Peer-to-Peer Networks Moving From Music to Trading of Tires
Technology
by Christopher Keough
Peer-to-peer networks are not just for swapping music files (illegally) anymore.
CarParts Technologies Inc. has acquired OpenWebs Corp., a Pittsburgh maker of software with peer-to-peer technology, and will use it to build networks of retailers, distributors and manufacturers to facilitate the trading of aftermarket tires.
David McCann, chief executive of El Segundo-based CarParts Technologies, refused to disclose the financial details of the acquisition, but acknowledged that it was an all stock deal.
CarParts Technologies already has parts exchange software in place, which tire-specific OpenWebs will enhance.
OpenWebs is an “intelligent trading network” that uses the Internet to locate and trade tires much the same way as popular digital media file trading network Kazaa connects computers and allows users to search for music files.
When a customer walks into a service station in need of a tire, McCann said, a service manager would check the inventory in the store while OpenWebs performs a network search to find the best option in terms of price, proximity and delivery time.
The idea is to manage what McCann said are 2 billion tire and parts transactions weekly around the world. “There’s a lot of phone and fax trading, which is old-fashioned and inefficient,” he said.
CarParts Technologies was founded in 1997. In addition to the parts exchange software, CarParts Technologies has software products that automate warehousing and distribution functions.
The company, which McCann said would break even by the end of 2002, has raised $68 million in three rounds of venture capital funding.
Mining Capital
SageMetrics Corp. closed a $6 million second round of venture funding led by Ascend Venture Group LLC of New York and including J.P. Morgan Partners, the venture investment arm of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
“They have a terrific technology and a very strong management team that’s been there through an extremely difficult time,” said Darryl Wash, managing partner of Ascend Venture Group. “They’ve weathered the storm.”
SageMetrics’ top product, SageAnalyst, collects information from a company’s online operations and analyzes the data in customizable reports for use as a guide to customer behavior and motivation.
The North Hollywood-based firm was self-funded when founded as SBASoft Inc. in 1997. The company’s first round of venture capital, also $6 million, closed in April 2000. The company, which also has offices in London, changed its name to SageMetrics in January 2001.
Wash said the company is profitable, but soon will dip into the red as it spends as much as $100,000 a month as part of a sales and marketing push.
The company’s founder and chief executive, E. Kenneth Nwabueze, appointed to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in December, did not return calls seeking comment.
Pocket Film
Betting on the apparent permanency of personal digital assistants such as Palm Pilots and the emerging Pocket PC, Lions Gate Entertainment is the first studio to sign up to provide content for viewing on handheld devices.
Lions Gate and PocketPC Films will collaborate to release movies, sports programming and other content in a CD-ROM format that then would be downloaded to a PC and transferred to a handheld device. The two companies would split revenues from each unit sold, according to Ron Schwartz, executive vice president of North American home video sales and operations for Lions Gate.
Staff reporter Christopher Keough can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 235, or at
[email protected].
