Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Venrock backs RFID system maker Awarepoint

By Galen Moore

Venrock Associates has invested in Awarepoint Corp., joining fellow new investor Cardinal Partners and existing investor Avalon Ventures in a $13.3 million Series D round, according to San Diego-based Awarepoint.

Awarepoint makes real-time location systems that rely on radio frequency identification tags to track the movement of equipment and people. Venrock general partner Brian Asher said Awarepoint addresses a challenge facing health-care institutions.

Last week, in a speech at the Conference on Clean Energy, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced Venrock’s participation in a $25 million Series B round for University of Massachusetts Amherst spinoff SunEthanol Inc., which was just renamed Qteros Inc. And earlier this month, Venrock joined a $6 million second round of financing as a new investor in Boston-based electronics recycler Second Rotation Inc. Returning backer Rockport Capital Partners led the round.

Founded in 1969 as the venture arm of the Rockefeller family, Venrock is headquartered in New York and operates an office in Cambridge. The firm has $2.1 billion under management, and focuses in the area of technology, health care, media and energy, according to the company website.