Press Releases
April 20, 1999 |
Contact: Bill
Spruill |
Early Stage Presenters Selected for CED's Venture '99
Representatives from expanding industries seek funding at Southeast's Premier Venture Capital ConferenceResearch Triangle Park - Thirteen early stage companies seeking start-up funding have been chosen to present at the 16th Annual Venture '99, the Southeast's premier venture capital conference to be held April 28-29, 1999 at the Friday Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Early stage presenters were carefully selected by a panel of members of the local entrepreneurial community and were chosen to reflect the diversity of North Carolina's entrepreneurial sector. These companies are exciting newcomers from a wide variety of industries including information technology, biotechnology, software, manufacturing, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
The early stage companies will present their companies to an audience of venture capitalists on Wednesday, April 28th at the Carolina Club and will then exhibit during the regular sessions on Thursday, April 29th at the Friday Center.
This year's Venture '99 early stage presenters are:
- 3TEX, Inc.
- Bloodhound Software, Inc.
- Bonita Software
- DataFlux
- dbTag, Inc.
- Empower Corporation
- Epiteleo
- Global Recruiting Solutions
- Industrial Microwave Systems, Inc.
- iRenaissance
- Mantha Software, Inc.
- Mediappraise Corporation
- Shadow Solutions
In addition to the 13 early stage companies, the conference will feature presentations by 20 additional emerging companies from across the state. These companies demonstrate the recent increase in growth of the entrepreneurial community of North Carolina. More than two-thirds of the 33 companies were founded within the last two years, showing the increase in the number of new start-ups. Another indicator is the total amount of funding sought - 31 of the presenters are seeking $119 million. In 1996, total venture capital investment raised for the entire Triangle area over the whole year was less than $119 million.
The scope of this year's conference itself also demonstrates the explosion of the venture capital interest in this area. More than 200 investors have already registered for this year's conference, an increase of almost 50 percent over last year's investor attendance, including investors from across the U.S., Asia and South Africa.
The conference will also include exhibits by the 20 presenting companies and 24 sponsoring companies including venture capital and service firms. The keynote speaker for the conference is Red Hat CEO and co-founder Bob Young.
Conference attendees will also have many informal networking opportunities, including a cocktail reception on April 28, small group dinners and an investor-only golf tournament.
Venture '99 is open to the public, with cost ranging from $150 to $445, and is presented by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, with support from the North Carolina Venture Capital Association, Kenan-Flagler Business School, the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the North Carolina Technological Development Authority.
More detailed information on these early stage presenters and the conference is available on the CED web site at http://www.cednc.org/venture/99/presenters.html, and early stage company descriptions are attached.
About CED
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, located at the CED Entrepreneurship Center in Research Triangle Park, NC, was formed in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high-impact companies in the greater Research Triangle region. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs. CED sponsors annual conferences, seminars, workshops and monthly programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. CED also offers the FastTrac entrepreneurial training program, youth programs and other outreach programs.
CED is a private, non-profit organization and is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 3,000 members representing 1000 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms.