Resources Brightspark

Introduction

 

Mark Skapinker, Tony Davis and Sophie Forest launched their newest venture, Brightspark 3.0 to create and operate new Internet businesses.  Mark, Tony and Sophie have many years of experience as entrepreneurs and venture capitalists spotting trends and growing startups in the software and Internet market.  With two successful venture capital funds under their belt (Brightspark Fund 1 and 2), Brightspark’s founders have moved in a new direction and structured Brightspark 3.0 as a corporation believing that this model will give them greater control and flexibility with respect to their investments, provide them with the opportunity to take a more “hands-on” approach in managing the day-to-day operations of their startups, and allow them to build and operate the ventures in a more efficient and cost-effective manner than traditional early-stage venture capital.  

 

 

History of Brightspark

 

Brightspark Fund 1 invested in early stage software and Internet companies and consisted of a business incubator to get companies started and running, and a Venture Capital fund that invested and managed funds from large institutional investors. Brightspark Fund 2 was a more traditional early stage seed VC fund.  Prior to coming together to form Brightspark, Mark co-founded Delrina, Tony is well known for inventing and creating the WinFax Pro communication system and Sophie played key roles at Bell Canada ( Director of Alliances and Acquisitions) and GTI Capital.

 

 

Operations 

 

A key initiative of Brightspark 3.0 is to allow certain resources to be shared amongst the new businesses.  In addition to sharing outside resources, the Company will allow any newly developed technologies to be deployed over multiple businesses within the structure.  Management believes that this will allow Brightspark to generate a better return on its deployed capital.

 

 

Revenue Model

 

Brightspark 3.0 is looking at many different ways to monetize its internet investments.  The businesses will likely generate advertising revenue and/or subscription fees.  In the longer term, to monetize the value of its investee companies Brightspark may sell individual businesses to outside buyers.

 

 

Opportunity

 

With a well-developed web infrastructure in place, the maturing internet market has shifted toward developing new and innovative applications.  The Web 2.0 businesses that develop these apps typically require relatively low initial capital investment thanks in part to open source software, hosted infrastructures, and offshore development options.  At the same time, these businesses are capable of reaching a broad customer base and have the potential to generate substantial returns thanks to marginal incremental costs.

 

 

The Team

 

Mark Skapinker

Co-Chief Executive Officer

 

Mark Skapinker is a veteran and a pioneer in the software and technology industries with more than 25 years experience. In 1988, Mark co-founded Delrina Corporation, where he helped the company achieve annual revenues of over C$150 million. Mark was President of Delrina from its initial incorporation, through its public stock offerings and listings on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, until Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) acquired Delrina in 1995 for consideration valued at approximately C$560 million. In 1997, Mark founded Balisoft Technologies Inc., a company that created intelligent customer interaction software. In the spring of 1999, Balisoft merged with Boston-based Servicesoft Technologies Inc., which in turn was eventually acquired by Kana Software Inc. (NASDAQ: KANA). Mark is also a co-founder and managing partner of Brightspark Capital Partners Inc.

 

 

Tony Davis

Co-Chief Executive Officer

 

Tony Davis has more than 20 years of software engineering and product design experience. Tony is well known for inventing and creating the WinFax PRO communication system, and initiating development of its associated products and services as the VP of Communications Software Strategy at Delrina from 1990 through 1995. In 1996, he founded Lanacom Inc., a Toronto-based Internet software development company, where he served as President and CEO until it was acquired by BackWeb Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: BWEB) in 1997. At BackWeb, Tony was the Senior Vice President of Product Development. In 1998, Tony co-founded Delano Technology Corp. to bring to market the industry’s first e-mail application server, a comprehensive e-business solution for implementing flexible Internet applications to meet a company’s strategic needs. Tony is currently a managing partner and co-founder of Brightspark Capital Partners Inc.

 

Sophie Forest

Co-Chief Executive Officer

 

Sophie Forest has more than 15 years of experience in the high-tech venture capital industry. Prior to joining Brightspark, Sophie was a partner in CDP Capital – Technology Ventures, where she played a key role in investments in companies such as Servicesoft Technologies Inc. (acquired by Kana Software Inc., NASDAQ: KANA), Locus (bought by Infospace, NASDAQ: INSP) and numerous others. Before joining CDP, she held the position of Director of Alliances and Acquisitions for Bell Canada, where she developed strategies and orchestrated operations for acquisitions in Eastern Canada. Prior to working at Bell, she was involved in the start-up and growth of GTI Capital, one of Québec’s leading venture capital firms. Sophie has been a managing partner at Brightspark Capital Partners Inc. since 2003.

 

Mark Skapinker

Co-Chief Executive Officer

 

Mark Skapinker is a veteran and a pioneer in the software and technology industries with more than 25 years experience. In 1988, Mark co-founded Delrina Corporation, where he helped the company achieve annual revenues of over C$150 million. Mark was President of Delrina from its initial incorporation, through its public stock offerings and listings on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, until Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) acquired Delrina in 1995 for consideration valued at approximately C$560 million. In 1997, Mark founded Balisoft Technologies Inc., a company that created intelligent customer interaction software. In the spring of 1999, Balisoft merged with Boston-based Servicesoft Technologies Inc., which in turn was eventually acquired by Kana Software Inc. (NASDAQ: KANA). Mark is also a co-founder and managing partner of Brightspark Capital Partners Inc.

 

 

Progress to Date

 

The first three internet businesses that Brightspark 3.0 has become involved with are Collectionbuddy, Agilebuddy, and iStopOver.