Ebb & Flow

With bushel baskets of VC money chasing product companies, it's not surprising that some valuations are getting overcooked. Now some VCs are putting their money to work in select toolkit companies, because their valuations are more sensible.

Abingworth is in that camp, having just co-led a $22 million round for liquid handling technology company PicoLiter. The post-money valuation was not disclosed, but Jonathan MacQuitty, president and director of the firm's U.S. operations, noted that it was at a level that would support stepups at later rounds, which is unlike what he's seeing in the product area...