Iventuri, an E-commerce venture launched in October by Accenture, The Dow Chemical Co., and Internet incubator Campsix, is in the market for a new owner. Dow's already invested several million dollars in iVenturi, but the startup never gained the additional investors Dow hoped it would acquire to sustain itself until it became profitable.
Fiscal discipline is much more important now than last fall.
The company blamed customer-inventory reductions and a general economic slowdown in North America for sharp sales declines late in the quarter in several of its businesses. Dow expects the same conditions in the first half of this year. But the firm remains involved in four other E-commerce ventures, all backed by several major chemical companies and soundly funded. These include ChemConnect, an exchange for chemical commodities, and Elemica, which offers inventory and procurement tools for chemical companies. InformationWeek Daily Get IT news, stock reports and calendar info delivered by E-mail every morning.