Need2Buy.com Announces Investors in Online Venture

Need2Buy.com in Westlake Village says a group of venture capital firms and strategic partners has invested $43 million to back its online marketplace for the global electronic components industry.

Because of the investment, Need2Buy named Baker Capital partner Edward Scott and TMCT Ventures managing partner Tom Unterman to its board of directors.

The lead investor in the round is Baker Capital, a New York-based private equity firm with $1.5 billion of capital invested in communications equipment, services and application providers.

Additional investors include TMCT Ventures, the largest venture fund in Southern California; and STAR Ventures, a prominent European venture capital firm that targets companies with aggressive international expansion strategies.

Also joining the round are previous investors Shelter Ventures, Mitsubishi Corp. and JUMP Investors.

“The support from this distinguished list of investors is a tremendous vote of confidence,” said Maury S. Friedman, Need2Buy’s chairman and CEO.

Need2Buy offers a trading exchange for the procurement of electronic components to original equipment manufacturers, contract electronics manufacturers, distributors and component manufacturers.