Argonaut Raises $15 Million In Private Funding; Names New Board Member

Argonaut Technologies (San Carlos, CA; 650-598-1350), a manufacturer of instrumentation and chemistries for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, and new materials industries, has raised $15 million in a private financing led by Schroder Ventures, a new Argonaut investor. In a related announcement, Argonaut named Hingge Hsu, a principal in the Boston offices of Schroder Ventures, to its board of directors.

In addition to Schroder Ventures, other participants in the financing included previous Argonaut investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Integral Capital Partners, RS Investment Co. (previously BancBoston Robertson Stephens), and Techno-Venture Co., and new investor Moss Forrest Venture.

Prior to joining Schroder Ventures in 1998, Hsu was a principal in the investment banking department of Robertson, Stephens & Co., now RS Investment Co., and previously held business development positions at Chiron Corporation and Gensia Sicor Inc. Hsu also sits on the board of two private biotechnology companies.

Argonaut Technologies commercializes technology that enables chemists to realize the productivity gains promised by parallel organic synthesis. Customers worldwide utilize Argonaut synthesizers, software, and chemical resins and reagents to accelerate and automate chemical synthesis. Argonaut also teams with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and materials companies to co-develop new products by forming product development consortia (PDC).

For more information, call David Binkley, president and CEO of Argonaut Technologies, at 650-598-1350.