Capital Chaos

 Enkata (San Matea, CA) closed $8 million led by Sigma Partners with participation from Apex Ventures. The company, which bills itself as “a leading provider of On-demand Performance and Talent Management Solutions” raised the money to fund strategic investments to accelerate Enkata’s US and international growth.

The market opportunity for talent management applications, such as Enkata’s, are projected by Yankee Group to grow 25 percent year-over-year, reaching $4 billion by 2009.

The company is run by David Stamm who was the founder of Clarify (Amdocs) and has a pretty strong team around him which should help these guys stay ahead of the curve.

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Sigma Partners (Menlo Park, CA) is an early stage VC firm that has been around for over 20 years and has over $2B under management.  As one of the older firms in the Valley, these guys have made a number of significant investments in the areas of Infrastructure, Semiconductors, Green/Clean Technology, Software & Services and Wireless & Consumer. 

They are very focused on the people who are pitching them and in essence, managing their investment.  A core focus should be on a defensible technology in an ample market.

They like being the first investor and initial investments typically range from $2-$8M and they are not limited to just west coast companies either.

Since they are a pretty big firm and have been around the block, best way to get to these guys is through an introduction.  Sending them unsolicited business plans doesnt seem to have a great response from them.

The firm has a reputation for being VERY smart so be on top of your game if you get a chance to pitch them.  One of the top stand-outs seems to be Pete Slovik (solvik@sigmapartners.com) who has a sellar reputation for understanding the entreprenuer and is extremely knowledgable in IT.

Contact:
1600 El Camino Real
Suite 280
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel: (650) 853-1700