FENOX Venture Capital

Fenox Venture Capital was an American venture capital firm, headquartered in San Jose, California. The auto parts company Fenox was an anchor investor.

History

Fenox Venture Capital was founded by Belarusian businessman Vitaliy Arbuzov and Anis Uzzaman in 2009. The company worked with startup companies seeking entry into American, Asian, European and Middle Eastern markets.

Fenox managed venture capital funds for Aisin, Asus and Wistron.

In December 2015, Fenox led a $16 million investment in companion robot company Jibo. In February 2016, the firm led an investment in home-gardening company Edyn. In May 2016, the firm led a $14 million investment in Affectiva, a robotics company formed as an offshoot of the MIT Media Lab. Other portfolio companies include Tech in Asia, BlockCypher, MindMeld, and Sense.ly. By 2017, Fenox had invested in 115 companies.

Controversies

In February 2016, under pressure from the United States Department of Labor, Fenox Venture Capital agreed to pay back wages of to 56 interns it had hired into unpaid roles. According to the government, the wage theft took place from 2011 to 2014, and was unusual because it was the first case to be pursued against a venture capital firm in the area.

In June 2017, Uzzaman and Fenox sued an anonymous blogger, saying the blogger had falsely accused him of [...] harassment. Uzzaman's attorneys said that the IP address that posted the blog article was linked to the home address of the CEO of a competing company.