Baird Venture Partners Announces Close Of $170 Million Fund III

Fund Surpasses $150 Million Target; Targets Investments in Early And Expansion Stage Business Services And Life Sciences Companies

CHICAGO, August 18, 2008
Baird Venture Partners (BVP), the U.S.-based venture capital group of Baird Private Equity, announced the final close for its third venture fund (BVP III) with a total of over $170 million in committed capital. BVP III exceeded its target of $150 million, anchored by support from a number of well respected institutions, foundations and family offices.

“BVP’s success is a testament to the strength of our global private equity platform,” said Paul J. Carbone, Director of Baird Private Equity and BVP Managing Partner. “We are pleased to have received such strong support from our existing investors as well as many new limited partners.”

Select institutional investors include returning investors State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), Lurie Investments, A. O. Smith Retirement Plan, Northwestern Mutual, and Marshall & Ilsley Corporation, as well as new investors American Family Insurance, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Sentry Insurance, and the Illinois State Treasurer’s Technology Development Account.

”Our strict sector focus and our global platform are key advantages in sourcing investment opportunities,” added Devin Mathews, BVP Partner. “By partnering with experienced executives, such as in our first BVP III investment in LatinVest, we are able to source investments that few other firms see.”

To date, BVP III has invested in two companies:

LatinVest Investment Company II, LLC (“LatinVest”) is an Atlanta-based transaction processing company that provides funds transfer services that allows consumers to wire money to friends and family around the world. LatinVest CEO Mario Trujillo is a successful entrepreneur in the funds transfer industry and has been a member of BVP’s Advisory Board since 2005.
InsideTrack, Inc. is a San Francisco-based provider of student coaching services to colleges and universities. Before investing, BVP followed InsideTrack’s management team for over two years as part of its proactive sourcing effort in the education services sector.
“Our past success and domain experience in the medical devices and research tools/diagnostics space have enabled us to become a more significant investor in these areas,” said Pete Shagory, BVP Partner. “With the added capacity of Fund III and the breadth of Baird’s healthcare resources, we can take a more meaningful stake in our life sciences investments going forward and continue to grow our national presence in these important sub-sectors.”

Strong Track Record of Success

Established in 2000, BVP focuses on investing in early- and expansion-stage companies with experienced management teams and innovative, capital-efficient business models. Focused on the Business Services and Life Sciences sectors, BVP invests up to $10 million in equity over the life of an investment. Its strict sector focus, deep executive relationships and operating talent around the world help BVP partner with management teams to build industry-leading companies.

“Over the last eighteen months we have had several attractive realizations in our prior funds,” said Bill Filip, BVP Partner. “Exceeding our capital commitment target in this fund is a credit to our team and the entrepreneurs with whom we have partnered.”

Some recent exits include:

HireRight, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIRE) – BVP first invested in the Irvine,Ca.-based background screening provider in 2002, and maintained an active role as a value-added partner and Board member. HireRight went public in August 2007.
NimbleGen, Inc. – BVP exited its investment in NimbleGen Systems, Inc. through NimbleGen’s August 2007 sale to the pharmaceutical and diagnostic company Roche for $272.5 million. NimbleGen, which produces high-density custom DNA arrays based on the company’s proprietary Maskless Array technology, was one of the first investments made
in BVP I.

PharMEDium, Inc. – In November, 2007, BVP sold a majority of its position in PharMedium, a Lake Forest, Ill.-based provider of outsourced pharmacy compounding services to hospitals, to an internationally known private equity firm. While BVP retains a meaningful stake in PharMEDium, the company’s equity recapitalization in 2007 represents one of BVP’s most successful investments to date.

Tomotherapy Inc. (NASDAQ:TOMO) – BVP I was an early investor in TomoTherapy, Inc., the Madison, WI-based developer of the Hi-Art System®, one of the most advanced radiation treatment systems commercially available today for the treatment of a variety of cancers. Tomotherapy’s May 2007 initial public offering was one of the largest U.S. venture-backed medical device IPOs in history.

Thomas Capital Group acted as a placement agent on BVP III.

About Baird Venture Partners

Baird Venture Partners, the U.S.-based venture capital group of Baird Private Equity, makes venture capital investments in early and expansion stage business services and life sciences companies. Baird Venture Partners leverages its in-depth sector knowledge, experienced investment team and network of relationships to serve as a value-added partner for its portfolio companies. For more information, please visit www.bairdventurepartners.com.

Baird Private Equity, the global private equity group affiliated with Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird), makes venture capital, growth equity and buyout investments in smaller, high potential companies in the United States through Baird Venture Partners and Baird Capital Partners, in China through Baird Capital Partners Asia, and in Europe through Baird Capital Partners Europe and Granville Baird, an affiliated fund manager that invests in Germany. Baird Private Equity has a global team of 80 professionals in nine offices across the United States, Europe and Asia, including approximately 20 operating professionals in Asia. Baird Private Equity and its affiliates have raised and managed approximately $2.4 billion in capital and invested in over 220 companies since the 1980s. For more information, please visit www.bairdprivateequity.com.