http://www.sparkventures.comen-gbMediaSterling ClickSimple™ http://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/SPARK_newsroom/2009/MBNA_Connect_Receives_Industry_Accolade/default.aspx#563 CHESTER, UK A new online secure message delivery service that delivers account information to a cardholder s computer desktop has received industry recognition at the 2009 Credit Card Awards held in London on Thursday evening. MBNA Connect allows customers to download an application to their computers, and keep up to date with secure account balances, transaction updates, latest offers, mini-statements and more via desktop alerts. MBNA Connect received the Best Online Initiative award at the Ca ...Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:51:01 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/SPARK_exits/Cyclacel/default.aspx#249 Cyclacel is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel, mechanism-targeted drugs to treat human cancers and other serious disorders. Cyclacel s ALIGN Pharmaceuticals subsidiary markets directly in the U.S. Xclair Cream for radiation dermatitis, Numoisyn Liquid and Numoisyn Lozenges for xerostomia. Three Cyclacel drugs are in clinical development. Sapacitabine (CYC682), an orally-available, cell cycle modulating nucleoside analog, is in Pha ...Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:32:57 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/Portfolio_Investments/TMT/Footfall/default.aspx#250 Footfall, the market leader in customer counting technology and retail information services, was sold to Experian, the information solutions company, in January 2006. Footfall has established customer counting as a key performance indicator for retail and leisure outlets. Since its launch in 2000, the UK Footfall Index has become regarded as the industry standard benchmark for measuring shopper visits across the UK. Footfall has since launched a UK Regional Index, and numerous International cou ...Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:03:47 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/Portfolio_Investments/TMT/Elata/default.aspx#264 Elata, a leading mobile content management and delivery software solutions company was acquired by Qualcomm, a NASDAQ listed developer and innovator of digital wireless communications products and services, in August 2005. Qualcomm paid approximately $57 million in cash for ELATA. SPARK s 1.5m share represented a doubling over its cost. Since 2000 Elata has been a pioneer in developing a content delivery and device management software system for mobile phones and counted Orange amongst its cust ...Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:02:40 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/Portfolio_Investments/TMT/Pricerunner/default.aspx#269 SPARK sold its 41% stake in Pricerunner, the online comparison shopping site, to Valueclick Inc. the single-source provider of media, technology and related services, for $33m in 2004. Throughout its investment, SPARK actively participated in developing a successful strategy for the business by working closely alongside the founders. At the time of the sale, Pricerunner was the most popular comparison shopping site in Sweden and the third most popular site in the United Kingdom. Pricerunner was ...Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:00:32 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/Portfolio_Investments/TMT/OD2/default.aspx#253 On Demand Distribution (OD2), the largest digital music provider in Europe, was sold to Loudeye Corp. in June 2004. The combined entity created the world s largest business to business digital media company. On Demand Distribution (OD2), the largest digital music provider in Europe, was sold to Loudeye Corp. in June 2004. The combined entity created the world s largest business to business digital media company. OD2 s leadership in the pan European market illustrated the increasing demand for d ...Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:55:57 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/Portfolio_Investments/TMT/Mergermarket/default.aspx#266 In 2006 Spark sold its stake in Mergermarket for 27.8m to the FT Group, generating almost 24 times Spark's initial investment of 1.2m. SPARK was the first investor in Mergermarket as a start-up in 1999 and supported the company through every phase of its growth. The company performed extraordinarily since its foundation and the launch of its first working product in 2000, in a very competitive but vibrant market. Mergermarket successfully built an unrivalled blue chip client base through the de ...Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:54:09 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/Portfolio_Investments/Healthcare__Life_Sciences/Mirada_Solutions/default.aspx#240 Mirada Solutions Limited is a leading developer of software and analytical tools for medical imaging workstations. Mirada's unique products aid better detection, diagnosis and management of disease through the application of powerful image analysis tools to medical images. Originally formed in 2000 when spin-out companies OXIVA and OMIA merged, Mirada was acquired by CTI Molecular Imaging Inc in August 2003 which was in time acquired by Siemens in 2005. ...Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:50:44 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/Portfolio_Investments/Healthcare__Life_Sciences/Glycart_Biotechnology/default.aspx#251 GlycArt, was sold to Roche, one of the world s leading pharmaceutical companies, for approximately CHF 235 million ( 104 million) in July 2006, making it one of the biggest biotech deals of the year. Quester invested in November 2003 and achieved a return of approximately 7x cost. GlycArt is a Swiss biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialisation of a new generation of antibody products based on its proprietary GlycoMAb technology. GlycoMAb has the potential to generate b ...Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:59:30 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/Portfolio_Investments/Healthcare__Life_Sciences/PowderMed/default.aspx#257 PowderMed, an Oxford University spinout specialising in the emerging science of DNA-based vaccines, was sold to Pfizer, Inc., the world leading pharmaceutical company, in October 2006. Quester invested in PowderMed in 2004. The offer from Pfizer, Inc. values PowderMed at circa 170 million, which represents a 5x return on Quester s cost in less than 18 months. PowderMed has developed a unique and proprietary technology which could potentially revolutionise the prevention and treatment of infecti ...Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:29:14 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/About_SPARK/Our_entrepreneurs/Steve_Semenzato/default.aspx#146 Steve Semenzato brings over 20 years of technology management experience to his role as chief executive officer of ClusterSeven. He jointly founded the company with Andy Reeves, now CIO of P O Ferries, in 2003. Prior to starting ClusterSeven, Steve was a UK director for Sapient management consulting and UK managing director and European general manager for Screaming Media, a global content aggregation company. Steve served as vice president of sales for Dragon Systems, a leading speech recognit ...Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:13:34 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Standalone/Templates/default.aspx#449 This is dummy text. It is intended to be read but have no meaning. As a simulation of actual copy, using ordinary words with normal letter frequencies, it cannot deceive the eye or brain. Dummy settings which use other languages or even gibberish to approximate text have inherent disadvantages in that they distract attention towards themselves. This text may be produced in any typeface, in whatever size and format is required. Paragraphs may be long or short. Texts can be produced to complete a ...Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:04:12 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Standalone/Templates/default.aspx#448 This is dummy text. It is intended to be read but have no meaning. As a simulation of actual copy, using ordinary words with normal letter frequencies, it cannot deceive the eye or brain. Dummy settings which use other languages or even gibberish to approximate text have inherent disadvantages in that they distract attention towards themselves. This text may be produced in any typeface, in whatever size and format is required. Paragraphs may be long or short. Texts can be produced to complete a ...Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:36:12 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Standalone/Templates/default.aspx#447 This is dummy text. It is intended to be read but have no meaning. As a simulation of actual copy, using ordinary words with normal letter frequencies, it cannot deceive the eye or brain. Dummy settings which use other languages or even gibberish to approximate text have inherent disadvantages in that they distract attention towards themselves. This text may be produced in any typeface, in whatever size and format is required. Paragraphs may be long or short. Texts can be produced to complete a ...Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:34:18 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Standalone/Templates/default.aspx#446 This is dummy text. It is intended to be read but have no meaning. As a simulation of actual copy, using ordinary words with normal letter frequencies, it cannot deceive the eye or brain. Dummy settings which use other languages or even gibberish to approximate text have inherent disadvantages in that they distract attention towards themselves. This text may be produced in any typeface, in whatever size and format is required. Paragraphs may be long or short. Texts can be produced to complete a ...Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:33:19 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Standalone/Templates/default.aspx#445 This is dummy text. It is intended to be read but have no meaning. As a simulation of actual copy, using ordinary words with normal letter frequencies, it cannot deceive the eye or brain. Dummy settings which use other languages or even gibberish to approximate text have inherent disadvantages in that they distract attention towards themselves. This text may be produced in any typeface, in whatever size and format is required. Paragraphs may be long or short. Texts can be produced to complete a ...Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:32:59 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Standalone/Templates/default.aspx#444 This is dummy text. It is intended to be read but have no meaning. As a simulation of actual copy, using ordinary words with normal letter frequencies, it cannot deceive the eye or brain. Dummy settings which use other languages or even gibberish to approximate text have inherent disadvantages in that they distract attention towards themselves. This text may be produced in any typeface, in whatever size and format is required. Paragraphs may be long or short. Texts can be produced to complete a ...Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:32:41 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/SPARK_newsroom/2006/Dan_Brockman/default.aspx#423<P>Initially I considered a career in agriculture but as I was not from a farm, my parents had to gently explain they could not provide one for me. Around 14 years of age I started looking at veterinary medicine as a possible alternative, and volunteered at a local practice run by two Cambridge University vet school graduates. Their commitment to patient care and service to the community was inspirational and I was hooked.<BR><STRONG></STRONG></P> <P><STRONG>My training</STRONG><BR>I moved to C ...Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:35:44 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/SPARK_newsroom/2005/Dan_Brockman/default.aspx#418<P>Initially I considered a career in agriculture but as I was not from a farm, my parents had to gently explain they could not provide one for me. Around 14 years of age I started looking at veterinary medicine as a possible alternative, and volunteered at a local practice run by two Cambridge University vet school graduates. Their commitment to patient care and service to the community was inspirational and I was hooked.<BR><STRONG></STRONG></P> <P><STRONG>My training</STRONG><BR>I moved to C ...Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:35:44 GMThttp://www.sparkventures.com/Home/SPARK_Venture_Management/SPARK_newsroom/2008/Skinkers_and_Flybe_launch_desktop_‘Departure_Board/default.aspx#316<P>Skinkers and Flybe, Europe’s largest and most successful regional airline, today announced a true innovation in customer interaction with the launch of ‘Departure Board’, a direct-to-desktop ‘push’ communication channel. </P> <P>The technology, supplied by Skinkers, is used to push content such as flight information, offers and promotions to customers’ desktops, bypassing normal email channels and delivering a high impact message. Offers and promotions can now be rapidly placed in front of c ...Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:35:40 GMT