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The TechJournal South staff.
Archive for May, 2010
No TechJournal South today
Monday, May 31st, 2010Report says: economy recovery depends on small biz
Friday, May 28th, 2010
It is difficult to overstate the importance of entrepreneurs to the success of the U.S. economy, says a new report from TD Economics.
“While economists spend a lot of time analyzing near-term trends and developments in aggregate data, economic growth over the longer-term is driven primarily by individuals taking risks and making sacrifices in order to bring innovative ideas to market,” writes TD economist James Marple in “Small and Medium Sized Businesses Key to U.S. Economic Recovery.”
Marple points out that small and medium-sized businesses, typically firms with fewer than 500 employees, make up 99.7 percent of all U.S. companies and more than half of total employment in the country.
He adds, “They are also profoundly important to generating new employment.”
We noted in an earlier post that while large tech firms such as IBM continue to shed jobs, portfolio companies at many venture firms are hiring (see: Job hunting? Venture-backed startups are hiring
The TD report says that businesses formed within the last five years have been responsible for the vast majority of net job growth in the last two decades (a statistic we found amazing).
Looking ahead, the report says, the U.S. economic recovery will depend largely on the performance of U.S. small businesses, which “suffered a disproportionate share of the job losses and many still have difficulty accessing credit form some lenders.”
Fortunately, he adds, things are beginning to look up.
We think this is another indication that government policy on national, state and local levels should pay much more attention to supporting, nurturing, and developing small businesses, entrepreneurs and startups rather than spending so much time and money on chasing large manufacturers and big companies.
North Carolina invested a lot of time, money and energy in recruiting a Dell computer manufacturing plant to the state that is shutting down operations after only a few years.
Would that money have been better spent helping develop and support startup operations that would generate jobs for a decade or more?
We see more and more evidence that making sure small businesses and startups have access to capital and support they need to succeed is far more important than shoring up large industries that are often dinosaurs that face near extinction every time some economic volcano blows its top. – Allan Maurer
Whoop whips up $1.8M of $2.8M round for mobile app platform
Friday, May 28th, 2010
ATLANTA – Whoop Inc., a company helping companies and instituions develop mobile apps, has raised $1.8 million of a targeted $2.8 million round of equity and debt, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
The raise so far is an $1.8 million credit line, CEO Mark Morel told the Chronicle. He also said the company expects revenue of $1 million this year.
The company has raised a total of about $5.5 million.
The company sells a platform for developing, creating, publishing and sharing text and media on mobile devices. Its clients, who include Disney, the Red Cross and VentureForth, can develop mobile apps that work on multiple platforms.
Whoop acquired California-based XOsphere, a mobile tech company, in 2008.
CRIF opens North American HQ in Atlanta
Friday, May 28th, 2010
ATLANTA – CRIF, a global leader in credit services, has opened its North American headquarters office in Atlanta, Georgia, adding yet another link in the city’s growing hub of established and startup financial services firms.
The office – located at 280 Interstate North Parkway Circle, Suite 400 – will serve as the operational hub for the CRIF Lending Solutions family of companies that includes Teres , Magnum, FLS Services, APPRO CRIF and Aimbridge.
Hundreds of the nation’s top financial institutions and lending organizations now rely on loan origination technology, outsourced loan processing services, and analytics solutions offered by CRIF.
It also offers outsourced loan procesing and analytics.
Established in 1988 in Bologna (Italy), CRIF has an international presence, operating over four continents (Europe, America, Africa and Asia). The company supports banks and financial institutions, insurance companies, utilities and general businesses in every phase of client relations.
CED names Noro-Moseley Partner Mike Elliott chair
Friday, May 28th, 2010
Michael Elliott, new board chair at the CED
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – CED, formerly the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, a private, nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurial efforts in the Triangle region of North Carolina, has named Michael Elliott of Atlanta-based Noro-Moseley Partners as board chair.
It also named Eric Linsley of Pappas Ventures as chair-elect, Greg Anglum of Grant Thornton LLP as returning treasurer, Kent Christison of K&L Gates as returning secretary and Stephen Wiehe of SciQuest as past chair. Officer terms last one year.
Other executive committee members include: Vipin Garg of Tranzyme Pharma, Garheng Kong of Intersouth Partners, Helga Leftwich of Hutchison Law Group, Steve Nelson of Wakefield Group, Anastasia Pucci of Carlyle & Conlan, David Spitz of Channel Advisor and Ted Zoller of the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
New members on the board of directors include:
• Kyle Breischaft, Emergency Technologies Inc.
• Lee Buck, Blue Bright Ventures LLC
• Joe Colopy, Bronto Software
• John Crumpler, Hatteras Venture Partners
• Tony Frazier, Cisco Systems
• Jonathan Gindes, Affinergy
• Collin G. Hill, Cherry Bekaert & Holland LLP
• Laura Hoke, PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP
• John Kerr IV, York Properties
• Helga Leftwich, Hutchison Law Group
• David Routh, US Trust/Bank of America
• Chip Royce, Lenovo
• Lori Spivey, Financial Directions Group, Inc
• Wright Steenrod, Chrysalis Ventures
• Rob Tyler, Poyner Spruill LLP
Virginia-based D.A.T.A. flies in $2M in financing
Friday, May 28th, 2010
VIENNA, VA – Duer Advanced Technology and Aerospace Inc. (D.A.T.A.), which provides IT services and Intelligence Analysis support to military and civilian agencies, has received $1.5 million in new funding. The woman-owned business received a Small Business Administration loan and a $500,000 revolving credit line from Access National Bank.
Susan Duer, the CEO and president of D.A.T.A. said, “Additional working capital will allow the company to continue to grow organically as well as to fund our expansion into other vertical markets within the federal ecosystem.”
D.A.T.A., which was incorporated in 1997, is now a self certified woman-owned business as a result of this financing transaction.
It will use the SBA loan to repurchase equity and for further expansion.
FTRANS tallies $4M funding for accounts receivable tech
Friday, May 28th, 2010
ATLANTA – FTRANS, an Atlanta-based company selling accounts receivable and credit management solutions, has secured $4 million in venture funding. Current investors Greenhill SAVP, New Atlantic Ventures and Total Technology Ventures provided the backing.
The funding will support company operations and sales and marketing expansion and growth.
Founded in 2004 by Atlanta entrepreneur John Hayes, the company has now raised a total of about $22 million, including a $3 million round in January 2009.
FTRANS software manages the entire collections and receivables process for its clients.
It says this complete visibility at every step – and improves efficiency along the way, reducing costs and eliminating administrative overhead.
It says its products work best for businesses in manufacturing, wholesale, distribution and services of $1 million and up with total accounts receivable of $100,000 to $2,500,000.
Additionally, FTRANS benefits financial institutions that are interested in diversifying their lending portfolios. By using FTRANS, banks can transform their clients’ accounts receivable into lower risk, highly monitored and lendable collateral and increase business and commercial lending, which can strengthen balance sheets and increase bank profits.
InComm acquires Coinstar’s e-payment biz
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
ATLANTA – Atlanta-based InComm, which markets gift cards and prepaid products, has acquired Coinstar Inc.’s e-payment business for $40 million.
InComm has acquired a comprehensive prepaid product portfolio from Coinstar (Nasdaq:CSTR) including approximately 400 individual prepaid card products from more than 65 unique issuers spanning various prepaid segments, including wireless, long distance telecom, branded retail gift, financial services, and digital entertainment.
“This acquisition will expand our retail opportunities, including broadening distribution in convenience stores and will give more consumers easy access to the flexibility of prepaid products,” said Brooks Smith, CEO of InComm.
Red Hat chair Matt Szulik stepping down
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC – Matthew Szulik, chair and former CEO of open source Linux provider Red Hat, (NYSE:RHT) has submitted a letter of resignation saying he will not stand for re-election when his current term ends Aug. 12. The company disclosed Szulik’s resignation letter in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week.
Szulik, who has sold more than 1 million shares of Red Hat stock in April for a considerable profit, stepped down as CEO of the company in 2007.
In his resignation letter, Szulik said he wants more time and energy available to devote to his family and some of his personal interests outside of Red Hat.
He noted that his decision is “Not the result of any disagreement with or concerns about Red Hat, the board or company management on any matters.”
Heat Biologics warms up with initial funding from Brightline
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
MIAMI – Heat Biologics, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on developing off-the-shelf drugs to combat a wide range of diseases, has closed on an initial funding round in an undisclosed amount led by Brightline Ventures.
The funds will primarily be utilized to expedite ongoing clinical trials of Heat’s therapeutic vaccines to treat Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, a particularly lethal disease that claims approximately 160,000 lives in the U.S. each year.
Heat Biologics is only one of several Southeastern biotech firms we know of that are working to fire up the human immune system to battle cancers. In Durham, Pique Therapeutics, for instance, is working on another approach to this and is also focused on Non Small Cell Lung Cancer initially.
We’ll keep an eye on the regulatory filings to report the amount of the Heat Bio funding.
The company says funds will also be utilized to prepare two new products to enter clinical trials in the first quarter of 2011. Additional details of the investment were not disclosed.
“Heat Biologics is poised to arm oncologists with a powerful new weapon in the fight against cancer,” said Ed Smith, Managing Partner, Brightline Ventures.
“The platform nature of Heat’s technology means it can be applied to a wide range of diseases, creating a broad stream of future drugs. Through a combination of capital, the company’s technology platform and the strategic relationships Brightline and its partners bring to the table, we expect Heat to emerge as a formidable leader in the development of next-generation immunotherapies.”
Heat Biologics was launched in 2008 by Seed-One Ventures to develop novel, off-the-shelf immunotherapy treatments that are more effective, less cumbersome and less expensive than existing immunotherapies under development.
The company’s proprietary technology, the HS-System, is a live cell vaccine that stimulates the immune system and enables it to combat a variety of cancers, viral infections and other diseases.
It is a unique shotgun approach that enables the body to induce and maintain an immune response against multiple tumor antigens, unleashing a powerful multi-prong attack that targets and destroys tumors and other diseases.
Heat’s HS-L1 therapeutic vaccine for NSCLC is currently being tested in a Phase I/II clinical trial involving 36 patients. Results are expected in early 2011. In addition to cancer, the HS-System is currently in advanced primate studies to test its utility in viral applications.
“This investment will enable us to expedite existing clinical trials as well as accelerate development of treatments for ovarian and pancreatic cancers and move them into clinical trials,” said Heat Biologics President Taffy Williams, Ph.D.
