Castile Ventures Expands Investment Team With Addition Of Skip Besthoff

Strengthens Castile’s early-stage investment platform in key areas including on-demand applications, technology-enabled services, and Internet businesses

Waltham, MA, April 3, 2008 - Castile Ventures announced today that it has expanded its investment team with the addition of Skip Besthoff as a General Partner.  Skip, who has been with Rho Ventures in New York for the past eight years, comes to Castile with a strong record of investing in and participating on the boards of market-transforming software and services companies including Everdream (acquired by Dell), IntraLinks (acquired by TA/Rho), Megapath and Verified Person.

“We are very pleased that Skip has decided to join our team,” said Castile founder and managing general partner, Nina Saberi.  “With his investment background in software applications and the Internet, Skip brings strong credentials in areas such as software-as-a-service and technology-enabled services, which we expect to present important opportunities over the coming years.  He shares our market-oriented approach and has demonstrated a good instinct for recognizing emerging markets and technologies.  He also shares our entrepreneur-centric orientation to building successful companies and has a record of delivering substantial value-add as a board member.  We are delighted to welcome Skip to Castile and believe he will make an outstanding contribution to our growing early-stage investment platform.”

Skip joined Rho Ventures in 2000 and initially evaluated investment prospects, worked with a variety of software and Internet investments, and helped expand Rho’s software practice.  Since 2004, Skip has been directly involved in companies such as Everdream, Megapath and Verified Person.  Also, he currently serves on the board of IntraLinks where he helped drive the go-to-market strategies that resulted in the company’s dramatic growth.  During his tenure with Rho, Skip worked with close to 20 investments representing almost $200 million in invested capital.  He was also active in developing Rho’s internal capabilities and staff. 

According to former Sybase, Commerce One and Everdream CEO Mark Hoffman, who worked directly with Skip at Everdream, "Skip has been an effective fellow board member and was actively involved in our discussions and ultimate successful sale to Dell.  He understands how to grow a venture-backed business and provides good advice and sound insights.” 

 

“This is a great move for me both professionally and personally," said Skip.  “This position represents an exciting opportunity to contribute to Castile's success and to work closely with peers I have known for many years.  My family has deep roots in the Boston area, and we welcome the opportunity to move back to the area.” 

Earlier in his career, Skip spent five years in Boston as a manager for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).  In this position he led large-scale systems development and integration projects for Fortune 100 companies.  He also participated in building new practice areas including the SAP line of business.  Skip is a graduate of Hamilton College with a BA in Economics.  He received his MBA with honors from Cornell University where he was awarded the distinguished Alfred Fried Fellowship for his academic achievements.

About Castile Ventures

Castile Ventures is a top-performing early-stage venture capital firm that provides financial backing and strategic guidance to help exceptional entrepreneurs build successful technology businesses. Distinguished by the deep business and technology experience of its partners, Castile brings a unique blend of sector expertise, investment know-how, operational insights, connections to IT decision makers, and strong ties to innovators and visionaries.  Founded in 1998, Castile currently manages three funds with investments including Ahura Scientific, Aurora Networks, Brix Networks, ChosenSecurity, GeoTrust (acquired by VeriSign), Network Intelligence (acquired by EMC), North End Technologies, PermissionTV, Sandbridge Technologies, SilverStorm Technologies (acquired by QLogic), Sonus Networks (NASDAQ: SONS), Stargus (acquired by C-COR), Trapeze Networks, and Whaleback Systems. 

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Contact:
Laura Ring
Castile Ventures
laura@castileventures.com
781-890-0060