Members of the team at eCompanies, the Santa Monica-based incubator-venture fund outfit, say they’re raising $200 million in fresh dough for a new venture fund, which will have a broader mandate than the firm’s first, e-centric fund.

“The new fund will not be so focused on early-stage investments,” said Steve Ledger, senior partner at eCompanies. “We will have a wider funnel… We’ll look more at opportunities where Old Economy companies meet New Economy companies, or where an Old Economy company needs the culture and technology of a New Economy company.”

This merging of new and old is sometimes called “clicks to bricks,” as Old Economy companies try to take advantage of the Web to boost sales, penetrate new regional markets or hike productivity of workers.

Young Web companies, meanwhile, seek to team up with Old Economy mates mostly for their money, which buys survival.

As a venture investor, eCompanies will still look at early-stage companies, generally those within the infrastructure sector of the Internet, said Ledger.

Like many other close observers of all things Web, Ledger anticipates even more expanding use of the Internet by business enterprises to increase productivity and to communicate with clients and employees. That widening application will make increasing demands on the Net’s infrastructure and produce opportunities for profit in the process.

Meanwhile, the $160 million raised by eCompanies for its first venture fund has been deployed or committed, according to Ledger. And the performance of that first fund is the topic of rampant speculation in Los Angeles’ small and often-opinionated venture community.

Ledger said last week that, although none of the first fund’s portfolio companies had matured to profitability, some are close and others are funded well enough to sustain themselves either to profitability “or the next liquidity event.” In particular, he praised Business.com, the business news and information Web site, as neatly following a business model path to profits.

The lack of current profitability in the eCompanies portfolio is not too keen a concern, said Ledger, as the focus of the investments was early stage companies, and by definition they take time to mature.

Still, Ledger conceded that life had become a bit hectic, not just for him but for many other venture capitalists.

“Sometimes it is triage,” he said. “You try to figure out which companies to save and which to let go. Many companies have terrific business models, but they need capital to survive. In this market (post tech-wreck, with the tech IPO window closed), raising capital is tough.”

Taking Over

Veteran investment banker Scott E. Wendelin, soon to be ensconced in new quarters in the Water Garden office complex in Santa Monica, has quietly assumed duties as head of investment banking for regional brokerage Sutro & Co. Inc. He will also take a board seat at the parent company, Boston-based Tucker Anthony Sutro.

Like many other investment bankers, Wendelin finds himself and his troops more active today in private debt and equity markets than in initial public offerings or other public issues, the traditional domain of securities firms.

“Our business mix has changed dramatically,” Wendelin said. “Four years ago we were weighted heavily toward public offerings… Our model today is one of raising private equity and debt for private and public companies.”

Even mid-cap and small-cap public companies often find it expedient to turn to private equity, an arrangement sometimes called PIPE, or private investment in public equity. In a PIPE, a large block of unregistered stock might be sold to one or several large investors, usually at a per-share price a few ticks below the current public trading price.

Along those lines, Wendelin recently helped underwrite a $10 million private placement of shares in Digital Lava Inc., a Nasdaq-traded company with a market cap of $25 million that develops streaming videos for use on the Web.

While Wendelin has his 14 investment bankers deep into the tech world, he is also high on Old Economy companies, including real estate investment trusts. He said REITs such as West Los Angeles-based Arden Realty Inc. are having banner years, and that income-producing stocks may have a good run ahead. A key reason is that America’s investors are aging (think income), and federal surpluses may lower yields on Treasury bills or even eliminate federal debt from public markets.

Relatively safe REIT stocks offering 9 percent dividends might start to look pretty sexy in just a few years.

Quick Takes

Los Angeles-based TenantDirect.com, a maker of online management systems designed for the multi-family and commercial real estate industries, said it closed a $9.35 million second round of funding. Among the investors is Kennedy-Wilson Inc., a Los Angeles-based real estate owner and manager…

James Montgomery, founder of the Santa Monica-based Digital Coast Partners venture group, held a “trillion-dollar dinner” (assets under management of attendees) last week at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying, raising $675,000 for the Neighborhood Youth Association, which has been helping Los Angeles youngsters for more than 90 years…

New York-based securities house Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co. Inc. announced another expansion at its Westwood Gateway office by hiring Dave Merritt, former CFO of Artists Management Group, and before that head of the entertainment consulting practice at KPMG Peat Marwick. Merritt will join Jeffrey Logsdon, veteran entertainment and gaming industry analyst who went over to GKM from W. R. Hambrecht in October…

Steve Kriegsman, founder of Pacific Palisades-based venture shop The Kriegsman Group, is known for his plays in the biotech and medical sectors. But last week he revealed he’s investing in and raising money for the Irvine-based Sorrells Pickard Gourmet Peanut Butter Co., which sells jars of the goober-paste at supermarkets. “My son, Jay, eats peanut butter every day,” explained Kriegsman. “He is an authority on peanut butter. I asked him to try this brand, and he said it is the best peanut butter he ever had. So I invested in the company.” The senior Kriegsman reports he prefers the creamy style to the crunchy.

Contributing columnist Benjamin Mark Cole writes about the local investment community for the Los Angeles Business Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].