Posts Tagged ‘SEVC’
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
 Amazon has purchased Charlotte-based speech-recognition firm Yap, according to a report in The Atlantic. Citing an SEC filing, the magazine notes that neither company announced the merger of Yap with Dion Acquisition Sub, which lists a Seattle Amazon building address.
The magazine says that “The acquisition is particularly interesting given the prominence of Apple’s voice efforts and the depth of Google’s.’” It speculates the acquisition may be Amazon’s step into the voice control field. Amazon has steadily moved from being primarily a retailer to being a tech company selling ereaders, tablets and cloud services.
Yap’s technology, which goes beyond the voicemail-to-text service it shutdown recently, may be Amazon’s first move in developing a rival to Apple’s Siri on the new iPhones.
Yap, which presented at TechMedia’s Southeast Venture Conference and was profiled here, raised a $6.5 million A financing round from SunBridge Partners in 2008. The sixth annual SEVC is just around the corner, February 29 – March 1, 2012 at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA.
“Yap is truly a leader in freeform speech recognition and driving innovation in the mobile user experience,” said Paul Grim, general partner at SunBridge Partners in a statement following the funding. “It is increasingly clear that the fastest, easiest, and safest way to interact with services on a mobile device is using your voice, and Yap makes this both possible and intuitive.”
Founded in 2006 by brothers Igor and Victor Jablokov, the company raised $1.5 million from individual investors in May 2007.
Tags: Amazon, Apple, iPhone, mergers, SEVC, Siri, Southeast Venture Conference, speech recognition, Yap
Posted in Acquisitions, Amazon, Carolinas, IT, North Carolina | Comments Off
Friday, October 28th, 2011
 Statsheet coverage of the NFL includes a quarterback focus on stars such as "the surprising Cam Newton" of the Carolina Panthers Durham, NC-based Statsheet has launched its fully-automated, real-time coverage of the National Football League (NFL). Statsheet is the company that developed robo-journalism for sports coverage.
Now hard-core and casual-fans alike can enjoy comprehensive coverage of their favorite NFL teams, whenever and however they want it. StatSheet’s NFL offering includes individual team sites, web and mobile applications, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and e-mail newsletters for all 32 NFL teams, as well as a league-wide web site at statsheet.com/nfl.
Building on the success of StatSheet’s mobile applications and Twitter accounts for college basketball and Major League Baseball, StatSheet’s NFL presence includes Android applications and Twitter accounts for every NFL team, with a league-wide iPhone application coming soon.
Fans are now able to receive scores, live play-by-play and StatSheet’s data-driven analysis in real time via Twitter, as well as on their mobile devices. StatSheet’s network of NFL team sites already boasts more than 60,000 Twitter followers.
Like all of StatSheet’s initiatives, StatSheet’s NFL coverage is powered by a database of over 2 billion statistics and its unique artificial intelligence technology.
Insight and analysis
Each site includes proprietary metrics like StatSheet’s Fan Satisfaction Index that provides a measure of how fans feel about their team at any point in the season. Each site also includes Game Previews and Game Recaps with individual player grades for every game and every skill position.
These metrics put the performance of both players and teams into historical context. For example, due to the explosion in the passing game this season, there are currently four NFL quarterbacks whose season to-date performances merit an A+ (Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and the surprising Cam Newton).
However, there is only one team that has earned an A+ at this point — the undefeated, reigning Super Bowl Champion, Green Bay Packers with a 97.9 (see cheeseheadhaven.com). On the other side of the spectrum, the St. Louis Rams and the Indianapolis Colts have been the two weakest performing teams this year, with grades of 60.5 and 60.8 respectively.
In addition to insights and analysis, StatSheet’s NFL coverage provides opportunities for fans to interact with the data. StatSheet’s Compare functionality allows fans to compare the strengths and weaknesses of any team or player (see herewegostillers.com/pittsburgh-steelers/compare_stats).
StatSheet’s Embed functionality allows fans to integrate historical or real-time stats, charts and other graphical elements into their own websites or blogs (see embed.statsheet.com/nfl). And because StatSheet recognizes that rivalries are what make sports so much fun to follow, StatSheet even uses its technology to automate the art of trash-talking with its popular StatSmack application (see statsheet.com/nfl/index/stat_smack).
Statsheet was a presenting company at the Southeast Venture Conference, a Tech Media event. Chances are pretty good that you might run into someone from Statsheet at Tech Media’s upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, a two-day event Nov. 15-16 at the Raleigh Convention Center.
Previously on the TechJournal:
Statsheet nabs $4M
Tags: Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers, Drew Brees, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, mobile sports coverage, NFL insight & analysis, Pittsburgh Steelers, robo-journalism, SEVC, St. Louis Rams, StatSheet, Tom Brady
Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, smartphones, social media, Telecommunications, Twitter | Comments Off
Thursday, October 13th, 2011
 Craig Newmark Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist and craigconnects, has released an infographic detailing the use of social media by leading nonprofit organizations. The infographic is available for viewing on Newmark’s Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/r7pm9H (requires “liking” Newmark’s Facebook page to view).
“How the Top 50 Nonprofits Do Social Media” is a fact-filled, comprehensive look at which leading nonprofit organizations are most proactively and effectively using social media channels of communication like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, and RSS feeds.
Do the highest earning nonprofits use social media the most effectively? Are they the most engaging? How are people responding and interacting? The infographic is intended to help answer those questions.
Findings revealed by the infographic include:
- 92 percent of the top 50 nonprofits have at least one social media presence on their website homepage.
- PBS is the nonprofit organization with the most followers on Twitter – 840,653.
- The nonprofit following the most people on Twitter is the American Cancer Society – 200,522.
- The American Red Cross was the first organization on the list to create a Twitter account.
- Food for the Poor is the most talkative nonprofit on the list on Facebook, and has posted 220 posts over the course of two months.
- The organization with the highest net income, the YMCA, only posted 19 times to Facebook in two months, but has over 24,000 fans.
Tags: Craig Newmark, Craig's LIst, facebook, how nonprofits use social media, inforgraphic, Internet Summit, SEVC
Posted in Events, Facebook, infographic, Internet/New Media, social media | Comments Off
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
 If you’re an e-commerce retailer with lots of engaged fans on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media networks, now it could help you qualify for a capital advance in this lending-challenged economy.
Kabbage Inc., a provider of working capital for online merchants, is offering Social Klimbing, which gives small businesses additional access to capital based on social network activity. Today’s announcement represents the first time a financial services company has provided benefits to its customers as a result of Facebook fan pages and Twitter feeds.
“Kabbage is the only company providing working capital to companies based on social media activity and utilization,” said Kathryn Petralia, Kabbage co-founder and COO.
“With Social Klimbing, small businesses can – for the first time – benefit from maintaining and growing relationships with their customers through Facebook and Twitter. While other companies are ‘talking’ about customer engagement, Kabbage is actually quantifying and utilizing it as a means to give small businesses more capital to grow.”
To date, Kabbage has leveraged marketplace data, such as seller ratings for online merchants, to underwrite its business customers. With Social Klimbing, Kabbage can now reward businesses that leverage social media to attract, interact with and retain customers.
Social Klimbing allows customers to connect their Kabbage accounts to existing or new Facebook fan pages and Twitter feeds, which is immediately analyzed and translated into additional capital. As customers increase followers, activities and chatter on Twitter and Facebook, they will automatically gain access to more funds.
Kabbage, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is pioneering the first financial services data, technology and marketing platform just for online merchants, supporting millions of small and medium businesses that make a living selling online. The company presented at TechMedia’s Southeast Venture Conference and recently raised funding itself.
Kabbage leverages data generated through merchant activity across various marketplaces and channels to understand business performance and craft financing options that meet their needs.
Kabbage is venture funded and backed by Mohr Davidow Ventures and BlueRun Ventures, with additional investors including: David Bonderman, founder of TPG Capital, Warren Stephens, CEO of Stephens Inc., and the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund.
Tags: Atlanta, capital advances, e-commerce, e-merchants, engaged social media fans, Kabbage, Kathryn Petralia, online merchants, SEVC, Social Klimbing, social media
Posted in Georgia, Money, social media | Comments Off
Friday, June 24th, 2011
 DURHAM, NC -With oil prices high, government support for alternative energy projects and investors hot for companies with advance solar technologies, a Durham, NC firm has nabbed substantial new venture backing. Semprius, the Durham, NC-based company with a proprietary technology for printing semiconductors on glass, plastic or other materials for use in solar panels, has raised $20 million of an offering targeted at $30 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Investors in the firm include Durham’s Intersouth Partners, Austin’s Arch Venture Partners, Chicago’s Illinois Ventures, CA-based Applied Ventures, and Tokyo-based Global Venture Partners.
Semprius develops novel technology for the manufacture of advanced semiconductor devices. This technology enables “point-of-use electronics,” greatly broadening the options available to designers of advanced electronic devices. Semprius presented at TechMedia’s 2010 Southeast Venture Conference.
For many existing designs, the technology can enable a manufacturing process that is faster and far less expensive. It is ideal for multiple markets and applications, the company says, including solar modules, electronic displays and wireless devices.
Tags: alternative energy, clean energy, Durham, NC, Semprius, SEVC, solar, Southeast Venture Confernce 2010, venture funding
Posted in Energy, IT, Money | Comments Off
Friday, June 24th, 2011
 Moodlerooms Inc., a Baltimore-based e-learning software company, has raised $2.99 million of a targeted $3.39 million offering, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Moodlerooms was a presenting company at TechMedia’s 2011 Southeast Venture Conference in Atlanta in February.
Moodlerooms was founded in 2005 by former teachers Tom Murdock, Sheila Gatling and Gina Russell-Stevens. Its course management system, is based on the open source Moodle system, a free Web application that teachers use to create online learning sites.
Investors include Longworth Venture Partners, Kaplan Ventures, Frank A. Bonsal III, and New Markets Growth Fund.
See also: Moodlerooms chalks up $7.15M
Tags: Baltimore, e-learning software, financing, Frank A. Bonal III, Kaplan Ventures, Longworth Venture Partners, New Markets Growht Fund, SEC filings, SEVC, Southeast Venture Conference, TechMedia
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Monday, June 20th, 2011
 Raleigh, NC-based Valencell, an innovator in mobile health and fitness technology, has received $5.5 million in Series B venture investment. The round was led by Best Buy Capital, the investment group of Best Buy Co., Inc., with participation from Series A investors TDF and True Ventures. Valencell was a presenting company at TechMedia’s Southeast Venture Conference in Atlanta in March.
Seeded by its three founders, Valencell previously raised a Series A round of $1 million and has been awarded more than $3 million in R&D grants.
Valencell created a technology it calls Healthset powered earbuds, which gives audio headsets the ability to monitor the health and fitness of the user.
Healthset sensor technology tracks real-time physiological metrics including heart rate, calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled, speed and more, while the consumer listens to music, talks over the phone, or goes about daily life activities. Data is streamed to smartphones and/or mp3-players through wired or wireless links, enabling live body metrics, training, and coaching via fitness applications on mobile devices and online.
“People everywhere are listening to music while running and exercising,“ explained CEO and cofounder Dr. Steven LeBoeuf. “Integrating heart rate sensors directly and seamlessly into music earbuds fits right into the behavior of consumers today. Everyone’s body responds differently to exercise, so being able to monitor the heart, the body’s engine, will help consumers customize and personalize workout regiments for their specific goals whether it’s for weight loss, toning or endurance. Users will be able to view their metrics live through fitness applications on their iPhone, Android phones, other mobile devices and online.”
Recent research from PricewaterhouseCoopers cites growing demand for mobile health monitoring: 88% of physicians said they would like their patients to track their health information and 40% of individuals said they would buy a personal health-monitoring device or pay for a subscription to send health information to their providers.
California-based social commerce firm BeachMint chews on $23.5M financing
BeachMint has secured a $23.5 million round of funding led by Scale Venture Partners and Lightbank, the technology investment fund started by Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, cofounders of Groupon.
Existing investors, New Enterprise Associates, Trinity Ventures, and Anthem Ventures also participated in the round. The new funding will be used to grow the existing brands, JewelMint and StyleMint (launching July 1), to accelerate the company’s phenomenal growth and to expand into new categories.
Sharon Wienbar, Scale Venture Partners’ managing director, will join the company’s Board. She said, . ”Consumer e-commerce is being transformed by social networking and curation,” said Wienbar. “BeachMint is redefining online shopping by taking advantage of these trends to deliver great consumer value. We are excited by the amazing traction BeachMint has achieved in a short time with JewelMint.”
BeachMint was founded by MySpace Co-Founder, Josh Berman, and serial tech entrepreneur, Diego Berdakin.
Evernote raising about $50M in new capital
TechCrunch reports that the popular notetaking service, Evernote, is raising about $50 million in venture funding in a round led by Sequoia Capital. It is already up to $40 million in the round. It previously raised $20.5 million. We use the free version of Evernote, which makes it easy to save text, images, and urls when you’re doing web research, and saves your data in the cloud, so it is available on any machine on which you install the software.
Daily Deals for Moms lands angel funding
Yet another niche play in the crowded daily deals space has grabbed initial angel funding.
Denver-based Daily Deals for Moms, a social couponing website for moms and families looking for and sharing great deals with a commitment to support small business and keep retail dollars in the community, says it has secured a round of angel funding. The group of investors includes Victor Lazzaro, Jr. of Denver based Volante Capital.
The company will keep the financing open to strategic investors, but intends to close the round within the next few weeks. The infusion of capital will fuel growth, further build infrastructure, and continue to drive awareness of the site as it expands into more cities.
Launched in 2010 by Mompreneurs Ashley E. Kingsley and Whitney Trujillo, Daily Deals for Moms primarily serves secondary markets such as Denver, Toledo, and Des Moines. It is specifically focused on daily deals for moms and families.
Some of these niche players in the daily deals and coupons sites may have a better chance of survival in the long run than the 800 pound gorillas if they create deals that benefit both the consumer and the business. If nothing else, they’re likely to be targets for the larger companies if they go public and have substantial reserves of cash to make acquisitions.
OwnerIQ closes on $7M for targeted advertising platform
OwnerIQ, the inventor of Ownership Targeted media and developer of one of the most advanced Real-Time media buying platforms in the industry, announced today it has closed a $7 million expansion round. All existing investors participated, and Longworth Venture Partners also joined this round.
Founded in 2006 in Boston, OwnerIQ operates a network of channel-focused websites to help consumers easily find and store must-have self-support product information. The company pioneered the concept of Ownership Targeting, providing brand advertisers with highly customized programs to precisely target consumers based on products they already own.
Tags: Atlanta, BeachMint, BestBuy Capital, Boston, Brad Keywell, CO, Daily Deals for Moms, Denver, ecommerce, Eric Lefkofsky, Evernote, financings, Groupon, Healthset, JewelMint, Lightbank, Longworth Venture Partners, m Anthem Ventures, mobile health monitoring earbuds, NC, NEA, online note taking software, OwnerIQ, Raleigh, Scale Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, SEVC, social commerce, social networking, Southeast Venture Conference, StyleMint, targeted advertising, TDF, Trinity Ventures, True Ventures, Valencell, venture funding
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
By Allan Maurer
 Jesse Maddox ATLANTA – For two years, Jessie Maddox, CEO of startup TripLingo, lived worked and traveled through ten different Asian countries. He started after landing a job as a marketing manager for a Caterpillar dealer in Vietnam when he graduated from college. But a lack of knowledge of the local culture and language stymied him.
“When I got started in Vietnam, ” Maddox says, “it didn’t take long to learn that without any language skills it was going to be rough. I’m not sure if you’ve ever asked where the restroom is using only your hands, but it’s just a tad bit embarrassing. That’s just the start: lacking language skills, my plans were easily thwarted and I often found myself frustrated. Worst of all, I had no sense for the culture I was now living in.”
Even a few phrases are helpful
So, he studied Vietnamese with a tutor every day for nine months. “That showed me how much better a trip can be if you know a little of the lingo.” Learning in a formal way, however, was neither the most fun nor the most useful way to learn a foreign language. “If you speak idiomatically, use local slang, you surprise people. They warm up to you very quickly. Even in a taxi, saying a few phrases to the driver may make him less inclined to rip you off.”
That’s why, when he returned to the U.S., he started TripLingo, a new Web site with mobile apps that helps travelers get the most out of a trip by giving them insight into local language, culture and customs. The company charges users $10 a country for the service, which is intended to be fun, engaging and customized to each individual’s needs.
“I really detested studying languages in school,” Maddox admits, “So we tried to make language learning fun with our product.”
Big gain at small cost
He says the goals for TripLingo include working with corporate and white label partners such as airlines and hotel chains. “So businesses can make their employees more effective on trips. Business is about relationships,” Maddox notes, “so demonstrating a little interest in the local culture can go a long way in establishing a relationship of mutual trust and understanding.”
“We’ll help them learn essential phrases – but like locals actually talk, with slang and idioms that color the language so you don’t stick out like a sore thumb.”
Such knowledge can make life in a foreign city easier in a number of ways. He recalls that while walking in Hanoi’s Old Quarter it could be difficult to get the produce sellers to leave you alone. A woman fruit seller approached him and, he explains, “I simply smiled and said “No rồi” (pronounced ‘naw zoi’) — “I’m full already”. A huge grin came over her face, she laughed, and said something back which I didn’t understand . It didn’t matter; in just two short syllables I’d avoided an awkward situation, engaged positively with the local culture, and had a memorable experience myself.”
It is a way to provide “a lot of value for a minimal cost,” Maddox says. “If you’re going to spend $10,000 to send someone overseas, for a fraction of that you can increase their effectiveness and the employees satisfaction.”
Seed funding expected
A white label airline partner, for instance, might enable a passenger on a flight to India to pick up a bit of Hindi on the seat back during the flight. A cruise line might help travelers pick up some Spanish on the way to Mexico. “It’s a way to enhance the value they’re providing,” Maddox says.
Atlanta is a good place for the company to start, Maddox says, with large potential partners such as Delta, Coke, and Intercontinental in the city.
The five co-founder company won $15,000 in services at an Atlanta Startup Riot event and raised about $50,000 from friends and family. It was a presenting company at TechMedia’s Southeast Venture Conference in March. (TechMedia’s next Atlanta event is the Digital Summit at the Cobb Galleria May 16-17, which brings together more than 60 presentations from top digital thought leaders).
It is negotiating with angel groups for a seed round of funding it expects to close soon if it has not already.
Tags: Atlanta, Digital Summit, Jesse Maddox, language learning product, mobile apps, SEVC, Startup Riot, TripLingo
Posted in Events, Georgia, Internet/New Media | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
 TUCKER, GA – CoalTek, which transforms low-grade goal into “clean coal,” has raised $2 million of a mixed securities round targeted at $3 million, according to a regulatory filing.
CoalTek, which presented at TechJournal South’s first annual Southeast Venture Conference in 2007, has raised more than $53 million in venture backing from investors who inlcude LIghtspeed Venture Partners, Warburg Pincus, Element Partners, Braemar Energy Partners, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
The CoalTek process converts low grade, “dirty” coal into high grade “clean coal” at a cost competitive with the highest quality raw coals.
The technology uses electromagnetic energy to reduce the moisture, ash, sulfur and mercury in coal and to make it burn more efficiently and cleanly.
The process was developed, tested, and proven over eight years by Dr. Jerry Weinberg, the company’s co-founder, along with chief geologist Neil Ginther.
Weinberg, an astrophysicist with achievement awards from NASA, used independent laboratories to confirm his findings. CoalTek Inc. owns and has patent-protected all the intellectual property for its technology.
CoalTek opened its first commercial processing facility in Calvert City, Kentucky in 2006.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Braemar Energy Partners, Calvert City, clean coal, CoalTek, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Element Partners, financing, GA, KY, LIghtspeed Venture Partners, SEVC, Tucker, Warburg Pincus
Posted in Energy, Georgia, Money | Comments Off
Friday, March 11th, 2011
By Joe Procopio
 Joe Procopio
I’m sorry this took so long to write. Atlanta is kind of far away.
But I left behind the palatial confines of the Ritz Carlton Atlanta, an ironically trashed hotel room, and the remnants of Southeast Venture Conference 2011 with two key pieces of information.
The good news is, the long tail effects of the Great Recession are finally starting to wane, meaning venture investment is undergoing its first spring-like thaw. The bad news is there’s a bubble forming.
The clouds have parted, and now the sky is falling.
Coincidentally enough, it appears that the two days over which SEVC11 was held (March 2nd and 3rd) were the total sum of the post-recession-pre-bubble era. I hope that you enjoyed them as much as I did, although I’ll probably forever regret the fact that I spent close to 50% of the new-new-new-Internet-boom kind of drunk and/or asleep.
At least I was in the right place at the right time.
Bubbludicrous
Before anyone panics and sells all their tech stocks, again, let me tell you a little something about the physics of bubbles. Wait. Stay with me. I’m not going to get into actual physics, and I can already see your eyes glazing over and I’m only thinking about typing the words “dot com.”
(Which, by the way, is the only context in which you hear that term used anymore. Have you noticed? Nobody ever says, “I’m going to work for a dot com,” and phrases like “dot com opportunity” and “dot com play” have pretty much vanished, even though the industry is still growing and you can’t say the name of most web addresses without saying the words “dot com.” It literally went Hasselhoff.)
It’s a common misconception that bubbles occur when too many people start doing too many things in whatever industry the bubble is in. For example, the conventional wisdom is that the dot com bubble formed when too many websites went up and the real estate bubble formed when too many people bought houses.
This is not true.
Radical Bubblism
The truth is, bubbles form when too many people start doing stupid things in whatever industry the bubble is in.
The dot com bubble formed when too many websites with no discernable way to make money started raising astronomical amounts of capital at batshit crazy valuations.
The real estate bubble formed when too many people bought houses using loans with interest rates that were set to explode like a pipe bomb.
They’re called “balloon payments” and nobody put two and two together?
The Salad Days of Bubble
I was too young to attend any sort of venture conference between 1996 and 1999, but I can imagine what those presentations were like. A bunch of former Fortune 500 executives mid-life-crisising by pimping the magic attributes of cyberspace and its uncanny and totally provable ability to turn web pages into dollar bills.
“And in conclusion, we’re asking for $1,000,000 to $300,000,000 in order to discombobulate our paradigms and timeshift our synergies. If you take another look at our hockey stick, I’m sure you’ll agree that our estimate of $600 per eyeball is actually quite conservative. And now, enjoy the comedy stylings of Andrew Dice Clay.”
Did I nail it?
That Was So Then
At SEVC this year, the early-stage companies looked nothing like those early stage companies. In fact, they didn’t even resemble the companies we were talking about two years ago. Back in 2009, it was all guts. And by “guts,” I mean tons of bio and medical on one end and energy and telecom on the other.
Tell me that doesn’t feel unsexy like 1995.
And that might be part of the problem. The period from 1996 to 1999, thanks to mass acceptance of the Interwebs, was marked by unprecedented acceleration from solid consumer ideas built on a new technology (search engines) to entire industries built to look like they were built on new technology but really could have been mail-order companies.
So since 2009 looked so much like 1995, it’s sort of natural to expect that 2011 might play out like 2000, and that we’re on the verge of sprouting our next jillion-dollar dot com play from these promising early stage seeds.
Two Things Wrong With That
First of all, most of the people involved with the original bubble, the ones who in 1999 were jumping up and down screaming about how stupid all this was, we’re still here. And we aren’t jumping up and down yet.
The most egregious offense so far is Groupon, but it doesn’t take a degree in astro-physics or a the ability to suspend a massive amount of disbelief to understand how they make money.
So There’s Time
And second, these early stage companies not only don’t look anything like those bubble companies, they don’t act like them either.
At SEVC11, I overheard more than one investor make the assessment that these early-stage companies were solid, impressive, and ahead of the curve. The vast majority were already generating revenue, in some cases in the tens of millions per year.
The asks were also low, usually in the $3 to $4 million dollar range, and the reasoning was sound. Buy equipment. Hire sales staff. Expand into X vertical.
Nobody was up on stage presenting a deck full of dreams and rainbows. Nobody was wearing an expensive suit and waving around a business plan. Nobody had that look in their eyes, you know that one, the Easy Money look.
Maybe I’m Half-Browser
We know what mobile and social are, there’s no funky magic this time around. And we’re treating them for what they are: technical tools, not destinations. That’s the main difference
But be diligent. If I report back from SEVC12 yammering on about one-stop mobile apps for all your pool-cleaning-supply needs or building the world’s premiere social snorkeling network, then it might be time to back up and get out of the way.
Joe Procopio heads up product engineering for sports media startup StatSheet. He also owns startup consulting firm Intrepid Company and creative network Intrepid Media (Intrepid Media.com). Yeah, he just referenced Rodney Dangerfield’s worst movie from the 80s. What? Joe can be reached via Twitter: twitter.com/jproco.
TechMedia, which presents the SEVC, is holding its next event, the Digital Summit, in Atlanta May 16-17 at the Cobb Galleria.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Atlanta, bubble, column, dot com opportunity, dot com play, Groupon, Intrepid Co., Intrepid Media, Joe Procopio, SEVC, Southeast Venture Conference, StatSheet
Posted in Carolinas, Columns, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, Viewpoint | 1 Comment »
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
 Marc Cenedella ATLANTA – Marc Cenedella, founder and CEO of TheLadders.com, the online community for $100,000 plus job seekers, told the Southeast Venture Conference in Atlanta Thursday that entrepreneurs should get their online products live. “Get it live,” he said. “If it exists it can get better.”
Cenedella himself started Ladders.com in 2003 to make finding high paying professional jobs easier. The company ranked number one in overall satisfaction in an independent survey of recruiters and won the 2009 Webby award for best employment web site.
Ceneddella’s comment about going live and fixing it later appeared in a handful of tweets about his talk one of chief takeaways people noted while tweeting about the event (#SEVC11 and @SEVC).Other’s include:
From John Huntz, executive director of Arcapita Ventures, tweeters liked: “The long is back in venture capital. Building a great company takes time, from 5 to 7 years.”
From Nelson Chu, a general partner at Kinetic Ventures: “Early stage VCs invest in entrepreneurs. Later stage VCs invest in companies.”
From a panel discussion: “The rise of secondary markets (where investors can buy shares of private firms such as Twitter and Facebook) are increasing valuations.”
Those of course are only a small sample, but we have noticed at these events that the takeaway’s from Twitter are often the same quotes we note as journalists. You can get a real feel for the insights people pick up at SEVC by perusing the Twitter stream.
Tags: Arcapita Ventures, John Huntz, Kinetic Ventures, Ladders.com, Marc Cenedella, Nelson Chu, SEVC
Posted in Events, Georgia | Comments Off
Friday, February 18th, 2011
By Allan Maurer
 ORLANDO, FL – Getting airline profits off the ground is tougher than one might expect, considering how essential air travel is to our business and personal lives in the modern world. But airlines large and small have gone belly up because they couldn’t land enough paying passengers. Radixx, a software firm in Orlando, puts some jet fuel in airline profits.
Ron Peri, founder and CEO of Radixx, tells us that building an advanced airline passenger service system is a complex endeavor that defeated several major players who spent hundreds of millions and years trying. “There have been a lot of attempts to build this type of software that failed,” says Peri.
Radixx itself only succeeded by doing it incrementally over many years, he says at a cost of about $50 million.
A myriad of problems have to be solved: chief among them, getting the airlines specifications and working with legacy software systems, but the whole thing is complex, Peri says. The air industry business model is in a rapid state of change. You must find a way to compete profitably in an environment where low cost structures and non-traditional business models are now the rule not the exception.
Presenting at SEVC
Radixx, spun out of a previous airline focused company in 1998, is among the 50 innovative firms presenting at the fifth annual Southeast Venture Conference in Atlanta March 2-3. And what a story Radixx has to tell.
“We have a variety of airline clients who will state emphatically that implementing Radixx Air made them profitable, more profitable, or kept them in business,” says Peri. Great Lakes Aviation, for instance, stated in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that Radixx was the reason for the company’s first profitable quarter.
Air Iceland made its first profit in 40 years of operations after installing Radixx software.
Another airline saw a 250 percent increase in bookings using the software. Go Air, which had never had more than 100,000 passengers in a month leaped to 147,000 the month it first used the product and moved to 250,000 a month.
“It’s had a tremendous impact,” Peri says. “It’s just a more effective and better way of selling.”
The Internet changed everything
The Internet changed everything for airline ticket sales just like it disrupted publishing and music sales and many other aspects of modern business. In the old days, Peri says, a travel agent would book you with the airline that gave them the best commission and you took what you got. Now, on the Internet, “Airline fares are obvious to everyone,” Peri notes.
To deal with that new transparency, which lets people find the cheapest fares quickly, airlines sell everything they can sell as services, from baggage fees to meals or better placement in line. That requires a software system that can handle constant adaptations.
Radixx has about 30 airline clients now and no two do things the same way, Peri says. “But we are at a point now where we have a product,” which he notes was far from easy to create. Now the company is looking for venture backing to help it build out its brand and sales channels.
Radixx Air charges on a transaction basis. It allows selling through any distribution channel, e-ticket or ticketless, legacy or modern.
“There have been many attempts to build this type of software that failed,” says Peri. “We’re kind of the little engine that shouldn’t have been able to but did, little by little.”
He says that if the company lands funding, the lessons it has learned creating its product give it some insight into what’s coming out of the clouds. “We could do some things along the lines of breakthroughs,” he says.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Air Iceland, airline passenger service systems, FL, Go Air, Great Lakes Aviation, Orlando, Radixx, Ron Peri, SEC, SEVC, Southeast Venture Conference
Posted in Company Profile, Events, Florida, IT | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
 ATLANTA – The 2011 Southeast Venture Conference (SEVC) has disclosed the first round
of companies selected to present at its upcoming conference March 2-3rd at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia.
An estimated 50 showcase companies from the South and Mid-Atlantic regions will present at the 2011 Southeast Venture Conference. Showcase companies will range from the NASDAQ sponsored late stage showcase firms to earlier stage high growth firms in the region.
Presenting companies highlight the present and future of the innovation economy, representing some of the most promising technologies in the region from a diverse range of technology industries.
SEVC 2011 showcase companies will present to a sold out audience of hundreds of venture capitalists, private equity investors, angel investors, investment bankers and senior technology executives and entrepreneurs from around the region.
Early attendee registration discount expires this Friday.
Additional companies will be announced over the next few weeks leading up to the conference.
While the initial presenting company application deadline is expired, there’s still time for those interested in presenting (no cost involved). Presenting information can be found at: seventure.org/featured_cos.html
In addition to showcase company presentations, the conference will feature a number of market-driven topical panels, featured speakers and extensive networking opportunities.
To register or for more information on the SEVC 2011, drop by
www.seventure.org
The first round of announced showcase companies includes:
Argyle Social Durham, NC www.argylesocial.com
Bandbox Nashville, TN www.bandbox.com
BitCauldron Gainsville, FL www.bitcauldron.com
Cardagin Networks Charlottesville, VA www.cardagin.com
Cernium Reston, VA www.cernium.com
ecoInsight Atlanta, GA www.ecoinsight.com
HEALTHeME Charlotte, NC www.healthemedoc.com
Integro Earth Fuels Asheville, NC www.integrofuels.com
Keona Health Durham, NC www.keonahealth.com
LumaMed Johns Creek, GA www.lumamed.com
mailVU Charlotte, NC www.mailvu.com
Nitronex Durham, NC www.nitronex.com
Pardot Atlanta, GA www.pardot.com
StatSheet Durham, NC www.statsheet.com
twitpay Atlanta, GA www.twitpay.com
Valencell Raleigh, NC www.valencell.com
Vertical Acuity Atlanta, GA www.verticalacuity.com
Xanofi Raleigh, NC www.xanofi.com
XinRay Systems Research Triangle Park, NC www.xinraysystems.com
TechJournal South’s parent company presents the SEVC.
Tags: Atlanta, Buckhead, presenting companies, Ritz Carleton, SEVC, Southeast Venture Conference
Posted in Carolinas, Events, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Potomac, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Friday, August 6th, 2010
 FORT MYERS, FL – CallMiner Inc. has raised $1.96 million of an equity funding targeted at $4 million, according to a regulatory filing.
Investors in the company include Sigma Partners, Boston; Intersouth Partners, Durham, NC; Village Ventures, Williamstown, MA; and In-Q-Tel, the U.S. Intelligence venture arm based in Arlington, VA, and Inflextion Partners, Florida.
Founded in 2002, CallMiner sells enterprise speech analytics software. The company disclosed the raise in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Its clients include Continental Airline, Daimler Financial Services, and Comcast, among others.
The company raised an C round in an undisclosed amount in March, 2009, a $10 million B round in 2006 and a $2.8 million A round in 2004.
CallMiner presented at Tech Media’s 2010 Southeast Venture Conference.
For TechJournal South’s profile of the company in Feb. 2010 see:
CallMiner digs actionable gold from service calls
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: CallMiner, financing, Flordia, Fort Myers, In-Q-Tel, Inflexion Partners, Intersouth Partners, SEVC, Sigma Partners, speech analytics, Village Ventures
Posted in Florida, IT, Money | Comments Off
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
 By Allan Maurer
WASHINGTON, DC – LivingSocial’s aptly named parent company, Hungry Machine Inc., has snagged $10.23 million in equity from investors including Grotech Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, and Steve Case’s Revolution, bringing its total financing this year alone to nearly $50 million. The company has been ramping up its local group buying service, LivingSocial deals, rapidly, nearly doubling its markets in mid-July(LivingSocial nearly doubles its markets in one day).
The company disclosed the raise in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
LivingSocial closed a $14 million round led by Lightspeed Ventures in April on the heels of closing a $25 million round in March. It had previously raised $10 million.
The Northern Virginia Technology Council recently recognized LivingSocial’s earlier raise as the best VC deal of the year in its annual awards.
Interested in finding out how LivingSocial has gained such traction? John Carpenter, director of Marketing, LivingSocial, is one of more than 50 confirmed expert speakers slated for TechMedia’s first Digital East 2010 event at Tysons Corner, VA, October 18. (see: First Digital East Event set for October).
The company presented its business plan at TechMedia’s 2007 Southeast Venture Conference.
A Lightspeed managing director told the Wall Street Journal LivingSocial is growing as fast or faster than Groupon. The online group discount business can probably handle several leading players, but consolidation is likely somewhere down the road.
The companies all offer discounted group buying deals in local markets.
Chicago-based Groupon itself nabbed a $135 million round this year. Other competitors include Buywithme and Kashless.
Founded in the summer of 2007, LivingSocial began as a social discovery and cataloging network offering applications such as Pick 5 on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter that allow people to review and share their favorite movies, books, games, music, restaurants and beer.
Contact Tech Journal South Editor and writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: DC, Digital East, Grotech, Groupon, Hungry Machine Inc., LIvingSocial, LivingSocial Deals, Revolution, SEVC, Steve Case, U.S. Venture Partners
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Maryland, Money, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
 HERNDON, VA -The Virginia Center for Innovative Technology says its CIT GAP BioLife Fund closed on an investment in an undisclosed amount in Parabon NanoLabs Inc.
The Reston-based nano-pharmaceutical company uses a proprietary combination of innovative software and nanoscale fabrication technologies that speeds up and lowers the cost of drug discovery, especially for treatments for cancerous brain tumors like malignant glioma that took the life of late-Senator Edward Kennedy.
Parabon NanoLabs was a presenting company at the 2010 Southeast Venture Conference. For our profile of the company prior to its appearance at SE Venture see: Parabon NanoLabs successfully targets brain cancer cells.
Announcing the funding, CIT President & CEO Pete Jobse said, “Innovation and innovative entrepreneurs like the team at Parabon NanoLabs will be the keys to reviving our economy and creating sustainable job growth. To succeed, they need access to capital, and that is what our CIT GAP Funds provide.”
Parabon NanoLabs allows scientists to develop novel therapeutics using its proprietary Essemblix Drug Design Platform – a powerful combination of computer-aided design software for designing macromolecules and nanoscale fabrication technology for their production.
This platform gives scientists the ability to design and construct multi-functional macromolecules from simpler subcomponents, replacing the current slow and costly model of “drug discovery” with a new efficient, faster and more affordable “drug design” model that allows for faster treatments.
Dr. Steven Armentrout, Founder and President of Parabon NanoLabs, said, “The newly discovered ability to precisely manipulate matter at the nanoscale is ushering in an era of even greater economic impact: the Nanotechnology Revolution.”
Parabon NanoLabs capitalizes on the commercial opportunities made possible by its technology for creating a new class of designer macromolecules.
These engineered molecular structures — not producible with the traditional methods of pharmacology, chemistry or microelectronics — can be used across a wide spectrum of domains, such as nano-sensors for bioweapons defense; nano-arrays for DNA biometrics; and nano-additives for consumer products.
The CIT GAP BioLife Fund is part of the CIT GAP Funds, seed stage investment programs that leverage public and private investments to launch new high expectation companies.
This is the 38th investment. Since its launch, CIT GAP Funds has invested almost $3.8 million to help create 38 companies that, in turn, were able to attract an additional $51 million in private equity. (For a list of portfolio companies, please go to www.citgapfunds.org/
Contact Tech Journal South Editor and writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Biotech, CIT, drug design, financing, nanotechinology, Parabon NanoLabs, Pharma, SEVC, Virginia
Posted in Money, Nanotech, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Monday, June 28th, 2010
 ATLANTA – Vocalocity has closed a third round of financing, raising $3.45 million according to a regulatory filing. The company, which sells hosted PBX VoIP services and infrastructure applications to small businesses, raised $4.1 million in January 2009 and a first round of $8.9 million in 2007.
A typo in our report misstated the first round as $89 million yesterday, drawing a comment from an investor, who said, “I wish…”
Investors include Noro-Moseley Partners, TechOperators, Pittco Capital Partners, Imlay Partners and members of the company’s management team.
Vocalocity presented at the 2010 Southeast Venture Conference sponsored by TechJournal South.
Founded in 2003, Vocalocity provides subscription, Internet-based business phone systems it says improves the efficiency of small businesses while saving up to 80 percent over traditional phone service.
TechOperators partner Said Moharnmadioun said at the time of a previous financing that Vocalocity’s technology is “A fantastic platform from which to provide a full suite of software-as-a-service applications for the small business market. We see Vocalocity as a way to enable small businesses to compete more effectively. The company has had great success to date.”
Previously on TechJournal South:
Hosted VoIP firm Vocalocity calls up $8M first round
Contact Tech Journal South Editor and writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Atlanta, financing, Imlay Partners, Noro Moseley Partners, Pittco Capital Partners, SEVC, TechOperators, Vocalocity
Posted in Georgia, Internet/New Media, Money, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Friday, February 26th, 2010
 Vint Cerf TYSONS CORNER, VA – Google Vice President Vint Cerf, often called “father of the Internet” for his work on the Internet protocol in the early 1970s, told an audience at the Southeast Venture Conference here Thursday that the mobile Web and security are two areas that the assembled entrepreneurs and venture capitalists should view as opportunities.
Cerf, who advocated for openness and net neutrality as essential to the Internet, also talked about the developing “Interplanetary Internet,” and encouraged the audience to try out the Mars button on Google Earth to travel vicariously over the surface of the planet thanks to imagery from the Mars orbiters and rovers.
Mobile opportunity
Cerf said there are now 4 billion mobile phones, 800 million of which can currently access the Internet. “Over time, a significant fraction of the Net community may be found in the mobile environment, so it is important to anyone thinking about Internet products and services,” he said.
The importance of mobile is the reason Google is investing so much in it with Nexus One and the Android phone, he said.
Cerf was the luncheon keynote speaker at the two-day event at which 60 innovative Southeastern tech companies presented their business plans. Other speakers include Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, and Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association. The event ended Thursday evening.
Asia has most Web users
Discussing use of the Internet globally, he noted that North America has the highest penetration at 75 percent, but no longer boasts the most users. Asia captures that with 738.3 million users, about half in China—and that’s only 20 percent of the Asian population.
Europe, with 52 percent penetration has 418 million users, while North America has 252.9 million.
Africa lags and “Is one of the hardest places to build penetration,” Cerf noted.
Cerf also spoke of the need to adopt IPv6, the new address space standard.
He said security is of growing importance and that the new digitally signed version of the domain name system should help.
Smart grid program another entrepreneurial opportunity
He pointed to the development of a U.S. smart grid program to make the national power system more visible and controllable, saying, “It should offer a major opportunity for many people in this room to participate.”
Pointing to the diversity of applications the Internet now supports, Cerf said, “It wasn’t designed to support any of them. The lesson: don’t get too deeply into the details of what you try to implement. If you stay a little ambiguous, it may support more than you originally planned.”
Cerf talked about the “Dramatic demonstration of the utility of interconnection” offered by the Internet in its use to save lives in Haiti and to give voice to opposition in Iran.
In the recent Haiti disaster, he said, some people buried under rubble were able to tweet that they were stuck and were thus rescued.
Cerf also said that the Internet now connected in ways he had never anticipated. “Like refrigerators,” he said. Or, he added, the ocean surfer who Web enabled his surfboard. “I can imagine him sitting on the ocean waiting for the next wave thinking, ‘Hey I could be surfing the Internet.’ “
Security biggest issue today
Cerf also discussed the rising use of sensors connected to the Internet – such as the one that monitors the temperature of his wine cellar.
“Security is by far the biggest issue on the net today,” Cerf said. While technology may deal with some security issues, he said that changing user behavior—such as getting them to use more secure passwords and to change them often—was also necessary.
Technology may even aid that by coming with ways to make it easy to change a password every time it is used, he said. “Then, even if it’s compromised, it won’t matter, because it won’t work a second time.”
Cerf wrapped up his keynote discussing the semantic Web. Google, he says, would “Really like to know more about the meaning of things. Words can mean different things or different words can mean the same things. It’s a hard nut to crack.”
Developing more insight into “meaning” would improve Google’s ability to provide the right search results, he pointed out.
“We’re dependent upon the research community for a breakthrough,” he said. –Allan Maurer
Tags: Interplanetary Internet, mobile, Security, SEVC, Vint Cerf
Posted in Events, Internet/New Media, People, Security, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Friday, February 26th, 2010
 Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association By Allan Maurer
TYSONS CORNER, VA – The venture capital industry may not be broken, but it faces “Extremely difficult road blocks ahead. The exit market is dismal right now,” Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association told the audience at the last day of the Fourth Annual Southeast Venture Conference here Thursday.
Heesen also said lawmakers had ground to a halt on important legislation, that more capital calls are likely at funds, and that venture firms that recently raised capital are “Sitting in the Catbird seat.”
Interviewed on stage by Mike Elliott of Atlanta-based venture firm Noro-Moseley Partners, Heesen said, “I’ve been in this industry 20 years and every year someone has said it’s broken.”
While not “broken” it is, however, “Going through a fundamental change,” Heesen said. “It’s changing from an IT centric industry to one more focused on biotech and clean tech. With that change comes uncertainty. As the IT industry matures more and more, we’re seeing VCs leave and go into other sectors.”
 Mike Elliot of Noro-Moseley PartnersThe rise of angel investors, who are funding more and more early stage deals, is also important to the industry, he noted.Returns will suffer Nevertheless, Heesen said fewer funds are likely and returns are “Going to suffer over the next couple of years. But the industry is not broken, it’s changing.”
Among Heesen’s other points during the interview:
“We’re going to start seeing a lot more capital calls. Funds have raised all this money and they’re going to have to start deploying it.”
He said “It’s still going to be a very tough fund-raising year, which will create more shakeout. VCs will have to look for new limited partners rather than just the ones they have dealt with for the last 10 to 20 years.”
Sitting the Catbird seat
Heesen said he expects VCs to continue supporting their late stage companies. “They have put so much time and money into them, they’re going to continue to invest in them.”
VCs are also looking at early stage companies, he added. “There are a lot of good entrepreneurs out there now who understand that you don’t make a couple of million dollars overnight, understand global markets, and have a passion in their bellies.”
Venture firms that have recently raised money are “Sitting in the catbird seat,” Heesen said, “because there are a lot of really good deals out there.”
Washington at a standstill
Heesen recommended that entrepreneurs seeking funding should look for venture capital partners who can help them the most, not just the ones who can give them the most money.
Asked what is going in in Washington today, Heesen admitted, “I’ve been in DC for 25 years and have never seen such a sheer inability to move forward. It’s shocking. The Democrats fear losing their majority and the Republicans are saying it’s better to nothing than to do anything.
“There are smaller and smaller groups of moderates in both parties, so it’s harder to come up with agreement.”
He said he’s not optimistic about seeing legislative action on the energy package, financial services reform, or healthcare reform. “They take these things to the 10-yard line and things seem to fall apart again.”
www.seventure.org
Tags: Atlanta, Biotech, clean tech, DC, Events, IT, Mark Heesen, National Venture Capital Association, Noro Moseley Partners, SEVC, venture funding, Virginia
Posted in Energy, Events, Georgia, IT, Potomac, Viewpoint, Virginia, Washington, DC | 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 »
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