VenturePeople

Jason Dinger, Jay Frank, Jeff Nahley, Rick Oliver... all deeply involved in ventures... read about these Nashvillians right here.

American Sentinel announced $9MM PE transaction

Nashville- and Vanderbilt University-linked American Sentinel University announced a $9 million growth equity investment. VNC reported on ASU's D-round earlier. Capstone Partners LLC (Boston) acted as sole placement agent in the transaction, in which the University issued $9.0 million of new Preferred Stock. American Sentinel University, founded as a Vanderbilt University Technology Company, is an online university. Capstone's release is here.

American Sentinel online grads convene

American Sentinel, the Colorado-chartered online-education company with close ties to Vanderbilt University and the Nashville VC community, held its annual in-the-flesh graduation ceremony, recently, with VU Nursing School Dean Colleen Conway-Welch delivering the commencement address. Read our earlier story on founder Rick Oliver and his company.

Venture Catchup

My conversation with a VC here, yesterday, brought a reminder the decks are awash with dealflow. It's a buyer's market. Okay, not news. Meanwhile, we, too, have been busy. And tense, if not scared. Pls catch up: Congressman Jim Cooper is staking a bigger claim in the entertainment, patents, copyrights area... CEO, Author, Teacher Rick Oliver is diving into the dealflow with his own D-round American Learning Solutions offering... PassAlong CEO Dave Jaworski really should just be a VC/PE guy, because he's announcing before the close a $30MM round, the kind of touting only a guy who's already raised $40MM-plus can do... Janos Sztipanovits, one of the top scientists leading the exodus from the VU campus to Music Row, is pretty direct about Nashville needing to get its sci-tech act together... Meanwhile, over at SiteMason, co-founders Moses and Conner look as relaxed as two SNL veterans waiting for their cue... Anything going on at your place?