ATLANTA – ATM Direct won the $100,000 top prize in the third annual Georgia Business Launch Competition, sponsored by The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG).

More than 70 companies entered this year’s competition which seeks to find the best high-tech start-ups in the state and may be the largest contest of its kind in the country.

“No matter how you measure it, this was the best year yet for the Business Launch competition,” said Mike Cassidy, president and CEO of GRA. “We had some outstanding companies participate with the broadest array of innovative concepts in the history of the competition.”

“Our hats are off to everyone who was in this year’s Business Launch,” said Tino Mantella, president of TAG. “The participation from the Georgia technology community was incredible. The contest continues to generate tremendous excitement and interest from so many technology entrepreneurs.”

In addition to TAG and GRA, the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) continued its key role in the contest by reviewing all of the initial applications to determine the final pool of participants. “The quantity and quality of applicants made it very difficult to select the semifinalists,” said Lance Weatherby, venture catalyst of the ATDC. “ATM Direct had some tremendous competition.”

ATM Direct, — which has to keep its base in Atlanta for three years according to the contest rules — has developed a software-only technology that enables consumers to use a secure, PIN-based solution to utilize debit card payments over the Internet. ATM Direct has the potential to transform the online Internet commerce landscape.

Nandan Sheth, president of ATM Direct, Atlanta. “We believe we have the most compelling alternative online payment solution in the marketplace as we lower merchant fees and have the potential to reduce online fraud.”

In addition to the $100,000 cash award, ATM Direct will also receive nearly $250,000 in services from a wide range of Atlanta companies including Abraxas Business Services; The Advanced Technology Distribution Center (ATDC); Arketi Group, Burr & Forman, LLP; C Level Enterprises; Catalyst Business Partners; DCT Systems; DLA Piper; Executive Strategies, Inc.; Globalspeak; Grant Thornton, LLP; Henriott Marketing Strategies; Leapfrog Services, Inc.; Management Psychology Group; Morris Manning & Martin; Neboweb; Point Clear; Rogoff Financial Services, LLC; Silicon Valley Bank; Smart Career Moves; SPAN; W.B. Marks Partners, LLC.

The other finalists in the competition were:
• Global Crypoto Systems, Alpharetta, enables users to perform e-commerce transactions without exposing personal information or credit card numbers
• ProperNotice, Atlanta, utilizes a proprietary, web based notification/reminder system to save consumers money by eliminating contractual penalties and preserving their ability to make informed business decisions.
• SkyBlox, Atlanta, offers local business owners a way to connect to the customers instantaneously through a secure, managed Wi-Fi network.

The judges for this year’s final round, held in early June at IBM’s facilities in northwest Atlanta, included Adam Coyle, operating partner, Advent Group; Tom Crotty, general partner, Battery Ventures; Cynthia Glassman, Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce; Mark Johnson, former vice chairman, CHECKFREE; Chris Klaus, founder and CEO, Kaneva; Ann Lamont, managing partner, Oak Investment Partners and Fred Sturgis, managing director, H.I.G. Ventures.

During this year’s contest, the organizers introduced “Fast Forward to Launch.” Entrants will be given the opportunity to produce one-minute presentation videos that were posted on Tagonline. Members of the public will be able to access the videos through a link to TAG TV and then vote on the entrant they thought had the best presentation. The two entrants receiving the most votes are automatically named as semi-finalists.

ProperNotice and The GOLD Center, Marietta, were the Fast Forward To Launch winners.

“Fast Forward to Launch brought a whole new level of excitement to the competition,” said Sid Elliott, GRA’s director of business strategy and lead organizer of the Business Launch Competition. “We had over 5,650 cast by the public for some 25 competitors.”

In addition to Elliott, Mantella, Cassidy, and Weatherby, the competition’s stellar board of advisors for 2008 included Chairman Ashish Bahl, CEO, Harbor Payments; Don Addington, managing partner, The Addington Group; Dave Chambless, principal, Abraxas Business Services, Inc.; Aaron deSouza, partner, Grant Thornton; Mike Eckert, entrepreneur in residence, ATDC and VentureLab fellow; Joe Fiveash, senior vice president and general manager, The Weather Channel Interactive; David Gould, operating partner, Technology Operating Partners; Sami Jajeh, principal, Arketi Group; Mark Morel, chairman & CEO, XOSphere; Greg Morrison, vice president & CIO, Cox Enterprises, Inc.; I. Sigmund Mosley, president, Imlay Investments; Guido Sacchi, CIO, CompuCredit and Martin Tilson, managing partner, Burr & Forman, LLP.

Sponsors of the 2008 Georgia Business Launch competition included: Advanced Technology Development Center, Angus McCrae Insurance Brokers, Arketi Group, IBM, SunMicrosystems, and What’s Up Interactive.

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