Venture Farm Adds to Its Leadership

Released on: August 26, 2008, 9:08 am

Press Release Author: Venture Farm

Industry: Small Business

Press Release Summary: Venture Farm is an innovation in early stage investing and is
specifically NOT an angel investor, NOT a VC and NOT an Incubator.

Press Release Body: Irvine, California - Sid Mohasseb the Managing Partner of
Venture Farm announced today that Stephen A. Block, former Senior Vice President,
General Counsel and Secretary of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF),
and currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Orange County network of
the Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel investing organization in the USA with
close to 300 members, over $95 million dollars invested in 143 companies that have
received more than $1 billion in follow-on financing, has joined the leadership team
at Venture Farm, LLC. Mr. Block was also previously the Orange County network's
representative to the TCA Board of Governors. He serves on a number of public and
private corporate Boards of Directors, including Senomyx, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNMX),
ChromaDex, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMDX.OB) and Airbee Wireless, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABEW.OB). Among
the private Boards on which Mr. Block sits is Allylix, Inc., a company for which in
2007 he was the lead investor, other angel groups and a strategic venture capital
firm, and XSCapacity, Inc., one of the Venture Farm companies.

"Steve brings a vast amount of deal making and venture nurturing experience to
Venture Farm. He shares the venture Farm philosophy of helping entrepreneurs and
being focused on execution", said Mr. Mohasseb.

Mr. Block joins Venture Farm at a critical point of strategic growth and
positioning. The Venture Farm portfolio has been growing rapidly and the portfolio
companies are performing above expectations.

"As a limited partner of the Venture Farm fund and as a member of the XSCapacity
Board, I observed the fund's leadership exceed expectations on all fronts," said Mr.
Block. "I am excited to be joining a winning team and look forward to helping to
contribute to Venture Farm's growth and future success. We are not just about
providing very very early stage capital. We are about passion and commitment to
success. We aim to significantly increase the value of the invested capital by
helping our portfolio companies with effective execution"

When it was formed in late 2006, Venture Farm's objective was to establish a new
investment paradigm for the Venture Capital ecosystem. Just shy of two years later,
the firm has invested in four portfolio companies and has built a large circle of
venture capital and angel friends. Venture Farm identified a mismatch between the
development stages of the deals available and the investment parameters for venture
funding which has caused significant gaps in the venture funding chain. The Venture
Farm innovation targeted the existing gaps and aimed at increasing the "qualified"
deal flow for organized angels and venture capital firms.

"In addition to expanding our capacity for investment in additional companies,
Steve's presence and leadership will allow us to intensify our focus on portfolio
company stars and help them further increase their value," said Mohasseb.

Mohasseb concluded, "We passionately help portfolio companies build a solid
organizational foundation, fine tune their value proposition accelerate their growth
and gain access to subsequent funding, and we welcome Steve Block to our family."


About Venture Farm:

Venture Farm is an equity funding source that adds hands-on experience to the
execution process without replacing the management.

Venture Farm addresses the existing gaps in the venture capital and angel investing
process and offers an innovative investment model that provides the fund's Limited
Partners with the ability to participate in the early stage investment process while
potentially recognizing short term returns based on partial exits. To reduce risks
associated with execution 1) capital is infused in an incremental manner and based
on measurable progress; 2) portfolio performers get a larger share of the available
capital and more assistance; 3) an experienced and focused managing director
contributes significant time to each deal; 4) portfolio diversity and 5) a strong
network of domain advisors.

Unlike standard VC funds, Venture Farm's management fees are value driven only (no
performance, no fees) and the managing partner's direct investment is close to five
times higher than standard models.

Venture Farm is an innovation in very early stage investing and is specifically
neither an angel investor group nor an Incubator or a VC. To learn more please
visit: www.VentureFarm.com.


Contact: Sid Mohasseb at Venture Farm 949-364-7900; sid@venturefarm.com.


Web Site: http://www.venturefarm.com

Contact Details: 17752 skypark circle
Irvine,CA 92614

  • Printer Friendly Format
  • Back to previous page...
  • Back to home page...
  • Submit your press releases...
  •