Jul 14, 2015

The Pitch: ShootersRev uses new technology to teach basketball No other information was released on what the acquisition will entail, other than saying Paperclip will now have a presence in Arizona, San Francisco and Las Vegas. “At this time, PCV will not be making any additional public announcements,” said Paperclip’s Kim Stacey in an email. “(Desarrollo founder) David Rice , has joined PCV as a managing partner and we are committed to Desarrollo’s current portfolio companies and projects like Code Ninja and Coplex.” Coplex is an interactive agency that focuses on collaborative design and development. Code Ninja is a software engineering program in Arizona, Nevada and soon to launch in Mexico City. Desarrollo’s last move in July 2014 was in Tempe to take over Terralever’s old office on Mill Avenue. The plan then was to hire interns, open a tech center and continue its Alchemy Lab software development school and Phoenix Flight startup program. However, in a January email, Rice said he planned to refocus Desarrollo (the Spanish word for development) after the startups he worked with were not being supported in the community because of their association with Desarrollo. He said his programs were seen as competition. “The politics and behind-the-back dealings in this state is very unproductive and ultimately holding Arizona back,” Rice said in the email. “Desarrollo was never meant to be ‘The One’ or my personal legacy, it was only for supporting Arizona.” Rice said then he planned to only support current and future initiatives by others with his Desarrollo Foundation. “From the start, I made a five-year commitment to help develop Arizona into a premier destination for entrepreneurs,” Rice said in the email. “I will continue this commitment, but in a much less public way and getting back to having fun.” Rice thanked Infusionsoft and its CEO Clate Mask for their support. “They remind me so much of the old Insight days and what it truly means to cultivate the entrepreneur spirit,” said Rice in the email, who formerly worked for Insight Enterprises (Nasdaq: NSIT) in Tempe. Desarrollo launched first inside Infusionsoft’s Chandler headquarters in August 2013. It then moved briefly into a shared space in Phoenix with MobiSquad until lease negotiations caused problems. Rice said he had his first startup at 16 years old, and bought and sold his first company at 18. He started an IT services company in 2002 and sold it in 2009, according to his online profile on AngelList. Want Phoenix Technology news in your inbox? Sign up for our free email newsletters. Industries