European Tech Wire

DTI Invests Invests £1.5 Million in Jennic

London -- Jennic, a U.K.-based wireless sensor network firm,
announced that it has received £1.5 million from the Department of
Trade and Industry (DTI). The privately held company said it would
use the funds to recruit further engineering, manufacturing and field
support staff. "We have developed our first key product, invested in
manufacture and test processes and opened up regional offices in Asia,
Japan and the Americas to drive sales in key wireless markets," said
Jennic CEO Jim Lindop. "(This) latest funding will assist in boosting
our infrastructure and support as we grow our customer base."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?C4BE15A3C

SAP to Acquire U.S.-Based Khimetrics for Undisclosed Sum

Frankfurt -- SAP AG, a Germany-based business-software giant,
announced that it has agreed to acquire Khimetrics Inc., an Arizona-
based provider of software for retailers, for an undisclosed sum.
Khimetrics makes software that helps retailers analyse how to price and
position items, forecast profits and devise long-term sales strategies.
SAP said the acquisition would allow it to expand its market position in
the retail software industry. The deal comes on the heels of the recent
acquisition of ProfitLogic -- which produces similar demand
intelligence software for pricing, markdown and merchandising
analysis -- by Oracle, SAP's fiercest rival. SAP said it expected to close
the Khimetrics deal by the end of next month, pending regulatory
approval.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N1331253C

Cinven Acquires France's Altice One for Undisclosed Sum

Paris -- Cinven, a U.K.-based private-equity firm, announced that it has
acquired Altice One, a France-based cable operator, for an undisclosed
sum. Altice One offers digital and analogue TV, broadband telephone
and Internet through its divisions Est Videocom in Alsace and Coditel
in Belgium and Luxembourg. Under the terms of the deal, Cinven will
control a 70% stake in Altice, with founding stakeholders SG Capital
Europe, Pechel Industrie and a group of private investors controlling
the remaining 30%. "Our investment in Altice One compliments that of
Numericable, which we completed less than a year ago," said Cinven
partner Pascal Heberling. "Together, (Est Videocom and Coditel)
represent 4.75 million connections and almost 2.5 million revenue
generating units, making this the largest Francophone cable network in
Europe."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?H2125253C

Israel's CopperGate Secures 12.3-Million-Euro Investment

Tel Aviv -- CopperGate Communications, an Israel-based supplier of
multimedia chips, announced that it has raised 12.3 million euro ($14.5
million) in its third round of funding, led by new investor Carmel
Ventures. Previous investors Tamir Fishman Ventures and the
Challenge Fund also participated. The company said it planned to use
the capital to accelerate its expansion into international markets and
increase its product development and customer support capacity.
Founded in 2000, CopperGate addresses the emerging Internet TV
market with its home networking distribution technology. Under the
terms of the financing, Carmel Ventures general partners Ori Bendori
and Shlomo Dovrat will be join CopperGate's board.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?S1722253C

MartinsonTrigon Invests 1.7 Million Euro in Russia's Reksoft

Stockholm -- MartinsonTrigon, a venture-capital firm based in the
Nordic region, announced that it has invested 1.7 million euro in
Reksoft. Founded in 1991, Reksoft is one of the leading offshore
software development companies in Russia. It derives around 65% of
its revenue from European and North American clients, such as Alcatel,
Ascom, Comverse, First Hop, Philip Morris, SoftBrands, Swisscom
Mobile and UPM Kymmene. "We are honoured to welcome
MartinsonTrigon as our investment partner and are excited about the
opportunities of our future cooperation," said Reksoft CEO Alexander
Egorov. "This partnership will help us maintain the fast growth and
extend operations in the target markets."
http://www.reksoft.com/news/22-nov-2005/

London Business Angels Takes Home AllStars VC Award

London -- Greater London Enterprise (GLE) announced that London
Business Angels (LBA) has won this year's "Private Investor Network
of the Year" award at the Investor AllStars Venture Capital Awards for
early stage U.K. investors. London Seed Capital Investment Director
Mark Boggett was also short-listed for the Young Personality of the
Year Award. "This is a fantastic achievement for LBA, which has been
breaking new ground in the last year with its new business angel funds
and programmes, such as Ready2invest and the Creative Business
Accelerator for SMEs," said LBA Managing Director Anthony Clarke.
MTI won Best Venture Fund, while Intel Capital won best Corporate
Venture Fund.
http://www.investorallstars.com/
http://www.jasonball.com/

Report: VC Investment in Irish Companies Falls in 3rd Qtr

Dublin -- According to the latest Ernst & Young and Venture One
"Quarterly European Venture Capital Report", VC investment in
Ireland declined in the third quarter. The report found that VC firms
invested nearly 22 million euro (£15 million) in local companies in the
quarter, down from the 28.4 million euro invested the quarter previous
and the 30.6 million euro invested in the same quarter last year. A total
of 11 deals were completed, up from the eight deals in the second
quarter, but down from the 14 deals in the third quarter of 2004.
"Quarter three 2005 did see a lower total of money raised, but there
were a greater number of early-round deals at the expense of later-stage
investments," said Ernst & Young Ireland Senior Manager Garry
O'Rourke. "While it is possibly too early to declare this as a definite
trend, it is certainly positive news for younger, innovative companies
entering the funding market."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?A2945153C

MTC-Vodafone to Offer New GSM AlJazeera News Service

London -- MTC-Vodafone, a Kuwait-based mobile operator,
announced that it is offering a new AlJazeera Mobile news service for
its GSM users. In September 2002, MTC (Mobile Telecommunications
Company) entered into a Partner Network Agreement with U.K.-based
Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest mobile operator, creating
MTC-Vodafone Kuwait. The AlJazeera Channel, established in 1996,
is the first independent Arabic language satellite channel to broadcast
out of the Arab world. "In collaboration with AlJazeera Channel, Al
Majaz Telecom Technology and Aiwa Gulf, MTC-Vodafone will
enable customers to stay connected by viewing breaking news, sports,
political and business news and information on their GSM mobile
handsets from the leading Arab news provider," MTC-Vodafone said.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?C4D35153C

Report: Finland Goes Mad for "Star Trek" Spoof

Helsinki -- Reuters reports that an online "Star Trek" spoof film has
become the most popular film in Finland, having been viewed by more
than 3 million people in less than two months. The feature-length
student film -- "Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning," which is Finnish-
language with English subtitles -- has been available online since Oct.
1. The film has been viewed more than 2.9 million times from its own
website and more than 600,000 times on mirror sites.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O4921253C
http://www.starwreck.com 

Ofcom Appoints Graf as Non-Executive Deputy Chairman

London -- U.K. telecommunications watchdog Ofcom announced that it
has appointed Philip Graf as non-executive deputy chairman. Graf was
most recently chairman of the Press Standards Board of Finance, the
body that funds the Press Complaints Commission, and chairman of the
Broadband Stakeholder Group, the advisory group to the government
on the promotion of broadband services. Graf's appointment is effective
from Jan. 1, 2006. Separately, the regulator announced that it has also
appointed Sean Williams as executive director of the Ofcom board and
Polly Weitzman as general counsel.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N2321253C