Rainy Week in N.C., Literally and in VC

Rain drenched much of North Carolina this past week, and the same was true of the state’s venture capital industry.

Instead of the usual deal-a-week shower seen in the state for much of the past two months, four technology firms were awash in about $15 million in combined venture funding.

CipherOptics, a Raleigh network security firm, led the way with a $9.6 million second round. Raleigh software developer HAHT Commerce, whose spokesman previously denied any fund-raising activity, fessed up to tapping existing investors for another $4.1 million, while Durham cheminformatics company Synthematix closed on $1.25 million for its second round. Also, International IT Services of Raleigh got an undisclosed amount from an Atlanta group.

The additions brings the North Carolina total for venture capital for the year to $123 million in 24 deals. By late May a year ago, the state had seen 26 deals for almost $130 million.

Here is LTW’s exclusive list of North Carolina venture deals, ranked according to the size of the investment:

Company; Sector; Amount (Round)

Investors: MacAndrews & Forbes (lead), Cephaton and Novo Nordisk A/S

2. Targacept, Winston-Salem; Biotech; $14 million (2nd)

Investors: Nomura International Healthcare Private Equity Group (lead), Bison Capital, Cogene Biotech Ventures, JAFCO, Oxford Bioscience Partners and Rock Castle Ventures

3. TranS1, Wilmington; Medical devices; $12 million (2nd)

Investors: Advanced Technology Ventures (lead), Cutlass Capital, Delphi Ventures and Sapient Capital

4. Arsenal Digital Solutions, Cary; IT services; $10.5 million (4th)

Investors: Covestco, Southeast Interactive Technology Funds and Southern Cross Capital

5. Ephinay, Charlotte; IT services; $10 million (1st)

Investors: Chrys Capital

6. StemCo Biomedical, Durham; Biotech; $9.8 million (2nd)

Investors: Aurora Funds (co-lead), Intersouth Partners (co-lead), BD Ventures, Tall Oaks Capital and Trelys Venture Partners

7. CipherOptics, Raleigh; IT services; $9.6 million (2nd)

Investors: Kodiak Venture Partners (lead), Axiom Venture Partners, New Tampa Technologies and Origin Partners

8. Venetica, Charlotte; Software; $7 million (1st)

Investors: Charles River Ventures and General Catalyst Partners

9. Oculan, Raleigh; Networking; $5 million (4th)

Investors: Soros Equity Partners

10. MediaSpan Group, Durham; IT services/software; $4.5 million (1st)

Investors: Covesco-Seteura, Rustic Canyon Group and Southeast Interactive Technology Funds

11. HAHT Commerce, Raleigh; Software; $4.1 million (3rd)

Investors: Banc of America Capital Investors, Canaan Partners, CIBC Capital Partners and Granite Ventures

12. Relativity Technologies, Cary; Software; $2 million (4th)

Investors: Noro-Moseley Partners and Wakefield Group

12. AvidXchange, Charlotte; Software; $2 million (2nd)

Investors: Charlotte Angel Partners, Piedmont Angel Network and and individuals

12. NuTech Solutions, Charlotte; Software; $2 million (3rd)

Investors: Individuals

15. RSS Solutions, Greenville; Software; $1.6 million (1st)

Investors: EdgeStone Capital Partners

16. LiveWire Logic, Morrisville; Software; $1.5 million (3rd)

Investors: Gray Ventures and Research Triangle Ventures

16. Trinity Security, Charlotte; IT services; $1.5 million (1st)

Investors: Venture Capital Solutions

18. Synthematix, Durham; Software; $1.25 million (2nd)

Investors: Catalysta Partners and individuals

19. iReadyWorld, Charlotte; IT services; $650,000 (4th)

Investors: Total Technology Ventures

20. Metabolon Pharmaceuticals, Research Triangle Park; Biotech; $300,000 (Seed)

Investors: Aurora Funds

21. Noverant, Raleigh; Software; $266,000 (Seed)

Investors: Research Triangle Ventures and individuals

22. Coventor, Cary; Hardware; $250,000 (5th)

Investors: Wakefield Group

23. StrikeIron, Raleigh; Software; $150,000 (Seed)

Investors: Aurora Funds

24. International IT Services, Raleigh; IT services; NA (1st)

Investors: WellFound Technology