Union Venture Corp. Opens Branch in Irvine

Looking at Orange County as one of the nation’s leading markets for venture capital investments, Union Bank’s venture capital subsidiary, Union Venture Corp., has made its first move out of downtown Los Angeles by opening a branch at the Koll Center in Irvine.

“The amount of venture capital financing and entrepreneurial activity taking place in Orange County has risen tremendously over the past couple of years,” John W. Ulrich, Union Venture vice president and manager of the new office, said in a press release.

Union Venture will provide venture capital for start-up companies, finance first- and second-stage companies and will consider transactions such as buyouts, bridges to public offerings and seed financings, Ulrich said.

The 18-year-old company is a diversified venture capital firm that makes investments in a variety of industries, including computer and high technology companies, advanced communications, biotechnology, medical technology and general manufacturing.

Among the companies it helped to start are Amldahl, Storage Technology, Four Phase Systems, Data 100, Network Systems Corp., Gradco Systems, Silvar-Lisco and Integrated Device Technology.