Archive for the ‘South Carolina’ Category
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
 Bill Mahoney, CEO, SCRA By Bill Mahoney, CEO, SCRA
Recently, after I had given an update on SCRA’s SC Launch program, I was approached by a colleague who stated, “Five years ago, I would never have thought so much progress could happen so quickly to build a knowledge economy in South Carolina.”
It was a very nice compliment, and one that meant a great deal considering the recent economic environment. But, SCRA had indeed set out to build a strong knowledge economy in South Carolina several years ago.
Almost exactly four years ago, SCRA started the SC launch program, to identify, develop and invest in promising knowledge economy startups. Prior to SC Launch, many technology discoveries from SC corporate, university and hospital research centers were sitting unused, or leaving the state for development elsewhere.
SC Launch seed funded 35 firms
SC Launch was created to promote the entrepreneurial spirit and infuse much needed resources into start-up technology companies commercializing indigenous research.
To date, the program has supported about 270 entities that are creating new jobs and bringing innovative products and services to the market. 149 of those entities have received both funding and support services.
Of that 149, 35 have received initial equity investment from SC Launch. Many of the SC launch client companies have secured additional funding from angel and venture capital sources. 35 SC launch client equity companies are moving from startup to revenues and margins on the strength of $71 million in private follow-on investment.
Innovation Centers incubating new companies
While SCRA has enjoyed early success from the SC Launch program, we realize that further development of the knowledge economy requires more planning and work. We must continue to provide a tuned ecosystem for emerging technology startups to grow and thrive. Providing world-class business, laboratory and advanced manufacturing facilities is a key component of knowledge economy development.
To fill this role SCRA, in conjunction with its university and civic partners in South Carolina, has introduced Innovation Centers located in Charleston, Columbia, and Anderson to complement our existing research parks. With the Charleston Innovation Center Grand Opening in December, 2009, a groundbreaking of the Columbia Innovation Center in February 2010, and announcement of the Anderson Innovation Center scheduled for availability in Spring 2011, we are already filling these centers with top-notch companies.
Four start-up companies, all created from technology formed at the Medical University of South Carolina, are already headquartered in the SCRA MUSC Charleston Innovation Center as of January.
Immunologix, Microbial Fuel Cell Technologies, Neurological Testing Services, and Vortex Biotechnology Corp. are the first tenants.
These companies embody the precise type of start-ups that each Center is designed to house. The Charleston Center consists of office and laboratory space to support biopharma, biomed, and biotech applied research and commercialization.
Slated to open its doors this June, the SCRA USC Columbia Innovation Center already has two tenant companies; Immedion, which will house a data center in the facility, and Direct Measurements. The Columbia Center is tailored to house high-tech companies emerging from both the University of South Carolina and the general marketplace, particularly those expanding to commercialization and light manufacturing stages.
The third Innovation Center will be located in Anderson, SC, within the Clemson Advanced Materials Center and next to the Clemson Advanced Materials Research Lab. This center will feature both LEED certification and limited access areas. .SCRA and Clemson look forward to opening this Center in the Spring of 2011.
At SCRA, we have a strongly executed a vision for building the knowledge economy in South Carolina. Investment resources and facilities are only part of this vision, but they are already bringing positive impacts to our state. There is a saying that, “To ensure your own future, you must create it.” SCRA continues to inspire new entrepreneurs, strengthen technology-based businesses, and create a better tomorrow for South Carolina.
SCRA
SC Launch
From time to time, TechJournal South runs guest blogs on topics of interest to our readers. If you have an idea for a guest blog topic, contact TJS Editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Charleston, Columbia, Innovation Centers, SC Launch, SCRA, South Carolina
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, Internet/New Media, South Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
 SIMPSONVILLE, SC – AGS, which sells video gaming equipment, says Ronald Clapper has stepped down as CEO and board member.Graham Weaver, chair, will be acting CEO until a replacement is found.
Clapper and the AGS team built AGS into a leading manufacturer of video gaming equipment for Native American, commercial gaming and charitable venues.
AGS owns and operates over 7,500 games across the U.S. and internationally.
“Over the last two years, AGS has significantly increased investment in R&D, including acquiring additional content, hiring programmers, and expanding to a new development center in Toronto. We have begun to release a significant number of new game titles and features as part of this effort,” Weaver said.
Tags: gaming, Hardware, People, SC
Posted in Carolinas, People, South Carolina | Comments Off
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
 MERGER & ACQUISITION ROUNDUP – Columbia, MD-based Merkle, the largest customer relationship marketing agency in the U.S., has acquired loyalty marketing firm Metzner Schneider Associates.
With the acquisition, Merkle adds significant depth and experience in loyalty marketing to its rapidly expanding strategic consulting organization. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Metzner Schneider Associates principals and founders Richard Metzner and Howard Schneider, who started the firm in 2002, will lead Merkle’s newly formed loyalty practice group that will focus on the development and execution of strategic customer loyalty programs for industry-leading clients. In addition, Merkle is bringing several members of the Metzner Schneider Associates senior management team onboard, including Margy Bloom, Kate Hogenson, Sarah Marsh, Dorothy Rosen and Laura Siegfried.
With more than 1,000 employees, Merkle is headquartered near Baltimore in Columbia, Maryland with additional offices in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Little Rock, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and Hagerstown, Md.
SC-based Micro Price sells
Micro Price, a Columbia, SC-based technology company selling solutions for computer networking, telephone systems, web design and managed services for small businesses, has sold to Frank Piet.
Piet bought the firm from owner Richard Stansfield. Financial details were not disclosed.
Charlotte-based VR Business Sales & Acquisitions handled the transaction.
Tags: Acquisitions, IT, Marketing, Maryland, Merkle, Micro Price, South Carolina
Posted in Acquisitions, Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, Maryland, North Carolina, Potomac, South Carolina | Comments Off
Friday, March 19th, 2010
By Allan Maurer
 OAK RIDGE, TN – Meritus Ventures is the only venture capital firm between Cincinnati and Atlanta and between the NC Research Triangle and Nashville, says Grady Vanderhoofven, a partner and fund manager with Meritus. “It’s a big, wide open, tech rich area in a capital starved region,” he says.
Meritus is a Rural Business Investment Company established in 2006 in response to the creation of the Rural Business Investment Program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Meritus is a $36.5 million fund that invests from $250,000 to $2.5 million in rural areas of central and Western Appalachia. “One million is the sweet spot for a first bite for us,” says Vanderhoofven, “and we might invest $2.5 million over time.”
The competitive advantage of tech
The fund’s roster of investors includes a number of banks and several private financial institutions, including member institutions of the Farm Credit System, several large foundations, a number of high net worth individuals, and regional stakeholders such as the University of Kentucky, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. In addition, the fund is partially capitalized via the sale of debentures guaranteed by USDA.
“We’re generalists and we’ll look at most things except life sciences,” says Vanderhoofven. “We like technology and the competitive advantage technology can provide,” he adds. So the firm looks at firms in IT, software, medical devices, diagnostic tools, and semiconductors.
Working in a captial-starved region has its advantages. “We don’t have to fight over deals,” says Vanderhoofven. “We just look and sift.”
The fund’s portfolio companies include Greenville, SC-based Zipit Wirelss, which develops and makes wireless communication and entertainment devices that allow consumers to access the Internet; SinglePipe a facilities-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider that delivers residential and business services to the wholesale and channel markets; Kentucky-based Wazoo sports.com; and Oak Ridge-based Aldis, which focuses on the transportation logistics and advanced infrastructure management markets.
Oak Ridge Labs getting huge funding
 Grady Vanderhoofven Vanderhoofven tell us he previously worked at Oak Ridge National Labs, first as a materials engineer, then in its tech transfer office. “That’s what led me into this,” he says. “I became enamored of spinning out Oak Ridge Lab technology.”
But, he says, companies would spin out, then go where they found a source of capital, landing in Austin or San Diego or Long Island.
“So this is an effort to establish a local source of venture capital with the idea that we can capitalize on some of the technical resources in the region.”
He points out that there is a “huge amount of money flowing into Oak Ridge National Labs right now. They’re receiving something like a billion dollars from the stimulus package and building new one-of-a-kind facilities. You wouldn’t recognize it from five years ago.”
But Oak Ridge isn’t the region’s only source of technology expertise. There is also the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, the Army Missile Command at Huntsville, Alabama, and more.
Fund shifted from early to expansion stage firms
Vanderhoofven says Meritus “plays will with others” and prefers to co-invest and isn’t opposed to deals that include angel investors.
“Historically we have been early stage investors, but in the last year or so we migrated toward more expansion stage investing.”
Early stage investing, he says, “Is a riskier proposition than it was five years ago, so we migrated to the expansion stage where some of the risk is taken out.”
That follows a trend we have seen from venture capitalists generally in the last several years.
Over time, however, Vanderhoofven says Meritus may “Swing back to earlier stage investments.”
For those entrepreneurs in Western North Carolina lo0king for funding, here’s a tip: “We’d like to do a deal in Western NC, but just haven’t found the right one yet,” says Vanderhoofven.
www.meritusventures.com
Tags: Kentucky, Meritus Ventures, NC, SC, Tennessee, venture firms
Posted in Carolinas, Company Profile, IT, Kentucky, North Carolina, Other SE, South Carolina, Tech Transfer, Tennessee, West Virginia | Comments Off
Friday, March 19th, 2010
 SPRINGFIELD,VA – Versar, which sells technology services to the government and defense sector, has acquired South Carolina-based Advent Environmental, which sells environmental clean-up services and is also a Department of Defense vendor.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but Versar said it expects the acquisition to add more than $12 million in annual revenue and $100 million in contract capability to the firm.
Tags: Acquisitions, Government/Defense, South Carolina, Viriginia
Posted in Acquisitions, Carolinas, Government/Defense, Potomac, South Carolina, Virginia | Comments Off
Monday, March 15th, 2010
 CHARLESTON, SC – Immunologix, a Charleston based biotechnology company that specializes in producing fully human antibody-based therapeutics through a novel in vitro system, received a $200,000 investment from SCRA’s SC Launch.
Immunologix has worldwide exclusive licensing rights to a technology developed in the laboratories of the Medical University of South Carolina that allows for the production and selection of human antibodies from cells recovered from discarded immune tissue.
The Immunologix system provides methods for producing human monoclonal antibodies against any target including bacterial and viral antigens, as well as tumor antigens, and human autoantigens. Immunologix’s technology allows for the conversion of naïve B-cells (from a tonsillectomy or whole blood collection) to fully mature human B-cells producing the human antibody of interest.
Immunologix says this process is far superior over traditional methods and offers low cost and reliability that exceed all other current products.
Dr. Ryan Fiorini, Immunologix COO, said he plans to utilize the investment to fully gear up his company’s laboratory and hire an additional lab technician.
Immunologix was named as a Top Ten finalist in the 2008 SE BIO Plan/Competition and was selected to present at the 2009 SEBIO meeting as a “Top Early-Stage” Company. The company was founded by Dr. Douglas Carnes, CEO, and Fiorini, COO.
It is one of the first four companies with offices in teh new SCRA MUSC Innovation Center.
“SCRA is very excited to invest in Immunologix through our SC Launch program,” said SCRA CEO Bill Mahoney. “The company reflects the growing biotech commercialization occurring in South Carolina. This commercialization is consistently utilizing world-class basic science coming out of our research universities.”
Tags: Biotech, Charleston, financing, Immonlogix, Pharma, SC Launch, South Carolina
Posted in Carolinas, Money, South Carolina | Comments Off
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
 Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association presents the keynote at today's SEVC TYSONS CORNER, VA – Clean energy firms presented innovative technologies for a revolutionary portable power system, an advanced solar power system that could be incorporated in turf or tents, a way to harness the energy of ocean waves, and the world’s smallest fuel cell, at the Fourth Annual Southeast Venture Conference (SEVC) here Wednesday.
They were among the 27 innovative firms presenting to the assembled entrepreneurs, executives and venture capitalists on the first day of the two-day event. The presentations followd a keynote address by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales.
Another 28 companies present to the conference today (Feb. 25) following the morning keynote address by National Venture Capital Association President Mark Heesen and the luncheon keynote by Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf, who is often called “father of the Internet.”
Clean energy was one of the major themes of this year’s companies selected to present.
They included NextGenEn of Columbia, SC, an early-stage clean tech startup developing a solid oxide fuel cell it says will create a revolution in the next generation of portable devices. Its system, an alternative to batteries will offer up to 20 times longer up time from a smaller, lighter source.
The company, which is seeking $850,000 in backing, expects to see revenue by 2014 in what it describes as a $19 billion market.
Columbia Power Technologies of Charlottesville, VA, is developing and commercializing wave energy harvesting devices using off shore, direct-drive permanent magnet generator technology.
Raleigh, NC-based Microcell is developing a novel approach to fuel cell architecture and has already developed a backup power device and has backing from its partnerships with major power companies such as Progress Energy, and companies including Pepco Holdings and a major automotive manufacturer. Older than many of the other presenting companies, Microcell is seeking a large, $25 million investment.
Sestar Technologies of Gainsville, Florida, an early stage company based on technology developed at the University of Florida, is developing flexible polymer photovoltaic (solar) materials. It plans to develop Solarturf, a synthetic grass product laced with PV cells that turns a lawn or highway strip capable of generating environmentally friendly power. It is also developing solar fabrics that can be used in military tents and recreational camping equipment.
Miserware of Blacksburg, Virginia, a Virginia Tech spinout, has developed software that brings intelligent power management to laptops, PCs and servers. The company says its software can significantly reduce energy consumption in data centers, saving up to $200 a year for each.
For more information see: www.seventure.org
Previously on TechJournal South:
Columbia Power Technologies: Wave hello to clean energy
Tags: clean energy, Florida, NC, SC, SEVC, Virginia
Posted in Carolinas, Energy, Events, Florida, IT, North Carolina, Potomac, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, DC | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 8th, 2010
 GREENVILLE, SC – Acumen I.T., a company that sells turnkey IT services and support and business phone systems to small and medium-sized businesses, has acquired TeleData USA Inc., a regional designer and installer of Mitel business telephone systems. Financial details were not disclosed.
TeleData sells specialized products and services for the hospitality industry with a focus on the motel and restaurant markets. Through this acquisition, Acumen says it bolsters its communications product and service offering by strengthening its consultative support and enhancing its wiring and installation expertise.
Acumen sell, installs, customizes and supports Mitel and Zultys business telephone systems, bothrecognized for their excellence in VoIP communications.
Online: www.acumenIT.com
Tags: Acquisitions, Acumen, South Carolina, telecom, TeleData USA
Posted in Acquisitions, Carolinas, IT, South Carolina, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
 CHARLESTON, SC – Human resources software company PeopleMatter has received $2.3 million in investment capital from Harbert Venture Partners, a Virginia-based firm.
The new investment is the second part of an overall $7.2 million financing round led by Intersouth Partners of Durham, NC. The capital will be used to accelerate product development, build the PeopleMatter brand, and expand the company’s staff in core areas.
The company says the funds will help it market its people-centric solutions that develop and motivate employees.
PeopleMatter says its software as a service product packs the power of a Fortune 500 management system in a program that is affordable, easy to use and intended for small and mid-sized businesses. Its customers include Milliken, Flash Foods and AAA.
“PeopleMatter is truly visionary in its definition of the way employers connect with their employees and job candidates,” said Wayne Hunter, managing partner of Harbert Venture Partners, who will join the PeopleMatter board.
PeopleMatter enables human resources managers to organize and integrate their onboarding, training, employee performance, retention programs and other HR data in one place.
The company was founded in 2009.
Online: www.peoplematter.com
Tags: funding, HR, IT, PeopleMatter, SaaS
Posted in Carolinas, IT, South Carolina | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
 CHARLESTON, SC – Four biotech startups connected to research at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) are already slated to headquarter in the new SCRA MUSC Innovation Center that opened just this week. The fully-renovated facility attracts and supports start-up companies with wet lab and equipment space, primarily in concert with entrepreneurs commercializing MUSC research.
We noticed that SCRA has ramped up the South Carolina knowledge economy considerably since it began helping the state launch and nurture new technology ventures. SCRA has provided funding and support for 130 new knowledge-based start-ups in South Carolina since its inception in April, 2006, through its SC Launch program. That program has attracted more than $71M in add-on private equity investment in South Carolina companies.
With this collaboration, SCRA is fulfilling legislative mandates identified in the South Carolina Innovation Centers Act focused on the commercialization of new knowledge-based health care discoveries.
“The facility will bring significant economic development benefits of financial investment and job creation for the 21st century economy,” said Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr, City of Charleston.
“The opening of the Innovation Center marks a signal event for economic development in Charleston and South Carolina,” said Ray Greenberg, MUSC President. “The young companies housed in the incubator, many spun off from research at the Medical University, will be the engines that drive the development of the bioscience industry in the future.
The four startups slated to set up in the facility in January are:
Immunologix, which has created a technology that allows replication of human antibodies from cells recovered from discarded immune tissue. This technology meets the current need of antibody-based therapeutics through an in-vitro system.
Microbial Fuel Cell Technologies, which is commercializing the use of microbial fuel cells as emerging waste reduction and alternative energy technology products in the forms of Hydrogen and Ethanol.
Neurological Testing Services, which investigates pharmaceutical compounds in models associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, stroke and epilepsy.
Vortex Biotechnology Corp., which focuses on the development of inhibitors of Pim protein kinases, key regulators of prostate cancer and certain leukemias. Vortex designs, synthesizes and evaluates proprietary Pim inhibitors, with the goal of moving an agent into clinical testing for the treatment of cancer.
Online: www.scra.org; www.musc.edu
Posted in Economic Development, Events, South Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
 GREENVILLE, SC – Lab21 Inc. will locate its new U.S. headquarters, a diagnostics service laboratory and product distribution operations, in Greenville County, creating 65 new jobs.We hear a lot of talk among economic developers about marshaling public-private partnerships to create jobs. This is the culmination of a succession of them.
Lab21 has received funding from SCRA’s SC Launch program, Nexus Medical Partners and other private investors.
Nexus Medical Partners received capital from InvestSC, which is under contract with the S.C. Venture Capital Investment Authority to make investments pursuant to the Venture Capital Investment Act. Nexus not only invested, but also helped recruit Lab21 to South Carolina.
Lab21 Inc. is the result of the merger of Selah Technologies, located in the Upstate of South Carolina, and Lab21 Ltd., a rapidly growing United Kingdom-based medical diagnostics firm.
The new diagnostic service laboratory, which will conform to U.S. CLIA regulatory requirements, will have a particular focus on oncology and is expected to open early next year.
Selah Technologies originated to commercialize basic research in advanced materials from Clemson University. Michael Bolick, CEO of Selah Technologies, said, “I have been looking for a partner in the diagnostic industry for some time in order to drive the development and commercialization process for the Selah technology.
“SCRA views the Lab21-Selah integration as a prime example of how effective public-private partnerships are achieving outstanding knowledge economy development results in South Carolina today. The event sequence from Clemson discovery, then licensing to Selah, investments in Selah by SCRA’s SC Launch Inc. affiliate and private investment partners, leading to premium acquisition by Lab21, and their ultimate landing of U.S. operations in S.C., demonstrates exactly how the knowledge economy development playbook works,” said Bill Mahoney, SCRA CEO.
Online: www.lab21.com; www.nexusmp.com; www.scra.org
Posted in Economic Development, Money, South Carolina | 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
 WASHINGTON, DC – We’ve heard many entrepreneurs complaining that venture capital firms have been putting most of their money into their portfolio companies and not new investments during the economic downturn. Don’t expect a lot of change next year. While VCs surveyed by the National Venture Capital Association this month see gradual improvements in their “ecosystem” in 2010, most respondents expect to pour still more dollars into their portfolio companies.
The VCs do see some bright spots, particularly in clean technology investing, growth equity and later stage companies, but that’s a tune they have been singing all year.
Only 18 percent expect to pump less money into portfolio companies in 2010. A third say they’ll invest in the same number of portfolio companies next year, while 49 percent expect to invest in more portfolio companies.
The survey also made it plain that VCs expect their industry to contract.
“It is readily understood by the venture capital community that our industry is going to contract in size going forward,” said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA. “That will mean fewer firms,for sure, but not necessarily fewer companies funded. There is a great deal of innovation taking place and venture capitalists who have the track record to raise funds will be well positioned to build companies. Most venture capitalists will agree that a smaller industry is a better one.”
Clean Technology is the industry where most VCs predict growth with 54 percent forecasting higher investment levels in 2010. lean technology That’s why clean technology is a focus of this year’s upcoming Southeast Venture Conference Feb. 24-25 in Tysons Corner Virginia (see www.sevneture.org for more information).
Other favorable industries according to the NVCA survey, include Internet (46 percent predicting higher investment levels), Media and Entertainment (33 percent) and Software (32 percent).
Respondents divided over biotech investing with about the same number expecting an increase as those expecting a decrease. Medical devices fare a little better, with 38 percent seeing investment levels staying about the same and a third each seeing either an increase or decrease.
Most VCs (64 percent) expect a decline in semiconductor investing. More surprising is that many also think the wireless sector will see lower levels of investment as well.
Slightly more than half the VCs surveyed think growth equity and later stage companies will see increased investments next year, while only 45 percent see increases in early stage and seed investing.
“Of all the predictions put forth this year, a collective lack of enthusiasm for seed and early stage investing is the most concerning,” said Heesen. “The weak exit market combined with proposed tax policy which would discourage long term investment puts tremendous pressure on our industry to move towards later stage investing.”
The VCs expect widespread industry contraction, with 87 percent predicting that funds raised in 2010 will be smaller than previous ones.
An overwhelming percentage of VCs (90 percent) predict that the number of venture capital firms will decline over the next five years. Most of these respondents (72 percent) believe the industry will contract between one and 30 percent.
“The consolidation of the venture industry will not occur overnight,” said Heesen. “This process will be a gradual one as fewer firms than has been the case historically will be able to raise funds. Those funds that are raised will generally be smaller and over time, the firms will contract accordingly. Venture capitalists will have to do more with less.”
Read selected responses here:
www.nvca.org/predictions2010_quotes.pdf.
For complete survey results including charts, see: www.nvca.org/predictions2010_presentation.pdf
Posted in Alabama, Arkansas, Energy, Events, Florida, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Kentucky, Maryland, Money, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, venture capital report, Virginia, Washington, DC, West Virginia | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
 TYSONS CORNER, VA – The 2009 Southeast Venture Conference (SEVC) has extended the deadline for presenting company applications until next Monday, December 21st. The 4th annual event is scheduled for February 24-25, 2010 at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
The conference is seeking high growth, innovative companies from a vast variety of technology industries including Clean-Tech, Energy, Software, Communications, Medical Devices, Information Technology, Life Sciences, Nanotech, Mobile, Internet and Defense among others.”
The conference will feature a wide range of presenting companies, from late stage Pre-IPO firms to younger high growth technology companies.
The Southeast Venture Conference is expected to feature dozens of the region’s top high growth private companies. Presenting companies will be showcased before a regional and national audience of venture capitalists, private equity investors, angel investors, investment bankers, entrepreneurs and the technology industry executives. Presenting companies will be headquartered or have a significant presence in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic region.
Over the three previous events, the Southeast Venture Conference has sold out each year, while showcasing dozens of the region’s fastest growing companies to an audience representing over $150 billion in private equity.
Additional details on presenting or registration information can be found at www.seventure.org
Posted in Alabama, Events, Florida, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, Kentucky, Marketing, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
WINSTON SALEM, NC – If you suddenly need a doctor while away for the holidays or on a business trip, there’s a new iPhone app for that. Created by The Paladin Group, an SC-based app developer, and two doctor rating services, Winston-Salem-based DrScore and healthcare research organization Castle Connolly Medical, the app, i Need a Doctor, will find even a specialist.
Ralph DiSibio, CEO of Paladin, said, “The app helps everyone from people who need a doctor when they are away from home to those who are searching for a top doctor in a particular specialty to those who are trying to help aging parents in a distant city find medical help.”
DiSibio decided to pursue development of a physician locator app after recognizing the need during his business travels.
“For four decades, I have traveled extensively, and I realized that the smart phone affords travelers of all types — business, vacation, relocation, student travelers — the ability to find qualified medical assistance when local knowledge was unavailable.
“In my search to find the very best organizations that had access to those doctors, I found Castle Connolly and DrScore, and I knew that together we could develop an app that would be of great value to the general public and a leap forward in the marriage between medicine and telecommunications.”
The i Need a Doctor app can be purchased for $4.99 from the Apple iTunes Store. Users open the application, enter a zip code location and choose from more than 100 specialties.
A list of doctors appears with an icon next to each; when you touch a doctor’s name, the vitals appear, including years of practice, schools attended, address and phone number. Touching the phone number gives the user the ability to automatically place the call, and touching the Google icon brings up a map and directions to the office.
“Smart phones, in particular the iPhone, are putting more and more information at people’s fingertips,” said Dr. Feldman, founder of the online physician rating site DrScore.com.
“The i Need a Doctor app is a welcome tool in a world where people are moving around constantly and utilizing the internet as a primary source of information, and it is the only app that offers information on nearly 800,000 doctors and includes patient ratings and ‘top doctor’ designations.”
In addition to accessing the basic doctor information, the user can access any patient ratings the doctor has and whether he or she has been designated a “Top Doctor,” a designation determined by Castle Connolly’s established survey and research process.
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, South Carolina, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
OAKTON, VA – Four Southeastern states are in the top ten on the The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) index that ranks states according to their public policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship.
In terms of their policy environments, the Top-Ten entrepreneur-friendly states under the “Small Business Survival Index 2009″ are: 1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Texas, 4) Wyoming, 5) Washington, 6) Florida, 7) South Carolina, 8) Colorado, 9) Alabama, and 10) Virginia.
No Southeastern states are in the bottom ten, but they do include DC.
the Bottom-Ten include: 42) Hawaii, 43) Minnesota, 44) Massachusetts, 45) Rhode Island, 46) Maine, 47) Vermont, 48) New York, 49) California, 50) New Jersey and 51) District of Columbia.
The “Small Business Survival Index” is the most comprehensive measure of which states are truly friendly to small business, and which are not in terms of public policy decisions.
The factors included in the Index – taxes, various regulatory costs, government spending, property rights, health care and energy costs, and much more – matter a great deal to the competitiveness of each state and to the well being of small business.
The 2009 Index has been expanded to cover 36 major government-imposed or government-related costs affecting small businesses and entrepreneurs. The measures are added together for an overall rating.
Complete rankings are found on the website at www.sbecouncil.org.
Posted in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Studies, surveys, reports, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
TYSONS CORNER, VA – The 2010 Southeast Venture Conference (SEVC) will feature two of the top innovators of our time at the event scheduled for February 24-25 in Tysons Corner, VA. Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, and Vint Cerf, widely known as the “Father of the Internet” and current Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, will speak at the event.
In addition, the SEVC will showcase 70 high growth firms from a variety of industries and stages.
Jimmy Wales is the Co-Founder of Wikipedia and Wikia, Inc. One of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, Wales is an Internet luminary. Wikipedia is one of the most visited sites in the world and has become one of the most-referenced, most-used repositories of knowledge on the planet, with more than 14 million articles in English alone.
Vint Cerf, widely known as the “Father of the Internet” and current Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, co-designed the TCP/IP protocols and basic architecture of the Internet during his tenure with the US Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Once the Internet began to transition to a commercial opportunity, Cerf moved to MCI where he was instrumental in the development of the first commercial email system.
Since 2005, Cerf has worked for Google as its vice president and chief Internet evangelist, where he has become well known for his predictions on how technology will affect future society, encompassing such areas as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, environmentalism and the transformation of the television industry and its delivery model among others.
The Southeast Venture Conference is expected to feature dozens of the region’s top high growth private companies.
Presenting companies will be showcased before a regional and national audience of venture capitalists, private equity investors, angel investors, investment bankers, entrepreneurs and technology industry executives.
Presenting companies will be headquartered or have a significant presence in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic region.
Over the three previous events, the Southeast Venture Conference has sold out each year, while showcasing dozens of the region’s fastest growing companies to an audience representing over $150 billion in private equity.
To register, apply to be a presenting company or for more information, see: www.seventure.org
Posted in Events, Florida, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, People, Security, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
Southeast BIO (SEBIO), a regional nonprofit organization has named four finalists in its third annual BIO/Plan Competition.
The final four competitors are: EpiEP (University of Virginia); NeuroScience Pharmaceuticals (Duke University); Restorative Physiology Group (Medical University of South Carolina); and Compliant Therapeutics (Vanderbilt University).
The BIO/Plan Competition is a year-long program developed to promote the creation of new, fundable life science companies based in the Southeast.
Working closely with technology transfer offices and entrepreneurs throughout the region, the competition brings forward opportunities from leading Southeastern research universities and research centers. The BIO/Plan Competition received over fifty applications earlier this year.
The applicant pool included applications from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
“BIO/Plan is helping create a more fertile environment for life sciences venture investment in the Southeast by pulling forward technologies to build the pipeline and encouraging entrepreneurialism,” said Aaron Davidson, Managing Director, H.I.G. Ventures.
“The program is of the highest value to each of its participants, regardless of the competition results.”
The final four competitors were selected from nine semifinalists who completed a rigorous mentoring process to develop an executable business strategy and associated written plan.
The mentoring teams included three or four experienced professionals from active venture funds or angel groups, biotech entrepreneurs and managers, and service providers with relevant start-up expertise.
Each mentoring team worked together for six months. The resulting business plans were judged by a panel of experts who selected the four finalists.
“This year’s BIO/Plan Competition has been incredibly successful and we thank all of the mentors for their time and effort to develop these plans,” said Garheng Kong, Chairman of SEBIO.
“Again this year, it has been very obvious that the selected semifinalists took advantage of the skills and expertise of their assigned mentors and, over the past six months, they jointly produced commercialization strategies that are well conceived and genuinely executable,” added Frank Hunt, BIO/Plan Competition Co-Chair.
“The end products of their efforts were business plans that should go a long way towards securing the funding they need to launch their new enterprise and a significant level of exposure to the venture community.”
The finalists will present at the Eleventh Annual SEBIO Investor Forum, December 3-4, 2009 at the Charleston Place Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina.
They will present to the full conference audience, which includes approximately 400 industry leaders from across the region, and investors from the Southeast and around the world.
One BIO/Plan Competition winner will be announced and recognized in a special ceremony at the Forum.
The winner will be awarded a substantial prize valued at $100,000.00 in cash and services with which to implement its winning plan.
Posted in Events, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia | Comments Off
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
ROCK HILL, SC – 3D Systems, (Nasdaq:TDSC), a company that makes 3D prototypes and working parts for a variety of industries, has acquired the assets of AdvaTech Manufacturing.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Indiana-based AdvaTEch sells prototyping and manufacturing services to the aerospace and defense sectors.
Posted in Acquisitions, Government/Defense, South Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
CHARLESTON, SC – The Clemson University Restoration Institute has received a $45 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and $35 million in matching funds to build and run a large wind turbine drive train test facility at the former Naval base in Charleston.
The facility is expected to create hundreds of jobs.
Drive trains use energy from wind turbine blades to run electric generators.
University partner on the facility include: Charleston Naval Complex Redevelopment Authority; the South Carolina Department of Commerce; the State of South Carolina; South Carolina Public Railways; the South Carolina State Ports Authority; and RENK AG, Tony Bakker and James Meadors as private partners.
Posted in Energy, Government/Defense, Money, South Carolina | Comments Off
Monday, November 16th, 2009
NEW YORK (AP) – There’s a downsizing trend under way at many small businesses: Moving to smaller offices because of shrinking staffs and as more workers telecommute.
More and more Southeastern tech startups TechJournal South profiles intentionally keep their full time staffs lean. Many consist of only founder executives.
They use independent contractors for coding, research, PR and many other tasks. Others even hire part time CFOs. Working from home offices, living rooms and garages is common and actually has a long and respected heritage in the tech industry.
Some relocated to the Southeast
Some small firms have relocated to less expensive cities such as Atlanta, NC’s Research Triangle, and Charleston, SC to take advantage of lower costs.
Owners also say they’re saving money on real estate, office furniture and other expenses by letting employees work from home or by using independent contractors who don’t work on-site. And those who have cut staffers obviously don’t need to provide space for them.
Adrienne Giannone, CEO of Edge Electronics, has turned seven salespeople in Texas, Florida and California into telecommuters, enabling her to shut those offices. That helped her to expand her headquarters space in Bohemia, on New York’s Long Island, and hire more employees there.
“I’d rather keep my people and not spend the money on the bricks and mortar,” said Giannone, whose company sells electronics components and displays.
Big savings in telecommuting
The workers weren’t sure at first about working from home, but Giannone said they soon realized they were saving money and time by not commuting. “There’s a big savings overall,” she said.
Like many other owners, Giannone found that the Internet made it easy to keep in close touch with far-flung workers.
Many kinds of businesses can downsize their real estate by having more people work off-site. Employees whose job is to handle customer service calls can do that at home.
So can writers or graphic artists. Anyone whose work is done in client offices probably doesn’t need a permanent desk either, and should be able to share with other staffers who are also moving about.
Tech reduces need for offices
The constant improvements over the years in technology have helped many kinds of businesses use less real estate. Law firms, for example, don’t need to have the huge libraries filled with books that were crucial before cases and commentaries became available online.
Machines like photocopiers and computers have become more compact. And software has made it possible for businesses to dispense with the typists and stenographers who were once office mainstays.
The latest downsizing trend, however, has been driven mainly by staff cuts, telecommuting and using workers other than full-timers.
Phil Nourie has a staff of five to 10 people in the New York office of his marketing and corporate communications company, Park Lane Communications. He decided to use independent contractors for the rest of his staffing needs, and a big reason why was the cost of real estate.
Rent not the only concern
“It’s extraordinarily expensive, even though New York City has come down dramatically” in terms of rents,” Nourie said. “It really is tough on a small business to watch $3,000 to $5,000 a month go out the window.”
If everyone worked in the office, “we would need double or triple what we have,” he said.
Nourie pointed out that rent isn’t the only financial consideration in deciding whether to have staff on-site or not. Every employee needs a phone, computer, Internet connection, desk or cubicle and chair. The more staffers you have, the more printers and other peripherals you’ll also need.
Nourie learned from making the mistake of taking on too much space in a previous business. “I realized that we’re going to have people who can work from home, that work wherever, that don’t need client interface,” he said.
Real estate companies say they’re seeing more businesses looking to downsize, and calculating how much square footage they really need if they have employees who aren’t in the office full-time.
“Business owners are getting a bit more savvy about how to get better use of their real estate dollars,” said Diane Henry, senior managing broker with Red Real Estate in Manhattan. She said owners are realizing, “I’m paying for way too much space, and I need to pare it down to what we actually need.”
Henry says she sees more companies setting aside space for what are called floater stations, or work areas shared by more than one staffer.
She also sees companies that have downsized their staff, either by using telecommuters or independent contractors, subleasing their space to help recoup some of the excess rent they’re paying.
TechJournal South editor Allan Maurer contributed to this story.
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