Circadence gets $51 million; Moguls sold

Hewlett Packard Co., which earlier agreed to provide $54 million in convertible debt to Circadence, was one of the lead investors in this round. Other investors include PSINet Ventures Ltd. and Global Crossing Ltd. Since its launch in 1993, Circadence has raised $92.5 million in equity financing.

Previously known as VR-1, Circadence plans to use the funds from this round to develop and deploy new e-commerce technology designed to assist e-tailers. The customizable technology allows Internet companies to order their sites according to traffic. The goal is to target serious online shoppers and provide them with more attention, which in the world of online shopping means a faster purchasing process.

“The software will allow us to prioritize user behavior and content on the Net,´ said Dick Franklin, interim vice president of marketing at Circadence. According to Franklin, there are two kinds of behavior among visitors to e-commerce sites. Circadence’s technology will allow companies using its technology to prioritize those activities differently, essentially to separate browsers from purchasers.

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Funds also will be used to continue development of its gaming technology, bolster its workforce and lease an additional 15,000-square-foot space in Boulder.

Circadence has offices in Boulder, Toronto, St. Petersburg, Russia and Tokyo. The privately held company currently employs 366 people worldwide and plans to increase its workforce to 400 by the end of the year. Circadence plans to start deploying its technology to e-commerce companies early next year.

The local office of Atlanta-based Nova Corp., a company that processes credit-card payments for retailers and banks, has closed its doors, laying off more than 100 workers.

Nova will start to shut down operations at its east Boulder office at 2845 Wilderness Place on Nov. 3.

The majority of employees at the Boulder office provide technical assistance; the rest are customer service representatives. Nova plans to incorporate work done at the Boulder office into its call centers in Atlanta and Knoxville, Tenn. All workers will receive severance pay. Some employees had been with the company for more than 10 years.

Travel and adventure entertainment company RSN is selling Moguls Ski & Snowboard Tours of Boulder.

Portland, Maine-based RSN acquired Moguls almost one year ago and merged it with the Web-based RSN Fast Travel program. The decision to sell has come less than two months after RSN secured $20 million in second-round financing. This round is four times as much as the company secured in its initial round in 1999.

Following this investment round, RSN has decided to concentrate on its cable television network and Web site. The company plans to maintain a relationship with Moguls, including providing a travel link to Moguls Web site.

Moguls, which was founded in 1982, will stay in Boulder. The company recently relocated to a larger office space and anticipates employee growth of 10 percent to 20 percent and sales growth of 50 percent to 79 percent in the next five years.

Moguls currently employs 85 people. The company specializes in Web-based sales of customized ski vacation packages and summer mountain vacation packages to destinations in the western United States, Canada, South America and Europe.