Domain Associates LLC, a key source of funding for Orange County medical device and drug startups, is moving its West Coast offices from Laguna Niguel to Carmel Valley in San Diego County.
One notable name isn’t making the move.
Olav Bergheim, formerly a general partner with Domain Associates and one of the area’s most influential health-care venture investors, has started an in-
vestment company in Laguna Hills.
Bergheim’s company is called Fjord Ventures LLC, reflecting his Nordic roots. He is managing director.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” Bergheim said.
Like Domain, Fjord plans to target medical technology companies.
But Bergheim’s venture plans to fund companies at a much earlier stage than Domain.
Fjord, which has invested in a handful of companies so far, also plans to provide initial resources to entrepreneurs, including offices, laboratories and other services.
Incubators such as Fjord provide seed funding that carries a startup along until a larger venture capital firm invests.
Domain usually invests $1 million to $25 million in a venture round.
Another big local investor, Newport Beach’s Versant Ventures, typically does $1 million to $10 million.
Seed-level investors usually give less than $1 million to a startup.
OC lacks early investors similar to Fjord.
“We still see a big gap between seed, early-stage and larger investors,” said Gary Augusta, executive director of Orange County Technology Action Network, or Octane, a group of local venture investors and companies. “With Olav’s new venture, a lot more companies can get that early level of funding.”
Bergheim “is somebody who is extremely experienced and is tech savvy,” Augusta said. “He’s going to have a huge short-term impact in the county.”
Bergheim’s Background
Fjord marks the latest chapter for Bergheim, who joined Domain in 1995.
He previously had an 18-year stint at
the local operation of Baxter International Inc., the Chicago-area medical device
maker.
Bergheim was a corporate group vice president at Baxter. He also was president of Baxter’s cardiovascular unit, which was spun off in 2000 as Irvine heart valve maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp.
Bergheim’s exit from Domain was a key reason for the relocation of its West Coast office.
The firm’s headquarters is in Princeton, N.J.
Domain’s remaining West Coast partners live in San Diego County. The move is a matter of making commutes easier,not a reflection on OC’s crop of healthcare startups, partner Bob More said.
“There’s no geographic change in our investments,” More said. “San Diego has traditionally been a breeding ground for biotech firms, while OC has gravitated toward medical device makers.”
Domain
Domain invests in both sectors. The firm has about $1.4 billion in funds that it manages for pension funds, insurance companies and university endowments, among others.
The company ranked No. 6 among venture capital firms that invested in OC companies in 2004, with $2 million in funding, according to the Business Journal’s ranking.
A year earlier Domain was No. 2, with $12.4 million in investments.
Domain’s OC fundings include Laguna Hills-based Glaukos Corp., which makes devices that treat glaucoma, Lake Forest-based heart device developer Orqis Medical Corp., Irvine-based IntraLase Corp., a publicly traded company that makes lasers for eye surgery, and Irvine-based 3F Therapeutics Inc., which recently was bought by ATS Medical Inc. of Plymouth, Minn.
OC industry watchers don’t expect Domain’s move to have a huge effect on the county’s venture investing.
“If they were moving to Florida, it would be bad,” Augusta said. “But if they remain within 100 or 150 miles, that typically doesn’t have an impact on the local companies.”
