday Q&A: Gil Beyda of Genacast Ventures

Genacast Ventures Managing Partner Gil Beyda

Gil Beyda, originally from Los Angeles, has Dave Morgan to thank for bringing him to Philadelphia.

When Beyda and Morgan founded Real Media in 1995, they chose to locate the online ad serving company in Fort Washington because of the cheap office space available there.

After selling the company to 24 /7 Media, the duo teamed up again in 2001 to create Tacoda, a behavorial advertising company that they then sold to AOL in 2007. With two exits under his belt, Beyda was ready to try something new.

“I was not a corporate AOL guy, so I set off to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up… again,” says Beyda.

Eventually, he settled on a second career as an investor, teaming with Comcast to create Genecast Ventures. In its short existence, the new fund already has four portfolio companies and a successful exit in Invite Media and Beyda says that he looks to be more active in the months to come.

We chatted with Beyda about what companies he likes to invest in and why Philadelphia’s investor ecosystem is just fine, thank you. Oh, and we critique his LinkedIn profile.

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VC Roundup: BFTP named to federal board, local angels get coverage from the NYT

Welcome to the VC Round-up, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.

DEFINITE READS
Philly Tech News is reporting that First Round Capital has invested in locally-based advertising company AdCopy, the company that inserts advertising into CAPTCHAs. Though we can’t verify it anywhere else, our friends at PTN are typically on point, so keep an eye out.

We’re a bit late on this, but Safeguard Scientifics’ Kevin Kemmerer extrapolates on one of the questions asked by Technically Philly during his Q&A earlier this month. Kemmerer, EVP and managing director of Safeguard technology group, explains why  Safeguard, a publicly traded company, is different than other VC firms.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners has invested nearly $1.8 million in nine local companies. Read our complete coverage here.

First Round receives praise for thinking ahead in this Silicon Alley Insider piece about the current and future state of venture capital. If you’re new to private equity, we highly suggest you give it a read.

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VC Roundup: Diapers.com takes over the world, DreamIt’s largest class ever

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Updated: Clarified Osage Ventures partnerships.

Welcome to the VC Round-up, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.

DEFINITE READS

PBJ reports that this year’s DreamIt Ventures class of 15 is its largest yet, thanks to a partnership with Brooklyn-based Startl. Five of the fifteen were from the New York fund. Last year Dreamit had 11 companies. Our buddy Peter Key also writes that Steve Barsh will be leaving the incubator to focus on Packlate.com. In a recent interview with Technically Philly, Barsh said he plans on “dedicating ten percent” to the incubator.

Diapers.com is having a hell of a month. The company just finished raising its Series E (!) round to help speed along its already-breakneck growth. The company, originally backed by MentorTech Ventures, is the largest online provider of baby care items in the country. The company has also recently received press in Forbes, TechCrunch and the Financial Times. Fellas, you can now add Technically Philly to your list. You’re welcome.

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GCV launches in Philly, still looking for companies

From Left: Jacob Gray, Len Lodish, Gil Beyda, Nate Lentz, Tom Balderson, Josh Kopelman

After stopping in Austin, Texas and the 67th Ward, GoodCompany Ventures has finally come home.

Last week, like they did in New York City, the socially-minded incubator gathered some of the sharpest local minds in venture capital to discuss the future of “social entrepreneurship” and to drum up attention for the incubator’s 2010 class, now accepting members until April 28.

Packed into the Blank Rome Conference Center, just off of Logan Square, journalists, students, investors, CEOs and entrepreneurs listened closely as the whirlwind presentations culminated into panel debate.

The result was an analysis of the local venture capital community and a spirited discussion about the merits of “social” investing.

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VC Roundup: Is VC ready for its turnaround?

Welcome to the VC Round-up, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.

DEFINITE READS

According to the VCs assembled in New Jersey for the New Jersey Technology Council conference, VC activity is primed to heat up in the coming months. Bala Cynwyd-based Osage Partners was among the local firms in attendance. “If you can survive the last three years, then you have something,” said one attendee.

Ben Franklin Technology Partner has anounced nearly $600,000 in investment, including $50,000 going to Viddler. If you remember, Viddler told us in October: “We’re done funding.”

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Osage Ventures invests in locally-based Second Life clone

A company screen shot of the Protosphere

Bala Cynwid-based Osage Ventures has announced a Series A investment in ProtonMedia, a company that specializes in creating virtual worlds.

Stopping just short of calling its main product “The Matrix,” ProtonMedia’s primary product is “ProtoSphere” — a platform that customers use to hold virtual meetings and classes. The software allows for voice chat, document transfer and custom avatars, among other features.

The Lansdale-based company is already profitable, boasting some pretty large customers including Comcast and AstraZeneca.

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Shop Talk: Philadelphia’s venture capital community on Twitter

Image courtesy of millionclues.com

If you have ever shown a friend or relative Twitter, you were probably met with a response along the lines of, “Why would I ever want to use this?”

Mostly, it’s hard to quantify the usefulness of a tool such as Twitter, but the startup and venture capital research Web site Chubbybrain has given it their best shot by asking the question: Do VCs who use Twitter invest in more startups?

The report is an interesting look at how venture capital firms use Twitter while judging its effectiveness. But, as expected, the report focuses mostly on VCs in California, Boston and New York. That got us thinking, what local VC’s are on Twitter?
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