Posted by
dave in
Taking Care of Business on
June 3, 2007 |
no responses I know I’ve already done a posting about Kent State’s new Liquid Crystal incubator, but with the opening scheduled for next week, I thought it was worth a second mention. Part of the inspiration for running a second story on it was an article I stumbled on in the Wall Street Journal this week that talked about the competition in California among cities all vying to land new clean technology businesses. These cities are serious about new job growth, and the winner turned out to be San Jose who is trying to position itself as the clean technology center of the universe. With a $1.5 million grant and more tax breaks than you can shake a stick at, San Jose won the battle for a new company, but the war continues with Austin Texas in the race as well thanks to the University of Texas Clean Technology Incubator. Here’s a short story about Austin’s facility. I’m hoping the Kent story is next.
Austin Technology Incubator Graduates 20 Companies
(12-08-2006 | 00:00:00)
IC² programs help grow Austin economy by transitioning young ventures to high-growth businesses
December 8, 2006 Austin, TX The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) a business accelerator for technology startup companies and a program of the IC² Institute of The University of Texas at Austin, today announced the graduation of 20 member companies who have successfully transitioned from early stage ventures to high-growth businesses. Ten of the graduates are Mexican companies who participated in the Technology Business Accelerator (TechBA) program, sponsored by the Mexican Minister of the Economy and supported by the IC² Institute. ATI and TechBA-Austin utilize expert advisory boards, local and global resources and dedicated industry experts to refine strategies and raise capital to speed growth and create jobs and wealth.
The Dean of the College of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, Ben Streetman, will be the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony. ATI will also be presenting The Laura J. Kilcrease Distinguished Community Business Leadership Award, to Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has been a champion of technology entrepreneurship in the state of Texas through initiatives including the $200M Emerging Technology Fund (ETF). ATI membership qualifies companies for potential ETF funding; so far, two ATI companies (Monebo Technologies and Molecular Imprints) have received ETF grants.
Since its founding in 1989, more than 150 companies have graduated from ATI. Those companies have raised over $720 million in investor capital and created over 10,000 jobs for Central Texas. ATI is a foremost authority in entrepreneurial wealth creation and its programs and resources are tailored to accelerate growth in business sectors such as wireless and clean energy, making Austin more attractive for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Graduating company successes include:
LabNow, a 2006 graduate company that builds medical diagnostic devices, who is deploying their technology in Africa to help monitor and improve treatment of HIV/AIDS patients and was recently featured in BusinessWeek.
BuildForge, a company that provides software solutions for software development organizations, was recently acquired by IBM.
Bigfoot Networks, a company started by a team of MBA executives and dedicated to making online gaming faster, launched Killer NIC, the worlds first network card designed for online video gaming.
I joined ATI earlier this year because I truly believe it is the best place to witness and aid in entrepreneurial growth in the country and potentially the world, said Isaac Barchas, executive director of ATI. This graduating class is among the most successful ever and I am proud to see them move on to even greater things after achieving success in the forms of profitability, job creation and wealth creation. These companies play in some of the highest growth industries in technology, from wireless to clean energy to new media, and ATI is proud to have played a part in their early success.
As a current ATI member and a University of Texas graduate, Id like to congratulate my colleagues on their success and graduation from the business accelerator, said Indy Gill, CEO of UnWired Buyer, an ATI Wireless member company. ATI provides a recipe for success for entrepreneurs and young businesses in Austin and is respected nation-wide as a leader in entrepreneurial wealth development. Through its ties to the University and to local and global leaders in target technology segments, our company and our colleagues have access to technical, financial and business resources that have enabled us to gain traction quickly with customers, partners and VCs.
In combination with its business accelerator, ATI also provides opportunities to the University of Texas community by acting as a laboratory in applied entrepreneurship for UT students and faculty. For example LabNow, the 2006 graduating company that builds medical diagnostic equipment, used technology developed by UT faculty as the basis of their competitive advantage. In addition, ATI has nurtured dozens of new ventures created by UTs McCombs School of Business MBAs. Winners of UTs Moot Corp competition earn a years office space and overhead costs at ATI, a head start that has led to funding for Austin-based companies such as Bigfoot Networks and Phurnace Software.
The TechBA Program is operated by the U.S.-Mexico Foundation for Science (FUMEC) and partners with U.S. organizations in order to gain access to the entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems of key technological regions, such as Austin. TechBA-Austin, operating at ATI, helps to strengthen business mechanisms and interactions between U.S. and Mexican organizations and individuals. As a result of its operation at ATI, the 16 member companies of TechBA-Austin, in fields such as software, telecommunications, and biotechnology, can establish new business and collaboration opportunities with venture capitalists and large technology corporations to positively impact the Austin economy.
The 2006 graduates of ATIs programs and the TechBA initiative include:
ATI
BigFoot Networks was started by a team of MBA students from The University of Texas and is dedicated to making online gaming faster, smoother, and more fun. In August Bigfoot Networks launched the Killer NIC, the worlds first network card designed for online video gaming.
BuildForge (acquired by IBM in 2006) provides software build process management and automation solutions for software development organizations. BuildForge allows companies to minimize lost delivery time due to inefficient and incorrect software build processes.
Connectone is a full service mobile solutions provider for mid-size and large organizations. They help businesses deploy the right solution, reduce their wireless costs and save wireless management time.
Coupon Logix, offers software and services that enable manufacturers and grocery retailers to efficiently execute, settle and analyze in-store coupon-based promotions. Stratapult, Inc., a leading provider of Web-enabled business solutions and subsidiary of one of the largest coupon processing companies, acquired the rights to the PromoSite system, Coupon Logixs flagship product.
FactoryDNA is an on-demand software provider for Lean Manufacturing Execution and Performance Management. FactoryDNA On-Demand is currently being used by major manufacturers across 4 countries, and is widely praised as the best practices platform for lean operations.
Inventes is a leading provider in business change management and IT governance solutions. Inventes Institute, the educational and information services division, provides custom solutions for corporate-wide awareness and skills management in IT Service Management and Governance.
LabNow is a point-of-care diagnostics company providing seeking to improve global health and safety through the deployment of simple, rapid, point of need laboratory testing. Their technology has broad uses in medical, homeland security, environmental chemistry, and process engineering applications. They are launching their CD4 Biochip point of care analyzer in Africa to help monitor the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients.
Solid State Displays is developing a new, patent-pending, low-cost, high-performance flat panel display technology. This technology can be used to make displays of virtually any size -from small watch faces to large theatre displays.
SozoTek is a digital imaging company developing automatic image quality enhancement technologies and test and measurement systems for phone cameras. The products include CLARIO for network-based enhancement; CRYSTAL-NR for noise reduction in an embedded system; and INSIGHT Digital Image Quality Test System for phone cameras and modules.
ThreatGuard builds vulnerability and compliance management products that enable users to assess and correct the computer security of the entire enterprise. They have the first and only automated FISMA compliant product for the federal government.
TechBA
Appteck is a software Oracle products/ technology and applications provider with powerful vertical applications for the small and medium size enterprise in areas like retail, airports and real state development. Their products help growing companies.
Contel provides business processes and software outsourcing. Contel builds an IT and communications infrastructure in Mexico. Contel has successfully relocated to Mexico several business processes resulting in higher quality, improved performance and lower costs for their customers.
Dalai is a newspaper/periodical content management software company. They recently secured business with major US customers including The Tribune Publishing Company, Inc. Using the TechBA offices as an effective international platform, Dalai secured agreements with leading clients in Venezuela, Ecuador and Argentina, while growing in an annual rate close to 100%.
Degha offers leading visualization solutions for finishes manufacturers and real estate developers to increase sales, reduce time-to-market, enhance customer experience and cut sales costs. DEGHA’s Digital Decorator and Virtual Design Center allow customers to experiment with all possible combinations of finishes in life-like room scenes, using real photographs and/or 3D renderings.
Eduspark provides world-class, holistic learning technology and content that increase the academic and social performance of children from pre-K through high school. The learning tools are based on the latest neuropsychological research to develop motor, linguistic, cognitive and leadership abilities, with all the courseware in Spanish and English.
Merkatum is a leading, single-source provider of integrated biometric systems and services that help reduce identity fraud and security threats for government agencies, financial institutions, and healthcare providers worldwide. Merkatums patent-pending EMFIVA multi-biometric identity management system fuses fingerprint, facial, and iris matching technologies with a fully-integrated, modular, open, scalable, and multi-purpose application environment that has been demonstrated in the worlds largest facial recognition database.
Origo technology is a specialized financial ERP system for multi-site retail operations. Their proven solution is focused on medium size enterprises and is packaged into innovative business models that include software as a service and niche customization for industry associations.
SETI provides comprehensive and secure solutions for check and document handling for the global financial markets. SETIs offering, Checkbolt, is a set of hardware elements, software applications and processes for the automatic check management and safe truncation at any presentation point (RemoteDataCapture), to control the check and document process lifetime, including fraud detection and prevention.
Unima Integral Biosecurity is working to change the way we produce food, using biotechnology to provide natural tools to control food borne diseases. Their primary product, Custovac, is being used by the top three poultry producers in Mexico and is being tested in the US by three of the top five worldwide pharmaceutical companies.
VTec has focused on SAP technology for over ten years and has developed qualified SAP vertical solutions that transform complex and expensive projects into turn-key, out-of-the-box solutions for advanced manufacturing in automotive, pharmaceutical and metal products industries.
About the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI)
The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) is a nonprofit organization that harnesses business, government and academic resources to provide strategic counsel, operational guidance and infrastructure support to its member companies to help them transition from early stage ventures to successful technology businesses.
ATI enables its members to successfully compete in the global marketplace by linking them with ATI‘s worldwide network of industry leaders, experts from academia and professional service providers. ATI has assisted over 150 companies that combined have created more than 10,000 indirect jobs, raised more than $720 million in capital and generated more than $1.5 billion in revenue. Four of these reached the public markets. ATI will continue to attract top talent and generate successful businesses that create jobs and revenue for the city of Austin and the technology community. The ATI is a key program of the IC² Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. For more information please visit http://www.ati.utexas.edu
About TechBA
The TechBA-Austin program, a technology business accelerator operating at the Austin Technology Incubator, is a partnership between the IC Institute and the United States-Mexico Foundation for Science, and is sponsored by the Mexican Ministry of Economy.
TechBA-Austin brings representatives of established Mexican technology businesses to Austin and supports the acceleration of their businesses in Central Texas, the U.S. and international markets. A dedicated team of IC industry experts helps TechBA member companies refine strategies and raise capital to speed growth and create jobs and wealth. For more information please visit http://www.techbasv.com
