Founded | September 1997 |
---|---|
Founder | David Perry |
Defunct | April 12, 2011 |
Fate | Bankruptcy; acquired by Trubiquity |
Headquarters | Carlsbad, California |
Revenue | $3 million (2003) |
-$14 million (2003) | |
Total assets | $7 million (2003) |
Total equity | -$7 million (2003) |
Number of employees | 33 (2003) |
Footnotes / references [1] |
Chemdex Corporation, later known as Ventro Corporation and then NexPrise, Inc., was a B2B e-commerce company that first operated an online marketplace for products related to the life sciences industry such as laboratory chemicals, enzymes, and equipment, but later expanded into a few other industries. [2] It was notable for its $7 billion market capitalization during the dot-com bubble despite minimal revenues.
The company was founded in September 1997 by David Perry, a mid-level oil refinery manager at Exxon whose business plan won 2nd place in a Harvard University competition. [3] [4]
In October 1998, the company launched its service. [4]
The company raised $45 million in venture capital funding from Genentech founder Robert A. Swanson, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and CMGI. [4]
On July 27, 1999, the company became a public company via an initial public offering that raised $112.5 million. After its shares soared 60% to $25 per share on its first day of trading, the company had a market capitalization of $758 million despite only having $29,000 in sales in 1998 and $165,000 in sales in the first quarter of 1999, 82% of which came from Genentech. [5] [3] [6]
In September 1999, the company acquired Promedix.com for $340 million in stock. In December 1999, the company acquired SpecialityMD.com for $115 million in stock and formed a joint venture with Tenet Healthcare. [7] The stock price surged to over $100. [8]
In February 2000, the company changed its name to Ventro Corporation. [1] News of the name change sent the stock up 30% in one day, to $155 per share. [9]
On February 25, 2000, the stock price peaked at $243 per share.
In December 2000, the company shut its Chemdex and Promedix marketplaces and laid off 235 employees. [10]
By June 2001, shares in the company traded for 39 cents each. [4]
On August 9, 2001, the company acquired NexPrise and in January 2002, the company changed its name to NexPrise, Inc. [1]
On February 4, 2002, the company acquired InfoPrise. [1]
In June 2002, the company announced the release of the nProcess Platform. [1]
The company changed its business plan to be a provider of cloud-based enterprise content management solutions.
On January 18, 2011, the company filed bankruptcy.
In April 2011, Trubiquity acquired all of the company's assets. [11]