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6th Sense Analytics Closes on $1.5 in Seed Round Financing
Raleigh-based 6th Sense Analytics (www.6thsenseanalytics.com), the developer of a non-obtrusive solution to provide software developers and development teams with a broad range of data concerning the efficiency, productivity and quality of their work, has secured an investment of $1.5 million. Intersouth Partners led the $1.5 million seed round, with independent investor Ching-Ho Fung of Washington, D.C. participating.

The round will be used to complete the first commercial release of software, expand the initial set of customers and develop market awareness. It is the company’s first outside financing. Kip Frey of Intersouth Partners, Ching-Ho Fung and David Babson, co-founder of three Research Triangle-based software companies, will join the 6th Sense’s Board of Directors.

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OncoMethylome Sciences Raises € 15 Million in Series B Financing
Liege, Belgium and RTP-based OncoMethylome Sciences (OMS, www.oncomethylome.com), a leader in the research, design, and validation of molecular gene methylation tests for early cancer detection and personalized treatment decisions, announced the closing of a € 15 million Series B financing round led by Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Paris, France. Other investors also participated in the round. Raphael Wisniewski of Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners will join OMS' Board of Directors.

The new proceeds will be used to accelerate the development of OncoMethylome Sciences´ diagnostic and pharmacogenomic solutions for early detection and individualized treatment of cancer. This latest Series B financing round brings the total capital raised to date by OncoMethylome Sciences to € 29.2 million.

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Motricity Inks Deal with Virgin Mobile USA
Motricity, the Durham-based mobile content enablement and solutions provider, has announced that its mobile communities offering will power the Virgin Mobile USA Players Club, a new mobile gaming community that offers access to gaming capabilities and subscription management. Virgin Mobile USA, which has more than three million subscribers, launched the Players Club at the end of August.

Through Motricity's mobile communities offering, Players Club members will have access to inter-carrier mobile community functionality and services such as player profile management, end-user generated game ratings and reviews, game referrals, leaderboards and buddy lists. Virgin Mobile USA is also leveraging Motricity for enabling subscription billing for downloadable content.

Motricity is a CED member.

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Mercury MD’s Software to Support New Hhospital Surveillance System
Software developed by Durham-based MercuryMD will provide the core platform for a new hospital surveillance system unveiled by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The system, which is designed to detect the outbreak of an infectious disease epidemic or a bioterrorism attack, is the first of its kind in the country. More than 100 hospitals across the state will participate, accounting for more than 65 percent of all emergency room visits in the state.

Through the network, called the North Carolina Hospital Emergency Surveillance System, data is electronically sent in real time to the Division of Public Health, where experts will be able to instantly identify a problem. Currently, such information is sent via paper, and it can take weeks, if not months, to compile and analyze the data. The system employs MercuryMD's MData CareFocus and MData Desktop software, as well as a monitoring Web portal. It has already helped identify and track a case of hepatitis A that had, until the software went online, not been detected.

MercuryMD is a CED member.

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Open Biosystems Acquires Exclusive License to Tranzyme Pharma's Proprietary Trans-Lentiviral Vector Technology
Huntsville, Al.-based Open Biosystems, Inc.(www.openbiosystems.com), a company focused on the commercialization of life science research tools for drug discovery, has obtained an exclusive license to patented human-based trans-lentiviral gene expression technology owned by RTP-based Tranzyme Pharma (www.tranzyme.com). In addition, the company will assume Tranzyme's operations located in Birmingham, Alabama. In return, Tranzyme will receive minimum annual payments and royalties on sales of products and services resulting from the application of Tranzyme's technology.

Human-based lentiviral vectors provide researchers and scientists with superior flexibility and capabilities for high-quality gene delivery and target validation. Previously, researchers have been unable to transduce non-dividing cell types, neurons, macrophages, and other primary tissue types crucial for studying genes as targets against novel therapeutics. The agreement enables Open Biosystems to provide access to proprietary research reagents and services based on lentiviral vectors.

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DonorsChooseNC Wins Grant from Burroughs Wellcome Fund
DonorsChooseNC (www.donorschoose.com), an affiliate of the New York City nonprofit group DonorsChoose that links donors and teachers to supply public school students with everything from school supplies to money for field trips, has received a $25,000 grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

The North Carolina group has raised more than $610,000 which has been used in 1,751 projects. The group plans to use this grant money for programs in North Carolina schools. In addition, the DonorsChooseNC group recently played a key role in DonorsChoose winning a competition sponsored by Amazon.com for a $1 million grant.

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Events Update

7/21 Fast 50 Nominations Deadline
8/1 Tech 2006 Demo Application Deadline