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Zoom Culture Secures $4.5 Million


At a gala event held on October 24 at Michael Jordan's "23" restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC, Zoom Culture celebrated its latest funding of $4.5 million in Series B and showed off its newest innovations, Z-MAIL and Zoom Talent. Intersouth Partners, Cordova Ventures, the Atlantis Group, Tristate Investment Group, Charlotte Angel Partners, and truePilot contributed to the funding. Zoom Culture, a new media company specializing in digital video production for television and the web, has developed a unique business model based on three revenue streams: membership fees, production services, and television programming distribution. www.zoomculture.com

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MercuryMD Completes Series B Round of $4.5 Million


MercuryMD, a private, Research Triangle-based company that integrates hospital data and delivers patient information to healthcare professionals' handheld devices, announced it has completed its Series B round of financing for $4.5 million. A group of private investors participated in the second round, which exceeded the original target of $4 million. www.mercurymd.com

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RBC Centura Capital Invests $7M in Two Companies


Private equity firm RBC Centura Capital of Charlotte announced investments in Southern Assisted Living, which operates 46 assisted living communities, and Security Services of America, a security guard business. Southern Assisted Living, based in Chapel Hill, N.C., received $2 million in subordinated debt from RBC and Venture Capital Solutions. RBC led the transaction. The company will use the funds to open more facilities and as operating capital. Security Services of America received $5 million in subordinated debt, led by Mellon Ventures, and including RBC and Argosy Capital. The company will use the funds for operational expenses and growth. www.centuracapital.com

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Strategic Technologies and The Allied Group Merge


Strategic Technologies Inc. of Cary, NC and The Allied Group Inc. of Glastonbury, Conn., recently announced the merger of their companies. Both are providers of information technology (IT) professional services and technology solutions. The new company forms one of the largest IT total solutions providers east of the Mississippi that will reach from Maine to Florida. The company will operate under the Strategic Technologies name and will be headquartered in Cary. Michael G. Shook is CEO and chairman of the new Strategic Technologies. www.stratech.com

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LIPSinc and Mindmaker Form Strategic Alliance


LIPSinc and Mindmaker, Inc. unveiled their strategic alliance at the SpeechTek conference on October 25 in New York. The alliance will allow the companies to create artificial intelligence agents that are talking digital characters. Cary-based LIPSinc is a provider of automated facial animation solutions for talking digital characters. With headquarters in Silicon Valley and six worldwide subsidiaries, Mindmaker is a leader in speech and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and solutions. www.lipsinc.com

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Xanthon Announces Second Australian Patent


RTP-based Xanthon Inc. announced that the Australian Patent Office has granted patent number 724,600, entitled, "Electrochemical detection of nucleic acid hybridization." Inventors cited on the patent are H. Holden Thorp and Dean H. Johnston. The patent is owned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is exclusively licensed to Xanthon on a worldwide basis. www.xanthon.com

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CED and the Hurricanes Announce Second Annual Battle of the Tech Titans


The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is partnering with the Carolina Hurricanes for the second annual Battle of the Tech Titans when the Hurricanes play the San Jose Sharks on Friday, November 9. Discount seats are available for CED members. Tickets cost $30 for lower level and $10 for upper level. Members with questions should contact Jennifer Bersch at 919.549.7500 ext. 101 or jbersch@cednc.org.

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UNC Launches Entrepreneurial Law CLE Program


The University of North Carolina School of Law is sponsoring "The Art of Advising A High Technology Company," the inaugural program of the School's Council for Entrepreneurial Law. This continuing legal education program will focus on a broad spectrum of issues for technology driven companies and their lawyers. The program includes Kenan-Flagler adjunct faculty members, Merrill Mason and Mitch Mumma, among others. It will be held on Friday, November 16, and participation is worth six hours of CLE Credit.

For more information including a downloadable brochure, visit the program's Web site at http://www.law.unc.edu/cle/calendar/011116.html.

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Events Update




October 30th and 31st — CED's Research Triangle InfoTech 2001

October 31st — Capital Connection Application Deadline

November 8th — Healthcare Entrepreneurs Technology Roundtable: Selecting the Right CRO

November 8th — CED Information Session for Prospective Members

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