Local Tech Firms Merge Looking for Investors
March 21, 2001
Author : Mary Morgan
Source : Ann Arbor News
The signs haven't changed, but the company has: Local tech start-up Nonlinear Dynamics Inc. has merged with NovoDynamics Inc., a new firm that hails from Silicon Valley.
The new business, employing about 30 people, will remain in Ann Arbor and plans to grow rapidly, said Bruce Scott, vice president of business development and marketing.
NovoDynamics is a spin-off of
Catalytica Energy Systems Inc., a publicly traded firm based in Mountain View, Calif. NovoDynamics was formed in January with the intent of merging with Nonlinear Dynamics, Scott said.
NDI makes customized software that analyzes complex data stored in massive databases. The process is known as data mining.
For example, NDI developed software for
Eli Lilly, the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company. Lilly uses the software to speed up the early stages of drug discovery by culling crucial information from various company research projects and identifying viable drug compounds.
Other major customers are in the chemical and automotive industries.
Nonlinear Dynamics was founded in 1997 by Tom Limperis and Judi Bondi. Both remain major shareholders but left the company in early October, when a tentative merger agreement was reached.
The pair knew they needed substantial investment to fund the company's growth, and decided that merging was the best way to achieve that goal, Limperis said. At the same time, Catalytica - with a similar operation started internally - decided to spin off that business as a separate operation, and was looking for a partner.
"It was a perfect fit," Limperis said.
He and Bondi are now running JMB Marketing, a Saline business that works primarily with start-up firms.
Four former Catalytica executives will lead NDI: Bruce Scott, CEO Don Garaventi, Chief Technology Officer Jan Lerou and Research Director Laurent Kieken.
Catalytica Energy Systems has invested more than $2 million in the new venture. NovoDynamics plans to seek additional funds from individual investors - known as "angels" - and later in the year hopes to raise a more significant amount, possibly as much as $20 million, from venture capitalists, Scott said.
The privately held firm doesn't disclose financial figures, Scott said. A year ago, Limperis reported that Nonlinear's annual revenues were in the $2 million range.
Scott says the firm is doing well, despite the recent economic slowdown. One of its major clients is a Big 3 automaker, an industry that's seen sales slow and costs cut. The automaker uses NDI's software to analyze data on thousands of products to determine what price the market will bear.
Products that help firms increase revenues, Scott says, are a good sell in tough economic times.
