ATLANTA – A new technology accelerator is launching in Atlanta focused on “capital-light web services,” according to its Web site.
Shotput Ventures, founded by half a dozen veteran Atlanta technology entrepreneurs, plans to invest $5,000 per team and $5,000 per founder as part of a coordinated program that will have eight companies in the summer of 2009 in Atlanta.
Founders of Shotput include:
David Cummings, founder of Hannon Hill Corp., who will be CEO and president.
Hannon Hll provides strategic web content management solutions.
Cummings also serves as chairman of the board of the Technology Association of Georgia Content Management Society.
Sanjay Parekh is the founder and organizer of Startup Riot and Startup Dinner and also serves on the board of directors or advisers of a number of startups.
Previously Sanjay was a founder of Digital Envoy where he was the CEO and later the Chief Strategy Officer. Sanjay is the inventor of Digital Envoy’s patented NetAcuity IP intelligence technology. Digital Envoy was acquired by Landmark Communications in June 2007.
Allen Graber has been instrumental in starting, growing, investing in and profitably exiting Internet and software companies for over a decade.
In 1997, Allen self-funded and co-founded HyperMart, a pioneer in the web hosting industry. Graber was responsible for all operational, financial, and business affairs of this start-up venture. HyperMart was subsequently bought by Go2Net, a publicly traded Internet company in Seattle where he remained in an operating capacity through 1999.
During 2000 and beyond, Allen has focused his efforts on investing in and consulting with early stage technology companies, primarily in Atlanta, GA. Allen was a founding member of the Atlanta Technology Angels and served on the investment committee for their seed fund.
He has invested his personal funds in over 15 Atlanta-based Internet and software companies.
He is director of business development at ShopVisible, profiled this week on TJS (see: http://techjournalsouth.co/news/article.html?item_id=6719).
Suleman Ali was the founder of Esgut which was acquired by Social Gaming Network (SGN) in April 2008.
Wayt King, an attorney, co-founder in 2000 of Atlanta software company N2 Broadband, which was purchased for $120M in 2005. He was an investor/advisor with LastMinuteGolfer (LMTT), which was sold for $20M in 2008.
David Wright achieved notoriety in the online gaming community for creating Rocket Arena, Dave left Stanford in 1998 to help start GameSpy Industries, a leader in online videogame media, technology, and software.
Wright served as chief architect for IGN and lead technology integration with FIM / MySpace after IGN was acquired by NewsCorp in 2005.
In 2007 Wright left IGN and moved to Atlanta, Georgia where Jungle Disk was founded. Jungle Disk was acquired by Rackspace in 2008.
On the Web: www.shotputventures.com
© 2009, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.
