Archive for February, 2011
Monday, February 28th, 2011
 RALEIGH, NC – The Institute for Local Self-Reliance says a proposed North Carolina law would stifle innovation and hurt job creation by halting new community broadband efforts and restricting those already in operation.
It says, “While the rest of the world is working to become more innovative and competitive, the North Carolina General Assembly is considering a bill that will stifle innovation, hurt job creation and slow economic development. The Bill, H129/S87 will effectively prevent any community from building a broadband network and impose onerous restrictions on existing networks, including Wilson’s Greenlight and Salisbury’s Fibrant.
“Greenlight and Fibrant are the most technologically advanced citywide networks in the state, comparative to the best available in the U.S. and international peers, according to a study released by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) in November, 2010.”
It adds, “This bill will protect the aging networks of incumbent cable companies—furthering their effective monopolies—that have refused to invest in newer, faster technologies.”
“This bill is a job and competitiveness killer. I don’t know why North Carolina wants to protect old technology, but if they want to get on the information super highway in a horse and buggy—the world is going to pass them by,” said Christopher Mitchell, Director of ILSR’s Telecommunications as Commons Initiative.
The bill says it is an act to “protect jobs,” a claim that puzzles Mitchell. “Community owned networks create jobs both directly and indirectly – and there is zero evidence they have resulted in the elimination of any jobs.”
Most communities in North Carolina have access only to cable and DSL broadband, which offers slower speeds and less reliability than that of the more modern fiber-to-the-home technology used by Greenligh and Fibrant. AT&T’s next generation network, called U-Verse, has some fiber-optics but remains limited by its reliance on copper for the connection to houses.
Time Warner Cable has been slow in updating its cable networks to the most recent technology, though even that is not competitive with fiber-optic networks.
Mitchell believes that communities represent the only opportunity for broadband competition in the current regulatory environment. “Private cable companies refuse to overbuild each other, phone companies struggle to compete with cable speeds, and wireless lags greatly behind wired networks in offering broadband. This is why communities are building fiber-optic networks and why companies like TWC fight so hard to outlaw them.”
We have been reporting on North Carolina’s attempts to limit community broadband for more than a year. See:
www.techjournalsouth.com/2010/11/new-analysis-shows-community-owned-broadband-is-cheaper-and-faster/
www.techjournalsouth.com/2010/08/fastest-and-cheapest-us-broadband-systems-are-city-run-in-the-south/
Tags: Chris Mitchell, Community Broadband, Fibrant, Greenlight, Institute for Local Self-reliance, NC, NCbill H129/S87, Raleigh, Salisbury, telecom, Wilson
Posted in Economic Development, Internet/New Media, North Carolina, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Monday, February 28th, 2011
 WEST PALM BEACH, FL – ScriptRX Inc., a company selling software for touchscreen devices used in medical facilities, has raised $1 million of a $2 million offering, according to a regulatory filing.
Founded in 1999, the company sells ScriptRx Discharge, a system to expedite the patient discharge process, and ScriptRx Writer, which is designed to eliminate prescription pads and issues associated with handwritten prescriptions, and ScriptRx EMR, for rapid nursing and physician documentation of clinical encounters in Urgent Care Centers, Walk-In Clinics, and smaller EDs.
We’ve all seen those doctor scrawls on prescriptions that have been the butt of jokes for generations. But misreading those prescriptions can also cause real problems and the company’s software is designed to eliminate them.
The company disclosed the financing in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tags: fianancing, FL, IT, ScriptRX, touchscreen software, West Palm Beach
Posted in Florida, Healthcare, IT | Comments Off
Monday, February 28th, 2011
 CHICAGO – Social deals site Groupon has raised an additional $16.12 million, according to a regulatory filing, bringing its total equity raised since 2007 to more than $1.1 billion. One of the hottest companies on the venture scene, Groupon is currently the clear leader in in the white hot social deals space.
DC-based Ted Leonsis, vice chairman emeritus of AOL, and Peter Barris of of the Timonium, MD. office of New Enterprise Associates (NEA), are named as principals in the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing the latest financing. NEA was an early investor in the firm.
Founded in late 2008, Groupon features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in more than 300 markets and 35 countries.
It has a slew of smaller competitors, one of the largest being DC-based Social Living, which is also expanding rapidly with venture funding exceeding $135 million.
Groupon reportedly turned down a $6 billion buyout offer from Google Inc., which then announced a competing service of its own. In Janurary 2011 it received $950 million in new backing from ten investors.
We hear from investors lately that the social deals space – unless you’re Groupon or Social Living – is overcrowded. Some analysts are still astounded that Groupon turned down the Google deal, although it certainly has had no difficulty raising growth cash from venture backers, which is also true of Social Living.
We’ve only tried one of these deals (the Amazon $20 coupon for $10 that gave Living Social a huge traffic boost but also caused some processing and Facebook feedback problems). The deals offered by both do seem to hit a lot of the same sorts of businesses, spas, restaurants, golf, resorts.
The companies put people on the ground to set up these deals in major markets, which is one reason they need such large amounts of money to expand. — Allan Maurer
Email Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: AOL, financing, Groupon, Living Social, NEA, Peter Barris, Ted Leonsis
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Money | Comments Off
Monday, February 28th, 2011
 ATLANTA - Cbeyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY), a leading provider of IT and communications services to small businesses, has amended its credit facility with Bank of America. The amended credit facility increases the amount available to borrow to $75 million from $40 million, extends the maturity by approximately three years to February 2016 and generally reduces borrowing rates.
The credit facility is available to finance working capital, capital expenditures, and for other general corporate purposes. No amounts have been drawn under the facility to date, and Cbeyond has no current plans to borrow under the facility.
The company sells more than 30 productivity-enhancing applications including local and long-distance voice, broadband Internet, mobile, BlackBerry(R), voicemail, email, web hosting, fax-to-email, data backup, file-sharing, virtual private networking and cloud services.
Tags: Cbeyond, credit facility increased, small business IT services
Posted in Georgia, IT, Money | Comments Off
Monday, February 28th, 2011
 ATLANTA – Digital Assent, which has developed a digital patient check-in service for hospitals, has raised $500,000 in equity from three investors, according to a regulatory filing.
Founded two years ago by CEO Andrew Ibbotson and Chief Technology Officer Timothy Collins, the company licensed technology from their previous firm, Synthis Corp.
The filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing the financing names them and Sig Mosley of Imlay Investments as principals.
Mosley is a participant in the fifth annual Southeast Venture Conference March 2-3 this week at the Buckhead Ritz Carlton in Atlanta.
Digital Assent says it was founded with the simple goal of making the “patient clipboard” a thing of the past. It says its PatientPad simplifies the gathering of patient information by automating the patient intake process. Patients can register online in advance of their visit or use a portable touch screen tablet to check in with their healthcare provider at the point of care, verify insurance eligibility, and sign any required consent forms. The result – better quality information, less hassle, and lower costs.
Tags: Atlanta, Digital Assent, digital patient check-in, financing, Sig Mosley, Southeast Venture Conference
Posted in Georgia, Healthcare, IT, Money | Comments Off
Monday, February 28th, 2011
By Joe Procopio
 Joe Procopio Eric Boggs needs money, people, and maybe small arms.
He’ll be making the trip to Atlanta with hundreds of other entrepreneurs, investors, advisors, and, well, me, for this year’s Southeast Venture Conference (hosted by TechMedia, the fine folks behind this very digital publication) on March 2nd and 3rd.
But for Eric and the company he co-founded, social media marketing software company Argyle Social as well as more than a handful of local early-stagers, this is more than just handshaking and a demo.
It’s a revolution.
Viva Argyle!
A little history. Argyle Social was formed roughly 15 months ago when Eric and Adam Covati decided they had found their product. The two had always planned on starting a company, so much so that when Eric graduated from Kenan-Flagler in 2009 (a return trip after several years as the first employee at Bronto), he didn’t bother looking for a job. He knew starting a company was in his blood, it was just a matter of what to make.
Ten months later, at (yet another ridiculously valuable startup event from TechMedia) Internet Summit, Argyle won Best in Show. Go figure that a social media marketing company took home the voter prize – Eric cringes at the thought of what losing would have said about the company. The prize included a March-Madness-like automatic bid to present to investors at this year’s SEVC.
Diaper Dandies?
Not that they needed the automatic invite, however, as Argyle is one of several promising early stage startups in the RTP. They raised their seed round earlier this year with investors like Idea Fund Partners, who themselves have a pretty decent sense of what’s going to work, along with iContact’s Aaron Houghton, ReverbNation’s Jed Carlson, and Shoeboxed’s Taylor Mingos; dudes who know a thing or two about starting up.
Their board, which includes Idea Fund’s Lister Delgado as well as Stephen Vanderwoude, has been of enormous value to Argyle, and it’s a good bet they’ll be very helpful down in Atlanta as well. Argyle is looking for three to four million in a Series A round, with which they hope to release the rabid wolverines.
Rabid Wolverines?
Yes. Rabid wolverines.
Sorry. This is something of an inside joke. No wait, it’s totally an inside joke, one that came out of Argyle when software engineer Mike Novi stated that’s how they should attack their target segment. So they put “rabid wolverines” in the job posting, to highlight the productivity expectations, and they tweeted it, and that in turn got picked up by Fast Company as one of the reasons why startups have an edge on hiring rock star talent.
Downtown Durham’s Alpha Release
Argyle is one of the first, if not the first, product born of the revitalization of Durham as an entrepreneurial hub.
They’re in downtown Durham in the Snow Building, an art-deco landmark on Main Street. And by “landmark” I mean it has the single most frightening elevator I’ve ever ridden in, including downtown London and the Tower of Terror. Eric and Adam are both products of other local startups. Their investors include the aforementioned successful entrepreneurs, all of whom are still diligently at work locally building their companies.
That’s evidence enough right there, but Eric and Adam have also spoken, presented, or attended most of the startup 2.0-style meetups and events. They’re an NC Idea grant winner. And as mentioned, they pivoted from there to Internet Summit and now SEVC.
They also have seven full-time employees, customers, revenue, and measurable growth, including doubling revenue month over month in 2011 thus far.
How can you not want to find out how this is going to play out?
“We’re Going to Succeed”
Eric is not just of hopeful for Argyle’s success, he’s convinced of it. Whether the next big step comes out of SEVC or not, whether it’s this investor or that, no matter the amount of tweaks to the plan or the strategy, they’re going to make it.
It isn’t a boastful thing, it’s a competitive thing and an aggressive thing. A wolverine thing.
And that ethos isn’t just limited to Eric and Argyle. SEVC will be packed with half-a-dozen companies presenting, and likely dozens of other entrepreneurs or soon-to-be entrepreneurs, who will someday evolve into the companies that solidify the RTP’s hold on the startup map.
I use Argyle as one example, the proof that Downtown Durham, and all the efforts going into the revitalization of the RTP as an entrepreneurial hub, and all these second-wave startups and the ever-increasing number of organizations and people and resources that are becoming available – deep breath – are all working.
So bring on the wolverines. It’s their time.
Joe Procopio heads up product engineering for sports media startup StatSheet. He also retains ownership in consulting firm Intrepid Company and creative network Intrepid Media. In full disclosure, StatSheet and Argyle have what can only be called a “full-blown ping-pong feud” underway. It’s bloody. Joe can be reached via twitter: www.twitter.com/@jproco.
Tags: AaronHoughton, Argyle Social, DC, Eric Boggs, icontact, Jed Carlson, Joe Procopio, NC IDEA, Rabid Wolverines, ReverbNation, Southeast Venture Conference, Stephen Vanderwoude, Taylor Mingos, Washington
Posted in Carolinas, Columns, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Friday, February 25th, 2011
By Allan Maurer
 Glenn McGonnigle Atlanta-based Tech Operators, which invests in early stage tech companies, founded in 2008, came out of the recent recession investing on the upward curve. “We were fortunate,” says General Partner Glenn McGonnigle, “We didn’t have a legacy set of portfolio companies to support, and that benefited us.”
McGonnigle, prior to launching Tech Operators, was most recently chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based VistaScape Security Systems, a provider of enterprise intelligent video surveillance software where he was recruited by the company’s board to raise capital and grow the business.
He subsequently oversaw the successful sale of the company to Siemens Building Technologies. An authority on IT and physical security convergence and a frequent contributor and expert speaker for numerous industry publications and events, he helped shape President Bush’s 2005 National Strategy for Maritime Security.
Previously, Glenn was a co-founder and top executive of Atlanta-based Internet Security Systems (ISS) where he helped raise initial venture capital and launch the business.
Participating in the Southeast Venture Conference March 2-3
McGonnigle is a participant in the upcoming fifth annual Southeast Venture Conference at the Buckhead Ritz Carlton in Atlanta March 2-3.
McGonnigle says he sees some improvement in the early stage funding environment in Atlanta.
“We’re seeing two interesting things happening,” he says. “For Internet enabled businesses—a large part of what we look at—it takes less money to launch a business these days. That’s the good news.
“Second, the movement from launching on a shoestring to the revenue stage can happen very quickly these days. So you have to get involved and watch entrepreneurs early on.”
He notes that he also sees a movement toward more angel investing in Atlanta and the Southeast, with the reconstitution of the Atlanta Angels group an example, as well as a plethora of startup focused events such as the recently held Startup Riot. “Venture Atlanta will be adding an early stage day next year,” he says.
Tech Operators has already seen one of its portfolio companies, California-based Immunet, achieve a successful exit. “So we’re not only putting money to work, we’re getting it back,” he says.
So far, Tech Operators has invested in five firms. “We tend to work with entrepreneurs who value the fact that the Tech Operator partners and I are all former CEOs and can help them grow their businesses. It’s a new approach in the Southeast venture community, where the entrepreneur sees us as a peer, partner and operator, hence the name.”
Size up the business on a global scale
One thing entrepreneurs can learn from VCs, he says, “Is to size up a business on a global scale, not just their own backyard. It’s not enough to be the only company of your kind in Atlanta, you have to think of yourself on global stage. That’s the market.”
Tech Operators looks for deals that leverage the cloud infrastructure and delivery via the Internet in a Software-as-a-Service model that produces recurring revenue. “All five of our portfolio companies are in that area,” he says.
To be interesting to most venture capitalists, a company should be in the top three in its category. “That’s where VCs like to invest and where the majority of the value is. Not every company is going to be in the top three. If you’re in the top 10, you may still have a nice business and you don’t necessarily have to fold up your tent. But if you’re the 10th or 20th social media play in a crowded space and not differentiating yourself, you’re not likely to attract venture funding.”
McGonnigle says he thinks there are opportunities for startups in handling “big data” problems. “It’s now becoming economical to deal with it in the public or private cloud.”
He offers some advice to entrepreneurs attending events such as the Southeast Venture Conference.
“I assume they’re going to meet sources of capital and need to raise money. Do your homework,” he suggests. “Know what you need in terms of capital and find out who is coming and reach out in advance so you can have productive meetings. That’s what investors do.”
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: advice to entrepreneurs, Atlanta Angels, cloud infrastructure, early stage investing, Glenn McGonnigle, investing criteria, SaaS, Southeast Venture Conference, Tech Operators, Venture Atlanta
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Friday, February 25th, 2011
 Panda Security , The Cloud Security company, is providing guidance to small-to-medium sized businesses on ways to safely and securely integrate social media strategies into their businesses.
After conducting its 1st Annual Social Media Risk Index for SMBs last September, Panda Security discovered that 78 percent use social networking sites to support research and competitive intelligence, improve customer service, drive public relations and marketing initiatives and directly generate revenue.
However, corporate social media strategies and security policies usually overlook crisis management plans to face the challenges posed by social media, and authenticity, security and privacy continue to be of utmost concern.
Authenticity
Protecting brand or digital identity should be a priority for all businesses, but in reality, neither the top social media platforms nor companies themselves seem to pay much attention to it.
The fact that anybody can create a fake online profile in the name of a real business means that people can speak on behalf of a company without having anything to do with it. This could lead to the creation of communities of users tricked into believing that a corporate account is authentic. It could also lead to publication of information that could damage the brand and result in public relations disasters.
Only a few social media sites like Twitter allow users to show their account is authentic through a Verified Badge, but most of them do not include that option. It is therefore recommended to proactively register all company trade names on the main social media sites, clearly identifying a business official communication channel if there is no other verification mechanism available.
Security
Companies are affected by the same problems as individual users are who connect to social media sites. The main security concerns businesses should monitor for include:
- Identity theft: Administrators could become infected and have their profile login data and passwords compromised. This could result in anybody taking control of the corporate account to perform actions including scheduling events (on Facebook, for example) with malware links. Similarly, a malicious user that takes over an account could post information from a company’s official profile with disastrous effects.
- Infection risks: Attackers could take advantage of instant messaging applications or the timeline feature in microblogging platforms to send users information with hidden links to malware sites. In the case of large corporations, this could result in targeted attacks designed to infect users’ computers in order to penetrate networks and access confidential information. Similarly, malicious links can be posted on profile walls contributing to the spread of computer malware. Any of these actions could clearly compromise brand integrity.
- Platform vulnerabilities: 2010 saw a number of security exploits in popular social networks like Facebook or Twitter, putting millions of users at risk. As more users join these sites, there will be more researchers looking for security flaws, so users must be aware that the platforms will become more vulnerable as time wears on.
Following good password management practices like changing them regularly and strengthening them through the combination of alphanumeric characters can help protect corporate integrity. Security awareness and education as well as keeping oneself up to date on the latest security threats will help corporate profile administrators to stay alert and detect any irregular activities.
Privacy
The study showed that 77 percent of SMB employees use social networking during working hours and could share confidential information there. This information can potentially be used by malicious users to post information about corporate finances, practices or internal work processes, which becomes a major risk.
Adequate training programs and social media policies will greatly minimize the risk of confidential information leaks. According to Luis Corrons, Technical Director at PandaLabs, “In the past, most social media sites were for personal use, but now we are witnessing a boom of social media strategies in the corporate sector. Web 2.0. has proven to be an extremely efficient way to implement marketing, communication and customer service activities, but companies must understand the risks involved in these channels.”
“Corporate security plans, whether for large or small businesses, must include contingency action plans in the event of public crises caused by any of these online platforms and resulting in reputation damage and financial losses. It is clear that cybercriminals will start shifting their attention to companies using social media as corporations return much more benefits than individual users.”
To access the Social Media Risk for SMBs in its entirety, please click the following link: prensa.pandasecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/1st-Annual-Social-Media-Risk-Index-Slidedeck.pdf.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: FL, guide to social media security for SMBs, identity theft, Orlando, Panda Security, platform vulnerbilities, privacy, social media risk index
Posted in Florida, Internet/New Media, IT, Security, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Friday, February 25th, 2011
 Google says it has overhauled its site ranking algorithm to boost the quality of its query results. The change may weed out poor copy from content farms that nearly all Internet users stumble upon all too often.
Matt Cutts and Amit Singhal wrote on the Google blog that: “In the last day or so we launched a pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking—a change that noticeably impacts 11.8% of our queries—and we wanted to let people know what’s going on. This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful.”
At the same time, they write, the change will improve the ranking for high quality sites that provide in depth reports, original research, and thoughtful analysis.
Google says the change will affect many sites, with some seeing gains and others falling in the rankings.
Initially, the change will affect US sites only, but will be rolled out elsewhere over time. Google noted that while it did not use data from its Chrome browser extension that allows users to block low quality sites, but adds that it nevertheless impacts 84 percent of the most blocked sites.
The popular Tech Crunch web site speculates the move may affect content farms such as Demand Media, Associated Content and Mahalo.
We certainly hope it weeds out copy clearly developed to draw hits rather than provide answers, because searching for information on a variety of topics, we have landed on highly ranked sites that provided semi-illiterate copy obviously designed as search query bait. — Allan Maurer
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: content farms, Google ranking algorithm change, Tech Crunch
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT | Comments Off
Friday, February 25th, 2011
 DULLES, VA – Echo 360, a company that captures college lectures so students can replay them online on demand, has raised $2.97 million in a mixed securities offering, according to a regulatory filing.
The company raised $26.3 million in April 2010, another $2 million later in the year, and $15 million in 2008. It disclosed the latest raise in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company evolved as a subsidiary of Anystream, which sells digital media production and management software to media companies. Anystream acquired Lectopia, which sold lecture capture technology in New Zealand and Australia, in 2007. It blended Anystream’s video and IT expertise with educational lecture capture to create the Echo360 platform.
The result, it says, is a repeatable, on-demand educational experience that is easy for institutions to deploy and support while providing students exceptional playback quality and options in line with their mobile lifestyles.
Students can replay any professor’s lecture on a PC or Mac, hear or watch a podcast, and even follow closed captioning. Not only that, students can go to any part of the lecture via key word search.
The company’s customers in the Southeast include Florida Coastal School of Law; Florida Atlantic University, Barry Kaye College of Business; George Washington University; North Carolina State University; the University of North Carolina at Wilmington; and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Nationally, customers include M.I.T., and Notre Dame, among many others. Internationally, it has schools from London to China.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: DC, Dulles, Echo 360, financing, Internet, NC, online lecture rewind, VA
Posted in Carolinas, Education, Florida, Internet/New Media, IT, Money, North Carolina, Potomac, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
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