Press Release
Contact: Robert Albright |
Phone: 919-549-7500 ext.123 |
Six Companies Selected for CED's Venture 2005
Second Application Deadline Slated for Dec. 31
December 14, 2004, Research Triangle Park, NC – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) today announced its choice of six companies to present at Venture 2005, and encouraged other interested companies to apply by December 31 for consideration in the next selection round. Scheduled for April 26-27, 2005, at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, NC, Venture 2005 will continue a 22-year tradition of showcasing North Carolina's hottest investment opportunities to hundreds of venture capitalists and financiers from throughout the United States.
The six Venture 2005 presenters selected to date include the following companies:
- Adigy Corporation (Durham, NC) is developing new biosensors with digital radio technology to uncable and ambulate physiologic monitoring in the hospital and elsewhere. Adigy captures a broad stream of high-margin, single-use disposables with proprietary wireless sensors at a price point comparable to conventional wired disposables.
- Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (Chapel Hill, NC - www.askbio.com) is developing cellular-based, protein therapies using its proprietary biological nanoparticle (“BNP”) delivery technology to deliver a broad variety of biological material to a cell, including therapeutic genes, monoclonal antibodies, growth factors, vaccines and potential RNAi applications. The company is currently developing gene therapy treatments for Duchene's Muscular Dystrophy and Congestive Heart Failure.
- Biolex (Pittsboro, NC - www.biolex.com) utilizes its transformational LEX System to develop recombinant human therapeutic proteins that, until now, have been impossible or very expensive to develop in existing protein expression systems. Biolex is developing its own pipeline of hard-to-make proteins and monoclonal antibodies, and, in parallel, is establishing partnerships with a number of top-tier pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
- Integrian, Inc. (RTP, NC - www.integrian.com) is a mobile digital video company providing digital video solutions that allow customers to capture, tag, archive, view and search digital video for various security and informational purposes. Markets served by Integrian include the public safety and transit industries.
- Refense Technologies (Raleigh, NC - www.refense.com) is a security software company providing solutions to secure sensitive data and network devices from attacks. The company's flagship product, Network Device Scanner, provides a solution to proactively identify vulnerabilities within wireless and wired network devices.
- StemCo Biomedical Inc. (Durham, NC - www.stemcobiomedical.com) is developing and commercializing proprietary products that improve the identification and selection of more effective adult stem cell populations for use in the treatment of cancer and cardiovascular diseases and for other regenerative medicine applications. The expanded applications of StemCo's platform technology will include autoimmune diseases, anemias, tissue regeneration and cell plasticity.
The Venture 2005 Selection Committee includes professional venture capitalists and angel investors from throughout the Southeast. Ken Lee, general partner with Hatteras BioCapital and chairman of the Venture 2005 Selection Committee, said the committee is seeking high-growth companies from an array of industries that are looking to raise either initial or subsequent rounds of professional equity capital.
“The population of exciting companies in North Carolina continues to grow,“ Lee said. “We have just started our selection process and have already been exposed to many entrepreneurial companies with bold plans and impressive management. We will add many more presenting companies to the conference schedule over the next three months. Venture 2005 is shaping up as a 'don't miss' meeting.”
Because selection is highly competitive, companies are encouraged to submit their presenter applications as early as possible so that they will have the opportunity to receive full consideration during as many of the selection stages as possible. Venture 2005 has three selection stages with two remaining application deadlines: the second deadline of December 31 and the final deadline of January 31. For more information on applying to present, visit http://www.cednc.org/conferences/venture/2005/presenters/.
In addition to company presentations, Venture 2005 will include leading industry speakers, extensive networking opportunities and exclusive investor-only events. The overall conference co-chairs for Venture 2005 are Fred Hutchison of Hutchison & Mason and April Young of Comerica, Technology and Life Sciences Division.
About Venture 2005: CED's 22nd annual Venture conference - Where Great Minds Meet Smart Money - is scheduled for April 26-27 at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, NC. Last year's conference, Venture 2004, drew a crowd of more than 800 investors, service professionals, entrepreneurs and others involved in the entrepreneurial funding process from throughout the United States. www.cednc.org/venture
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, located in Research Triangle Park, NC, is a private, non-profit organization 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 through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and monthly programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. CED, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2004, is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 3,500 members representing 1,000 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. www.cednc.org
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