Friday, May 29, 2009

LearnVC.com looking for students

From Jeff Boardman at LearnVC.com

LearnVC.com, Inc. provides a web-based application for entrepreneurs and investors to model investments into startups.  On LearnVC.com we have free educational material with interactive examples for the "levers of valuation" powered by our modeling software.  Our full modeling software is currently in an invite-only beta and will be demonstrated to those interested in working with us this summer.

We are seeking technical and business people for non-paid summer internships.  For the technically inclined, the majority of the tasks will be developing functional tests of our web application using Selenium (www.seleniumhq.org).  For the business oriented, we have a variety of potential projects depending on the interests of the person.

Thanks Howie,

Jeff



Jeff Boardman LearnVC.com, Inc. T: (919) 260-4239 | Jeff@LearnVC.com http://LearnVC.com

--
Howie Rhee, MBA
Managing Director
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Room E167J
919-923-7113 mobile
hwr2@duke.edu
www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei

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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

TechFifty 2008 list



Advanced Liquid Logic, RTP, NC - www.liquid-logic.com
Advanced Liquid Logic's "Digital Microfluidics" is a revolutionary approach to liquid handling. There are no pipes, pumps or valves. Instead, discrete droplets are manipulated electrically – using electrodes to independently control each droplet. Digital microfluidics enables extremely flexible Lab-on-a-Chip devices that can be configured in software to execute virtually any assay protocol. Founded in 2004, the company has over 80 issue and filed patents.

Altea Therapeutics, Atlanta, GA - www.alteatherapeutics.com
Altea Therapeutics is developing and commerciualizing pharmaceutical products based on a new class of transdermal (through the skin) patches that deliver therapeutic levels of water-soluable small drugs, proteins and carbohydrates in a painless, easy to use manner. The company's insulin transdermal patch provides an alternative to repeat insulin injections, tapping into a growing $7 billon global market. The company has raised $47 million in venture backing.

Argos Therapeutics, Durham, NC - www.argostherapeutics.com
Argos Therapeutics is developing a therapy that holds promise for enlisting the immune system in the fight against cancer, HIV and infectious disease. The company's dendritic cell therapies can kick start the immune system, targeting it to specific tumors or infections. It expects to mount three major clinical trials by the end of 2007. Argos has raised more than $92 million in venture funding, most recently a $35.2 million C round in April.

Aplicor, Boca Raton, FL - www.aplicor.com
Founded in 2000, Aplicor has won 18 awards for its hosted customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning software, making it the most awarded software as a service provider in the CRM industry. Its applicatons sell for $89 a user per month.The company is self-funded but may seek from $5 million to $10 million if finds a venture backer offering the right terms. Founder and CEO Chuck Shaeffer has 21 years experience in the CRM sector. Although the company has marquee U.S. clients such as Intel and the U.S. Department of Commerce, 70 percent of its customers are foreign.

Aurora Flight Services, Manassas, VA, - www.aurora.aero
Aurora Flight Sciences manufactures state-of-the-art unmanned aerial systems and components for the scientific research, defense and homeland security markets. Aurora's unmanned aircraft are distinguished by their daring designs and record-breaking performances. John Langford started Aurora Flight Sciences in 1989. Langford had recently managed the world record breaking Daedalus human powered aircraft project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Throughout the mid-1990s the pace of aircraft development at Aurora was rapid, and several landmark achievements, including a world altitude record set by the Perseus B, were accomplished. The new Aurora Flight Sciences of West Virginia facility enables Aurora to provide cost-effective, high-precision manufacturing services to large defense contractors. In addition to acquiring the manufacturing facility, Aurora developed strategic relationships with leading defense companies such as Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Raytheon and Sikorsky. Aurora has been a major supplier to the RQ-4 Global Hawk program since 1995, providing the primary composite flight structures for the high altitude long endurance UAS.

AxoGen, Gainesville, FL - www.axogeninc.com
AxoGen is commercializing technology that repairs peripheral nerves. Its Avance product is a human allograft nerve that supports axon regeneration along the repaired nerve. The company says its technologies may help people who lose strength, movement and muscle mass due to a traumatic injury to the arm, lose the ability to smile due to a facial injury, or lose sexual function due to prostrate surgery or suffer other injuries or surgical damage to peripheral nerves. AxoGen raised a $12.1 million C round at the end of 2007. The company expects to sell $30 million worth of Avance Nerve Grafts by 2010.

Biolex Therapeutics, Pittsboro, NC - www.biolex.com
Biolex Therapeutics focuses on producing hard to synthesize proteins via the aquatic plant Lemna (Duckweed). Its first products are monoclonal antibodies and it has trademarked the term "plantibody." Biolex withdrew it IPO registration in February this year. The company has raised about $100 million in venture funding. 

Calyptix, Charlotte, NC - www.calyptix.com
Calyptix manufactures AccessEnforcer, an all-in-one network security appliance that cuts costs, boosts productivity and protects networks for small and medium businesses such as financial, healthcare, accounting, and legal, manufacturing, nonprofit and other service organizations. All features are available through a single user interface for a single price without any integration, seat licenses or hidden charges. Calyptix Security's expertise is evidenced in several industry-wide vulnerability discoveries and in DyVax, the company's proprietary inspection engine, that dynamically filters email traffic, executable files and Microsoft Office files from true zero-day threats without reliance on signatures. Calyptix' flexible authorized partners program accelerates sales cycles and increases customer satisfaction while generating generous partner margins. CEO, Ben Yarbrough. The company is seeking $1 million to $2.5 million in funding.

Camero, Tyson's Corner, VA - www.camero-tech.com 
Camero 3D "Through–Wall Vision" products open doors for the military, law enforcement organizations, and search and rescue operations. The 5-year business plan delineates three initial markets for Xaver 800 products: the military, law enforcement organizations, and search and rescue operations. This Tyson's Corner-based firm was founded in 2003 has raised over $19 million to date.

Cernium Corp., Reston, VA - www.cernium.com
Analyst firm Frost & Sullivan named Cernium the 2008 North American Emerging Company of the Year for its efforts in developing and promoting real-time, content analytics-enabled products for video surveillance. Cernium's analytics engine, called the "P-Core," performs advanced event analysis with a fraction of the processing power required by comparable systems. It can process multiple, concurrent video streams in real time for any number of event types, providing greater ability to extract useful information from the video at less cost. The company has raised 17.5 million thus far.

Clearleap, Atlanta, GA - www.clearleap.com
Clearleap develops technologies it says will expand viewer options for "what's on TV," creating a new model that brings the breadth and diversity of internet video to the convenience and quality of TV. Clearleap was co-founded by Braxton Jarratt and John Vecchio, veterans of venture funded N2Broadband, a video pioneer acquired by Tandberg for $120 Million in 2005. "The system we're building takes video from different sources in different formats worldwide and processes the video and data so it can play on existing networks, whether broadcasters, IPTV or satellite," says Jarratt. The company raised $9 million in March.

Damballa, Atlanta, GA - www.damballa.com 
Damballa protects businesses from targeted attacks used for organized, online crime. Its global approach rapidly isolates the command-and-control needed to launch multi-network attacks. These signatureless solutions improve security both inside and outside the network perimeter, to stop threats other technologies miss and restore control to legitimate owners. Damballa helps stop the "bot armies" that spammers, identity thieves, and denial of service attackers use by hijacking PCs. The company raised $6 million in August last year and $2.5 million in 2006.

EnerTech Environmental, Atlanta, GA - www.enertech.com
EnerTech's patented technology, the SlurryCarb process, economically produces a renewable fuel from biosolids and other high-moisture wastes. EnerTech closed $160 million financing for its first commercial SlurryCarb facility in Rialto, California. It raised $42 million in a second round in January 2008. "We see the project under construction in California as a springboard for future projects," said David Nazarian of Nimes Capital, an investor. "What EnerTech has done will transform the biosolids market for many years to come. We see the opportunity not only in California, but elsewhere in the United States and the world."

ESP Systems, Charlotte, NC - www.espsystems.com
ESP Systems wants to help restaurants keep customers coming back. The number one reason they don't is customer service problems. ESP, which has raised five rounds of capital, most recently $2.5 million in December last year, makes a wireless communications technology that connects restaurant servers to their customers and the kitchen. Customers can let servers know when they need something. The tech may be relevant to several customer-centric, labor-intensive industries, including gaming, mass retail and healthcare, but the company's initial focus is on restaurants. It has received quite a bit of publicity from CNN, Business 2.0 magazine, Computerworld, and TV news operations. Devin Green, co-founder of the company tells TechJournal South he came up with the idea after one too many unpleasant dining experiences.

Fishbowl, Alexandria, VA - www.fishbowl.com
Founded in 2000, Fishbowl serves 700 restaurant chains in North America and Europe powering email marketing to over 28,000 locations. Fishbowl's broader marketing solutions provide restaurants with fully integrated mobile promotion, online ordering and online reservations. The company's repeat customers encourage its venture backers, who pumped $12 million into the firm in March.

FortiusOne, Washington, DC - www.fortiusone.com
Fortius One combines massive, complex data sets in visualizations that significantly enhance critical decision making. Fortius CEO and founder Sean Gorman says the basic idea behind the company is to be the next step toward where digital mapping technologies are going. "We want to create a network effect for these maps," he says. That means people in the field, such as emergency workers, can upload data about a current situation, a flooded area, for instance, and "mash it up with our data." The company raised a $5.4 million second round in 2007 with the stealthy, C.I.A. connected In-Q-Tel as one of its backers. "FortiusOne is leading the way to the next generation of web mapping, building on one of the hottest areas of the Web today," said Troy M. Pearsall, In-Q-Tel's Executive Vice President of Technology Transfer.

GridPoint, Washington, DC - www.gridpoint.com
GridPoint pioneered a smart grid platform that aligns the interests of electric utilities, consumers and the environment. During peak demand periods, the platform enables utilities to efficiently balance supply and demand by discharging stored power or reducing loads with minimal impact on customers (i.e., controlling temperature versus shutting down air conditioners). Utilities can also optimize existing baseload generation assets and relieve stress on transmission and distribution lines. GridPoint raised a total of $102 million in venture funding since its 2003 inception. It won numerous awards including, overall winner of the AlwaysOn GoingGreen 100 Top Private Companies 2007; the Red Herring 100 Global; and winner of the 2007 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Green Excellence.

Harmony Information Systems, Reston, VA - www.harmonyis.com
Harmony Information Systems sells software to the health and human services sector. The company raised a $28 million second round in late 2007. The company offers on-demand and on-premise software applicatons to public and private health and human services organizations.

Highwinds, Winter Park, FL - www.highwinds.com
Highwinds, founded in 2002, started as a software company, selling to cable companies and ISPs. The company decided that it should build out a network infrastructure to get into the content delivery business itself. It began buying and building infrastructure, including multiple, redundant 10 Gbps links, 21 points of presence in the U.S. and Europe, and its own network services and engineering team. Building out the network also led to technology innovations in network management, distributed file system technology and advanced content routing methods, the company says. Most of the content the company delivers over its network never touches the Internet. The company raised a $55 million round in March.

Invision, Atlanta, GA- www.invisioninc.com
Invision's software-based solutions manage the sale of over $10 billion in annual television advertising inventory. Just as the airline reservations systems pricing algorithms are critical for airline profitability by maximizing revenue from available seat inventory, Invision helps its customers increase the revenue yield on available advertising inventory. Founded in 1993, the company develops licensed software to support ad processes for TV and radio stations. clients include BET, Bloomberg, Bravo, CNBC, E! Entertainment Television, Fox Sports Network, F/X, Galavision, G4/techTV, Gemstar/TV Guide, Hallmark, MGM, MSNBC, National Geographic Channel, PAX, Sony Pictures Television, Speed Channel, Telemundo, Telefutura, Tribune, Univision, and The Weather Channel. Invision raised a $30 million first round in March.

Jacket Micro Devices, Atlanta, GA - www.jacketmicro.com
Jacket Micro Devices is an Atlanta-based supplier of integrated RF modules for wireless products. The company was founded in 2002 by researchers from Georgia Tech who developed a groundbreaking new method to package RF components. Unlike modules made with ceramic and other technologies, JMD's products can be rapidly customized and have higher levels of integration, resulting in fewer external components and faster time to market. Key market drivers for JMD's products include the growth in complexity of wireless technology driven by new standards, such as 802.11n and 802.16e, that require multiple transmit and receive paths and thus complex front ends. The market for wireless interfaces that use the 802.11n standard will exceed 200 million units a year by 2009.

Jobfox, Mclean, VA - www.jobfox.com
JobFox matches job seekers and employers in much the same way some dating sites match people and brings headhunter techniques to job seekers, helping them showcase their unique skills and experiences. Its matching technology focuses on 10 dimensions of a good job fit. The company allows job seekers to create their own free personally branded career space and notifies them via mobile phone, IM text messages, or otherwise when a potential employer looks at their resume. Users can upload work samples. The company raised a $20 million C round in January, and a $10 million B round in May 2006.

Kajeet, Bethesda, MD - www.kajeet.com
Kajeet, a company formed when its three founder-fathers discussed how kids, cell phones, and parents could work best, found a solution that both their customers and investors like. The company has raised nearly $64 million in venture funding and $10 million in debt capital since 2003. The company launched its pay-as-you-go for kids with parental controls in 2007. It lets tweens, teens and parents configure their phones to fit their needs. The company has raised nearly $64 million venture backing and $10 million in debt capital since 2003.

Koolspan, Bethesda, MD - www.koolspan.com
KoolSpan's TrustChip crypto engine is a self-contained authentication, encryption and key management platform. Proceeds of the financing will be used to fulfill global demand for TrustChip-based solutions including TrustChip Voice, which creates instant AES-encrypted links among off-the-shelf mobile phones. "The KoolSpan TrustChip platform is designed for the rapidly growing mobile-to-mobile and machine-to-machine markets," says KoolSpan CEO Tony Fascenda. Koolspan raised a $7.1 million round in April.

Lab Escape, Asheville, NC - www.labescape.com
Founded in 2003, Lab Escape sells its heat maps software to a dozen Fortune 500 companies and about two dozen other clients. Heat maps color and size code complex data to make it easy to grasp and interpret. the company has had three times revenue growth each year for the last three, The 10-employee company has not raised outside money thus far, but is looking for $1 million to $3 million in backing. EO and founder, Trevor Lohrbeer is a serial entrepreneur.

Metastorm, Baltimore, MD - www.metastorm.com
Metastorm sells software for Enterprise Architecture, Business Process Analysis & Modeling and Business Process Management. As an integrated product portfolio, Metastorm Enterprise allows organizations to improve business results by unifying strategy, analysis and execution, the company says. Metastorm. The company has created good industry buzz and made a number of significant acquisitions. Founded in 1996, the company raised a $30 million C round in August 2007.

Metastatix, Tucker, GA - www.metastatix.com
Metastatix is developing compounds that block a receptor implicated in inflammation—now known to foster many serious diseases. But its treatments may also fight late stage cancer and its deadly metastasis and a form of HIV infection as well. Metastatix technology, licensed from Atlanta's Emory University, blocks the CXCR4 receptor, which plays a role in cancer, inflammation, and T-tropic HIV infections. Not only that, its treatments can be administered orally—a factor that makes a drug not only easier to take, but also easier to market. The company has raised $38.8 million.

Moli, West Palm Springs, FL - www.moli.com
Most of the social networking sites that made an initial impact on the Web world such as Facebook and My Space, aimed squarely at youth markets. Not so Moli. Moli is a social network with more than one difference from the others. Rather than pursue the youth market, Moli is designed to appeal to mature adults between 24 and 54. It restricts its membership to those 18 or older. It also focuses on small businesses of under 10 people. It has slightly more than 150,000 members as of March 2008. Moli, as part of Mainstream Holdings Inc., raised $29.6 million in funding in late January, primarily from founder Christos M. Cotsakos, former chair and CEO of E*Trade and former CEO and COO of AC Nielsen, who provided $20 million.

Myxer, Deerfield Beach, FL - www.myxer.com
The company's MyxerTones website offers tools for making and sharing mobile content. It says 2.5 million users download more than six million pieces of mobile content each month. The Myxer platform also offers partner API's for easy integration with existing content websites interested in expanding their reach to the mobile market. Myxer raised a $6.5 million round in September 2007.

NeoNova Networks, Morrisville, NC - www.neonova.net
NeoNova is the leading Internet service provider serving the U.S. rural telephone and cable service providers. NeoNova provides Internet services, data hosting, email, spam and virus filtering, web design and storage, customer care and billing services to over 60 independent communication service providers. There's plenty of room for growth in the rural broadband space. The PEW Internet survey showed that in 2007, only 31 percent of U.S. rural residences had broadband access. NeoNova's services help rural communications providers close that gap. California-based Azure Capital Partners and Bridgescale Partners bought the company from Digitel Inc. in March for an undisclosed sum.

Nexidia, Atlanta, GA - www.nexidia.com
Atlanta's Nexidia is a pioneer in phonetic-based audio search technology. Chosen as one of the 2007 top 10 innovative companies by the Technology Association of Georgia, the company increases search speed of audio files up to 500,000 times faster than real-time. Anna Convery, the company's senior VP of marketing and product management was named 2007 Women of the Year in Technology in the small/emerging business category. John Willcutts, president and CEO, has twice served as Entrepreneur in Residence for Benchmark Capital, and headed several other technology companies.

NextPoint Networks, Gaithersburg, MD - www.nextpointnetworks.com
NextPoint simplifies the deployment of fixed and mobile network connectivity, accelerates the delivery of new services to subscribers and offers high levels of security. Its customers include tier-one mobile operators located all over the globe. Formed by the merger if NexTone Communications Inc. and Reef Point Systems Inc., raised a $20 million venture round in December 2007. NexTone had previously raised $65 million. Reef Point had raised over $160 million. "NextPoint has incredible potential due to its unprecedented ability to support the IP network evolution and migration plans at both the access and peering points of both mobile and fixed-network providers," says Pascal Luck, a managing director with Core Capital Partners, an investor.

Pentaho, Orlando, FL - www.pentaho.com
Pentaho sells open source business intelligence software. "Pentaho has established itself as the leading commercial open source alternative to proprietary BI," said Peter Fenton, general partner, Benchmark Capital, an investor. Founded in 2004, Pentaho has more than three million lifetime downloads, with more than 20,000 registered community members. Pentaho's growing customer list includes Cox Communications, Delta Dental, Lifetime Networks, Monsanto Corporation, Savvion, Sun Microsystems, Terra Industries, U.S. Naval Air Command, and Wachovia. The company raised $25 million in venture capital, most recently, a $12 million C round in February.

Pique Therapeutics, Durham, NC, Miami FL - www.piquetherapeutics.com
Pique Therapeutics is developing vaccines that may halt aggressive cancers and in early clinical trials doubled the average survival time of patients with late-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) the number one U.S. cancer killer. If clinical trials verify Pique's techniques for bringing the immune system to bear down on tough cancers that previously kept it out with a biological firewall, it could transform treatment for previously frequently deadly forms of the disease. The company, founded in 2005, is looking for from $3 million to $5 million in a Series A round to do a larger, pivotal Phase II trial.

Prenova, Marietta, GA - www.prenova.com
Prenova's software suite helps customers in retail, telecommunications, restaurant, commercial and manufacturing business sectors drive down and manage total energy costs. The company's full suite of energy solutions consistently deliver a conservative 10 percent to 15 percent overall reduction in a customer's total cost of energy, it says. The company focuses on its clients assets, whether they're large scale refrigerators in grocery stores or the stoves in a restaurant, heating and ventilation systems and so forth to make sure they run optimally. renova manages billions of dollars in annual energy expenditures across hundreds of thousands of customer locations nationwide. 
Prenova clients include Crate & Barrel, Dollar Tree, Dunham's Sports, Eddie Bauer, Famous Footwear, Food Concepts, Home Depot, Kroger, and many others. The company raised an $11 million round in 2006 and a $3 million round in 2007.

Playmotion, Atlanta, GA - www.playmotion.com
Founded in 2002 by Greg Roberts, CTO, and Matt Flagg, and funded by friends, family and organic growth, PlayMotion evolved from a desire to create technology that enables people to interact with computers in fluid, natural ways. The company's motion-based interface applications not only allow gamers to enjoy a full body experience, they're finding uses in museums, healthcare, zoos, and aquariums. PlayMotion had an 86 percent growth rate in 2007 and is looking at 300 percent this year. One upcoming technology the company follows closely are new lines of cell phones with "built-in projectors," says CEO Scott Burkett. "Eventually, PlayMotion will be wherever you want it to be," he adds. "You'll just set your phone down and play."

Regado Biosciences, Durham, NC - www.regadobiosciences.com
Regado Biosciences is developing antidote controlled antithrombotics that prevent blood clotting. Antithrombotics, often used to treat cardio-vascular diseases such as stroke, can be difficult to administer, since too much can result in unwanted bleeding. The Regado technology addresses the need for greater control. Unlike existing agents, results suggest its REG1 is easily dosed, has rapid onset, and importantly offers predictable, reversibility through its targeted aptamer-based antidote. The company raised a $23 million C round in March.

Revolution Money, Tampa, FL - www.revolutionmoney.com
Former AOL Chairman Steve Case and half a dozen other well-known media and financial business executives formed Revolution Money, an Internet-based credit card company in 2007 that landed a $50 million B round in September 2007. Ted Leonsis chair the company. Its new payment network – Revolution Money – was created to deliver significant value to both consumers and merchants through two products, RevolutionCard and RevolutionMoneyExchange. The RevolutionCard eliminates costly interchange fees for merchants while simultaneously providing consumers with enhanced PIN-based security, identity protection, and periodic merchant discounts and incentives. MoneyExchange offers an easy and secure way to send and receive money online between accountholders for free.

6th Sense Analytics, Morrisville, NC - www.6sa.com
6th Sense Analytics, based in Morrisville, NC, helps companies automatically track software development projects, automating what in the past has been a cumbersome manual process. According to a recent Duke University/Booz Allen Hamilton study, managerial control is one of the key challenges for organizations sending software development and other high-end processes offshore. Founded in 2004, the company raised $5 million in January 2007. Greg Burnell is CEO.

SilkRoad Technology, Winston-Salem, NC - www.silkroad.com
SilkRoad technology sells software that helps companies manage their talent from the recruiting stage through on boarding, training, evaluations, and post-employment. "Companies are very interested in becoming preferred employers," says Andrew "Flip" Filipowski, CEO and executive chair of SilkRoad technology.

Sleep Solutions, Passadena, Maryland - www.sleepsolutions.com
Sleep Solutions is developing technology for diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). With only 15-20 percent of the estimated 40 million OSA patients in the US identified or diagnosed, the OSA diagnostic testing market is projected to exceed $3 billion in 2008 and is expected to grow 20 percent to 30 percent annually for the next five years. Sleep Solutions has raised a total of $46.5 million, including a $20.5 million round in March.

SnagAJob, Richmond, VA - www.snagajob.com
Founded in 2000, SnagAJob is the nation's largest job site fro part-time and full-time hourly positions and has 8 million registered users. Shawn Boyer, an attorney, started the site after a friend asked him to go online and help look for an internship in 1999. Boyer discovered few sites geared toward internships or part-time and hourly jobs. So, after several month of research, he left the D.C. law firm where he worked as a transactional attorney to start the site. The company started in a 1,000-square-foot office space in a medical office park in Norge, VA, and now operates from a 35,000-square-foot complex overlooking a lake in Richmond. It raised a $5 million B round in February.

StrikeIron, Research Triangle Park, NC - www.strikeiron.com
StrikeIron's Web Services Marketplace provides a technology platform, micro-transaction management and a consistent interface across many XML-based Web services from multiple, diverse sources. This allows end-users and ISVs to customize and integrate external data sources and additional external functionality into enterprise, Web, and composite applications. The company which has raised over $10 million in funding is based in Research Triangle Park, NC.

Suniva, Atlanta, GA - www.suniva.com
Suniva is developing high efficiency silicon photovoltaic solar cells based on Georgia Tech innovations. Founded in 2006 by Ajeet Rohatgi, director of the Georgia Tech University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaics, the company's technology makes more efficient silicon solar cells at low cost. Rohatgi is a recognized world-leader in photovoltaics. Suniva has raised $55.5 million in venture backing, including a $50 million second round early in 2008. The company says it expects to make $100 million in revenue by 2009.

TimeDomain, Huntsville, Alabama - www.timedomain.com
Time Domain's Ultra Wide Band PulsOn products are similar to global positioning systems (GPS), but have much higher accuracy and can track high value assets to within a few feet or even inches. UWB offers a number of advantages over competing technologies. UWB is a radio technology. It can be used at very low energy levels for short-range high-bandwidth communications by using a larger portion of the radio spectrum. Will Webb, Time Domain CEO, tells TechJournal South that the company has found a sweet spot in radio frequency identification marketing. "RFID is itself a very established growth market," he says. "Real time location is the fastest growing application in the sector. And UWB is the most sought after technology in that business." The company clocked in a $25 million round in September 2007.

Verical Inc., Alexandria, VA - www.verical.com
Verical makes supply chain security software. It has raised a $3.2 million Series A round led by Valhalla Partners. The Virginia CIT GAP Funds invested $100,000 in the company. Verical certifies the origin of new and unused items in the possession of first owners who want to sell them through a software process the company created. The filtering process creates a pool of surplus goods free from counterfeit, refurbished or stolen items. It also uses a rating system to categorize the extent to which assurance has been established.

VisualCV, Reston, VA - www.visualcv.com
VisualCV is a job site that lets users add photos, a portfolio of work samples, create multiple versions for different audiences, add charts and graphs, showcase previous employers, with "guaranteed privacy" and the ability to share results with employers, colleagues, customers, partners, and friends. The site is a place where job-seekers and recruiters can come in and do everything in one place. Job seekers can tailor a CV toward their audience. Tehy control who has access and track who actually comes in to take a look." The company raised $5 million in February.

ViTrue, Atlanta, GA - www.vitrue.com
ViTrue is the world's first user-created advertising platform. It allows companies to put consumer enthusiasm to work. Corporate customers upload videos promoting company products. Based in Atlanta, the company was selected for the Business 2.0 Next Net 25. It estimates that user created video will be an $850 million market by 2010. The company, founded in 2006, has raised $15.5 million in venture backing. CEO is Reggis Bradford, formerly president and a board member with Tandberg Television.

Yap, Charlotte, NC - www.yapme.com
Charlotte-based Yap lets users talk their text messages into a mobile phone instead of typing, which is far safer while driving. Formed by the same folks that worked on everything from Hondas to iPods, Yap created a patent pending freeform speech recognition platform that instantly converts anything you say into text. Beyond messaging, users can also use their voices to search Google or have their voicemails instantly converted into text (other services use human beings to do so). The company is currently seeking $5 to $10 million for expansion.

Ziptronix, Research Triangle Park, NC - www.ziptronix.com
Ziptronix makes an innovative wafer and die bonding technology that lowers manufacturing and packaging costs and increases yields in high-speed logic and MEMs manufacturing. Its technology, which lets chips bond powerfully at the molecular level via silicon oxide, gets around a variety of limitations that stymied previous attempts to create 3D circuits. A Ziptronix executive told TechJournal South that chip manufacturing has reached a point similar to high density building in cities: "There's no where to go but up," he said. The company holds 17 patents and has filed for others. The technology originated at Duke. The company raised more than $38 million in venture capital.


--
Howie Rhee, MBA
Managing Director
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Room E167J
919-923-7113 mobile
hwr2@duke.edu
www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei

Watch our video: www.fuqua.duke.edu/wakeup

Duke Entrepreneurship Links:
- Entrepreneurship at Duke - www.EntrepreneurshipAtDuke.com
- Weekly Education Series - www.dukeDEES.com
- Connect with Duke Entrepreneurs - www.dukegen.com
- Find a startup - www.startupmatchmaker.blogspot.com
- Duke Start-Up Challenge - www.dukestartupchallenge.org
- Entrepreneurship Week - www.eweekatduke.com
- Twitter - http://twitter.com/EshipAtDuke
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- LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/howierhee
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Tech50 - 2009 list

From TechJournalSouth http://www.tech50.org/companies.html

Once again we present 50 technology and biotechnology companies TechJournal South believes are worthy of your attention. Some things to note: analytics - of text, of video, of voice - are of growing importance in this new media age. Among biotechnology companies, bringing the immune system to bear on cancer and inflammation is being approached from a number of directions. Effective new treatments for diseases that do the most damage, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and deadly infections remain Holy Grails much sought after. Software that saves money, energy, or time is still a hot commodity. Software that increases efficiency is equally important and again has a measurable ROI. And, just about anything associated with cleaner energy or more efficient energy use is increasingly on the forefront.

App River, Gulf Breeze, FL
www.appriver.com
AppRiver was founded in April of 2002 to provide simple, yet powerful email security solutions to businesses of any size. We now protect more than 35,000 customers around the world from spam, viruses, and internet pollution.
Archer Pharmaceuticals, Sarasota, FL
www.archerpharma.com
Archer Pharmaceuticals Inc. was founded in 2008 and specializes in targeted drug discovery for Alzheimer's disease. It is testing a drug approved in Europe for treating high blood pressure called Nilvadipine, which also lowers levels of the amyloid proteins that cause Alzheimer's, in two different compounds. The company is working on other therapeutic approaches to the disease as well.
Belief Networks, Charleston, SC
www.beliefnetworks.net
BeliefNetworks was founded by Silicon Valley and Microsoft executives to transform real time, structured and unstructured data - such as marketing campaign data, customer behavior information and social network conversations - into actionable knowledge for improved customer experience.
BioMarck Pharmaceuticals, RTP, NC
www.biomarck.com
BioMarck Pharmaceuticals is developing new drugs for pulmonary diseases and disorders associated with the over-secretion of mucus and pulmonary inflammation. BioMarck has chosen chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (specifically chronic bronchitis) as its first target, but other diseases including asthma, and cystic fibrosis are later disease targets.
BioResource International, RTP, NC
www.briworldwide.com
BioResource International Inc. (BRI) is a global biotechnology company focused on harnessing the natural power of enzymes to address unique agricultural and industrial concerns. They make a powdered enzyme product that turns poultry feathers into a high-protein poultry feed. They ship it to Thailand and other countries where poultry is prized but cropland to grow poultry food is especially scarce.
Blue Stripe Software, RTP, NC
www.bluestripe.com
Blue Stripe Software, sells application service management solutions to help migrate and manage enterprise applications in a virtual server environment. With the economy forcing companies to save every penny, virtualization appeals to them because it lowers costs. The company has won a handful of media and industry recognitions for its approach to helping companies go virtual.
Broadsoft, Gaithersburg, MD
www.broadsoft.com
Since acquiring two of its major competitors in the last year, BroadSoft has become the leading provider of VoIP applications to the telecommunications industry. Founded in 1998, the company has raised nearly $90 million from venture investors.
Callminer, Fort Myers, FL
www.callminer.com
Call Miner sells speech analytics services. Founded in 2002, the 40-employee company helps its clients analyze customer service calls, pinpointing key words, angry speech, and competitor's names. It raised a third round early in 2009. Its clients include Continental Airline, Daimler Financial Services, and Comcast, among others.
Calyptix, Charlotte, NC
www.calyptix.com
Calyptix manufactures AccessEnforcer, an all-in-one network security appliance that cut costs, boosts productivity and protects networks for small and medium businesses such as financial, healthcare, accounting, and legal, manufacturing, nonprofit and other service organizations.
Centice, RTP, NC
www.centice.com
Centice is a medical device company commercializing a spectroscopy device developed at Duke University that tests the accuracy of prescriptions at point of sale. Called Pass Rx, the device puts drugs through a simple three-step process that verifies the drug tpe and strength of tablets and capsules being dispensed through a vial in seconds.
Cernium, Reston, VA
www.cernium.com
Cernium develops and sells products that extract useful information from video for applications ranging from business intelligence to homeland and physical security. It is based on a technology called "advanced video analytics." Customers represent a range of industry sectors that include Fortune 100 manufacturers, government, health care, transportation, hospitality, education, entertainment and major cultural institutions.
Clarabridge, Reston, VA
www.clarabridge.com
Clarabridge sells text analysis software used to improve customer relationship management. It helps companies pinpoint exactly what a customer wants by analyzing email or other customer communications. Its customers include Marriott International, United Airlines, Gap Inc., Intuit Inc., Sage Software, H&R Block and Lowe's Companies, among others.
Cylex, Columbia, MD
www.cylex.net
Cylex is the leader in the development and manufacture of in vitro diagnostic products intended to illuminate immunity. The Company's patented technology provides an innovative platform allowing clinical researchers to simply and reproducibly assess immune cell function for the development of new diagnostics, biomarkers, and companion assays.
Datacraft Solutions, Durham, NC
www.datacraftsolutions.com
By automating a digital kanban system and selling it as software as a service, Durham-based Datacraft Solutions has produced dramatic inventory management cost reductions for its clients. The company's product orders materials based on actual need rather than forecasts and can slash inventory management costs by 50 percent.
Diakine, Charlottesville, VA
www.diakine.com
Diakine is designing treatments to drive Type 1 diabetes into remission by promoting the growth of new insulin-producing cells and protecting them. In addition to angel investments, it received a number of grants, including ones from the Lee Iaccoa and Ella Fitgerald Foundations Fitzgerald and Iaccoa's wife both suffered from diabetes.
Energyware, Blacksburg, VA
www.energyware.com
A Virginia Tech spinout, Energyware sells software based on patented technology that reduces energy insfrastructure and is currently targeting top tier data centers, where it believes its software can lead directly to over $500,000 a year in savings for the client in energy costs. Saving money, saving energy. Sounds like a winner.
Enertech Environmental, Atlanta, GA
www.enertech.com
EnerTech's patented technology, the SlurryCarb process, economically produces a renewable fuel from biosolids and other high-moisture wastes. The company has raised more than $200 million to get a California plant up and running.
ESP Systems, Charlotte, NC
www.espsystems.net
About 13 percent of restaurant diners won't return to a given establishment, most often due to poor serve. ESP creates a wireless bubble over the entire restaurant and connects everyone within that bubble through advanced wireless technologies. By connecting everyone within the restaurant, each guest can summon waiters or staff and the staff can communicate with the kitchen and so on. It increases both staff productivity and customer satisfaction.
Exigent Pharmaceuticals, Durham, NC
www.exigentpharmaceuticals.com
Exigent Pharmaceuticals, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill spin-out company, is developing a new type of anti-bacterial treatment that could help stem the tide of deaths and complications from hospital acquired, drug-resistant infections. The compounds the company is developing as a new type of anti-infective treatment target an enzyme in bacteria that the bugs use to spread their genes - particularly those that make bacteria more resistant to current drugs.
Expression Genetics, Huntsville, AL
www.egeninc.com
Expression Genetics Inc. (EGEN), is a biopharmaceutical
company specializing in nucleic acid (DNA and RNAi) delivery and
therapeutics aimed at specific disease targets. The Company, with
laboratories and headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama, is focused on
developing therapeutics for the treatment of human diseases including
cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Fishbowl, Alexandria, VA
www.fishbowl.com
Fishbowl sells permission-based email marketing to the restaurant industry. Founded in 2000, Fishbowl serves 700 restaurant chains in North America and Europe powering email marketing to over 28,000 locations. Fishbowl's broader marketing solutions provide restaurants with fully integrated mobile promotion, online ordering and online reservations.
FTRANS, Atlanta, GA
www.ftrans.net
FTRANS sells a platform that works as a clearinghouse and interface for lenders and businesses seeking to borrow against accounts receivables and other types of the $1.3 trillion trade credit sector. Its revenue increased 300 percent in 2008.
Gigatrust, Herndon, VA
www.gigatrust.com
Gigatrust sells cutting-edge email security and content protection. It is the only provider of Intelligent Rights Management - an innovative, next-generation content security approach built on the foundation of Microsoft's Windows Rights Management Services.
Gridpoint, Arlington, VA
www.gridpoint.com
GridPoint Inc. is testing SmartGrid, a product that lets utilities buy electricity at nonpeak prices to store for deployment during peak demand hours. During peak demand periods, Gridpoint's platform enables utilities to efficiently balance supply and demand by discharging stored power or reducing loads with minimal impact on customers (i.e., controlling temperature versus shutting down air conditioners). The platform serves as a virtual peaking power plant, enabling utilities to avoid the regulatory, environmental and "time-to-build" hurdles.
iContact, Durham, NC
www.icontact.com
iContact has attracted 50,000 customers to its email marketing services. It allows for easy creation of email newsletters, RSS feeds, surveys, and autoresponders. In 2008, the company was named the fastest growing software company in North Carolina and ranked 85th on the Inc. magazine 500.
JackBe, Chevy Chase, MD
www.jackbe.com
JackBe delivers trusted mashup software that empowers organizations to create, customize and collaborate through enterprise mashups for faster decisions and better business results. Its innovative Enterprise Mashup platform, Presto, provides dynamic mashups that leverage internal and external data while meeting the toughest enterprise security and governance requirements. The company has won several other awards.
LivingSocial.com, Washington, D.C.
www.livingsocial.com
If you're always looking for the next great read, another band you might like, or even a new beer to try, DC-based LivingSocial can hook you up with recommendations from people who have similar or different tastes. Founded in the summer of 2007, LivingSocial is a social discovery and cataloging network that allows people to review and share their favorite movies, books, games, music, restaurants and beer. It's a good idea that's rapidly gaining traction.
Lotame Solutions, Elkridge, MD
www.lotame.com
Lotame sells solutions within social media. Its crowd control technology offers social media sites the most advanced monetization techniques and allows brands to build and target customizable consumer audiences. It aims to increase revenue for its publishers and allow advertisers to target unique users across multiple social media sites.
Lulu.com, RTP, NC
www.lulu.com
Founded by CEO Bob Young, who co-founded Red Hat, Lulu eliminates traditional entry barriers to publishing, and enables content creators and owners – authors and educators, videographers and musicians, businesses and nonprofits, professionals and amateurs – to bring their work directly to their audience. First, they use Lulu's tools to format their digital content. Lulu's dedicated marketplace, custom storefronts and advanced listing and distribution services make their books, videos, CDs, DVDs, calendars, reports and more available to as many, or as few, people around the world as they like, earning 80 percent of all creator revenue, of which millions of dollars has already been paid out.
Metastatix, now Altiris, Tucker, GA
www.metastatix.com
Metastatix is developing compounds that block a receptor implicated in inflammation - now known to lead to many serious diseases. But its treatments may also fight late stage cancer.
NeoCytex, Orlando, FL
www.neocytex.com
NeoCytex is developing novel therapeutics to promote the repair and rejuvenation of damaged tissues. The lead drug candidate NBI-18 is being developed for speeding up recovery from neurodegenerative (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's) and cerebrovascular diseases. The product works by accelerating the production of healthy new cells from endogenous stem cells, enhancing the body's natural ability to heal itself.
Oversight Systems, Atlanta, GA
www.oversightsystems.com
Founded in 2003, Oversight Systems, Inc. is a privately-held, Atlanta-based software company whose continuous transaction monitoring solutions help Fortune 500 companies in a variety of industries solve problems related to governance, risk and compliance.
Pathfinder Technologies, Nashville, TN
www.2pti.com
Pathfinder is a medical device company developing surgical GPS systemsd. Its firs commercial application is the only one to have received FDA clearance for navigating liver surgery with pre-operative medical images.
Petrobeam, Raleigh, NC
www.petrobeam.com
PetroBeam is an energy technology company and is the leading developer of electron beam processing techniques to upgrade heavy petroleum feedstocks. The company is migrating a well established industrial process to the midstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry. That's important because light crude resources are not enough to supply worldwide demand, which will have to come from heavy crude.
Planar Energy Devices, Orlando, FL
www.planarenergy.com
Planar Energy Devices develops, manufactures and markets metallic-lithium solid state battery products forelectronic and automotive applications. Bringing together innovative technologies from several research organizations, Planar, an NREL spin-out with an extensive patent portfolio, has developed a platform for fabricating, in a scalable, low-captital-cost environment, a new generation of high-energy-density, long-life batteries that are safe, compact and can be deployed in very flexible arrangements.
Prenova, Marietta, GA
www.prenova.com
Prenova's Clean Tech energy management solutions deliver hard dollar savings through sustained reduction in energy consumption and carbon gas emissions. Prenova is revolutionizing energy efficiency by creating sustainable asset efficiencies.
Purewire, Atlanta, GA
www.purewire.com
Purewire is a security as a service company. Purewire's SaaS-based secure Web gateway protects users from malware, phishing, identity theft, and other harmful activity online – in effect, providing a pure wire to the Internet.
Qualtre, Atlanta, GA
www.qualtre.com
Qualtré Inc. is commercializing the next generation of inertial motion sensors, further broadening their applicability in CE devices like cellular handsets, personal navigation devices, and gaming controllers.
Razorsight, Fairfax, VA
www.razorsight.com
Razorsight Corp sells on-demand financial business intelligence and analytics solutions for communications services providers. Razorsight's Software-as-a-Service automates workflow from invoice receipt to payment with zero touch by eliminating paper and arduous manual processes, while providing detailed visibility into carrier cost and revenue data.
Revolution Money, St. Petersburg, FL
www.revolutionmoney.com
Revolution Money is an Internet payment firm launched by AOL co-founder Steve Case. Its investors include Ted Leonsis, David Pottruck, and David Golden. Revolution Money reduces costs to merchants for accepting credit cards by up to 75 percent. The company hopes to grab market share from traditional credit card companies and online payment services such as Paypal. The company raised a $50 million second round and $42 million in April 2009.
Schooldude, Cary, NC
www.schooldude.com
SchoolDude is the nation's #1 provider of on-demand operations management solutions designed exclusively for the unique needs of schools, colleges and universities. The company has 3,700 clients and 140 employees.
Sharklet Technologies, Alachua, FL
www.sharklet.com
Sharket develops and markets surface technologies designed to inhibit or enhance microorganism growth. Inspired by the antimicrobial properties of shark skin, Sharklet, the company's core surface technology, is the first no-kill, non-toxic surface developed to control bacteria. It can be used in healthcare environments and on medical devices to prevent development of biofilms and help fight dangerous antibiotic resistant infections.
SilkRoad, Winston Salem, NC
www.silkroad.com
SilkRoad Technology sells software that helps companies manage their talent from the recruiting stage through on-boarding, training, evaluations and post-employment.
siXis, RTP, NC
www.sixisinc.com
siXis has pioneered the silicon circuit board, paving the way for smaller, higher performing, scalable, lighter, and more reliable electronics that use less power and are less expensive. Its silicon-connecting-silicon techniques, lower costs and improve reliability over traditional electronic circuit boards. Bare silicon die are mounted directly on large-area silicon substrates - a feat thought impossible until recently.
Skycross, Viera, FL
www.skycross.com
Skycross is a global wireless company providing advanced antenna-centric RF solutions to the mobile phone, home entertainment, and computing industries. SkyCross provides high-performance, frequency-agile, protocol-independent antenna technology bundled with RF system-level expertise and responsive regional support.
StrikeIron, RTP, NC
www.strikeiron.com
StrikeIron's Web Services Marketplace provides a technology platform, micro-transaction management and a consistent interface across many XML-based Web services from multiple, diverse sources.
Suniva, Atlanta, GA
www.suniva.com
Suniva develops, manufactures and markets its ARTisun series high-efficiency silicon photovoltaic cells for clean, earth-friendly power generation and is dedicated to driving down the cost per watt of solar generated power. It has begun production of its high efficiency solar cells at its Norcross, GA facility.
Transgeneron Therapeutics, Gainsville, FL
www.transgeneron.net
Transgeneron Therapeutics Inc., was founded in April 2007 to apply a novel pharmacological approach to regenerative medicine; the company develops therapeutics that promote tissue regeneration by reprogramming healthy tissue. This therapeutic reprogramming causes cells to "trans-differentiate" into cells that can replace diseased or degenerated organs.
Vaxin, Birmingham, AL
www.vaxin.com
A small Birmingham, Alabama company, Vaxin, is testing a revolutionary new flu vaccine that could lessen or end flu vaccine shortages, prevent getting the wrong mix of strains, and end fears of deadly pandemic flu. It also has vaccines to prevent anthrax, Avian Influenza, tetanus, and Alzheimer's.
Vendormate, Atlanta, GA
www.vendormate.com
Vendormate provides technology and compliance-monitoring services to assist companies in their relationships with vendors. Through its patent-pending process, Vendormate provides a standardized private-labeled solution for customers to manage the composition and risk of their supplier-base with very little impact to their budget. Vendormate VISION is a streamlined system of vendor registration, screening, rating, and cataloging.
Zymetis, College Park, MD
www.zymetis.com
Zymetis is testing genetically modified bacteria that efficiently convert biomass into sugar. The company uses the marsh grass bacterium S. degradans, which releases an enzyme that can degrade waste materials such as brewing byproducts, papers, husks, and corn cobs into ethanol for fuel.

--
Howie Rhee, MBA
Managing Director
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Room E167J
919-923-7113 mobile
hwr2@duke.edu
www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei

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