Venture Capital, startups, innovation

OnTech Ends Business

Bruce V. Bigelow 11/23/09

OnTech, a San Diego venture that makes self-heating beverage containers sold under the Hillside Beverages brand, went out of business Nov. 8, according to a brief notice on its online store. Venture Wire, which was the first to report the company had gone cold, says OnTech raised about $31.6 million in equity and $11 million in debt from investors that include DFJ Frontier Fund, Fort Washington Capital Partners Group, GRP Partners, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank. OnTech, which I profiled in 2004, is seeking to recover the value of its business, which it values at between $80 million and $150 million, through an arbitration proceeding against Graham Packaging.

Bruce V. Bigelow is the editor of Xconomy San Diego. You can e-mail him at bbigelow@xconomy.com or call 858-202-0492