San Antonio’s Torchlight Technologies Provides IT Services and Thought Leadership in the Open Source Movement
August 25, 2009
I guess you’re never too young to start a startup.
Here’s Torchlight Technologies’ Jason Smith who started his business in high school, continued to run it while at UTSA and now getting ready to graduate from college. I guess he’s not going to have to worry about job hunting, since he is the company’s CEO. Aside from being an IT Service provider, Jason is a local though leader in the open source movement in town.
Here’s what Jason had to say…
SATAI Announces $8.65 Million in ETF Investment in Five San Antonio Area Companies
July 16, 2009
We seem to be on a bit of a funding role around here in these parts…..
SATAI and the South Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (STRCIC) announced investments totaling $8.65 million in five area companies through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF).
Texas State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, City of San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff, City of San Antonio City Manager Sheryl Sculley, and other San Antonio City representatives participated in a press conference and ceremonial disbursements yesterday at the Plaza Club in San Antonio.
“Texas is the best state in the nation to live, work and do business, and the ETF is helping supercharge our technology environment by bringing Texans’ good ideas and hard work to the marketplace,” Gov. Perry said. “These five investments demonstrate the broad range of our state’s diverse industries, and will help develop, market and commercialize these innovative technologies.”
“Nurturing innovation and creating businesses locally is a critical component of our economic development strategy. SATAI’s focus on technology commercialization and funding is a big driver of this growth. The ETF’s investment in these companies located in Bexar County is evidence of the steep technology economic development trajectory we are on,” Judge Wolff said. “Bexar County stands out in the nation as an attractive area for businesses to startup, expand or relocate.”
“You may remember that the first successful sale of an ETF funded company in the state occurred right here in San Antonio. Today the money generated by that liquidity event is being reinvested again, right here in San Antonio,” said Jim Poage, President and CEO of the SATAI and the STRCIC. “The latest investments by the ETF demonstrate Bexar County and the larger South Texas region have a burgeoning startup community that outside investors take note of. This is particularly true of the Life Sciences and Hi Tech sectors which are seeing the largest growth.”
Since 2006, the ETF has invested more than $28 million in companies and institutions in San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas. “The current pipeline of new companies looking for funding in the area is robust and extremely exciting,” said Poage. “We are always looking for good technology companies that we can help.”
The ETF award recipients are:
AdviTech, Inc.: $2.5 million investment to commercialize products for spatial disorientation
AdviTech is a leader in providing physiological-centric solutions to the impairments of Spatial Disorientation, Vertigo and Motion Sickness, commonly experienced in the environments of aviation, vehicular travel, and recreation. The investment will allow AdviTech to start commercialization of a unique Vertigo and Motion Sickness solving technology.
American Stem Cell, Inc. (ASC): $2.5 million investment to commercialize a treatment to improve the success of cord blood stem cell transplants
ASC is a biopharmaceutical company developing an enzyme treatment for cord blood stem cells to enhance their homing and engraftment to target diseased organs, accelerate cell and organ regeneration and improve survival and quality of life outcomes for patients. This investment will enable Phase I/II clinical trials.
Bio2Medical: $1 million investment to commercialize a novel vena cava filter catheter (CVFC)
Bio2Medical is a medical device development company. Funding will allow the company to develop the ”Angel” VCFC to help critically ill patients at risk of developing pulmonary embolism.
Enthuze: $1.65 million investment to commercialize a social operating system for datamining social networks
Enthuze is a disruptive consumer research company which is developing new research methodologies, tools and a next generation social networking platform.
Pronucleotein: $1 million investment to commercialize a suite of products for rapid onsite food safety testing
Pronucleotein is a biotech company developing synthetic DNA aptamer sequences and conjugates to provide novel solutions to food safety needs. Funding will commercialize fluorescent assays to be used with a portable hand-held detection device for real-time, rapid on-site detection of pathogens, such as E. coli and Salmonella in food and water in as little as 15 minutes after sampling.
Congratulations to our local companies and the leadership at SATAI / STRCIC for their guidance and counsel in helping facilitate the funding and growth of innovation and intellectual capital in San Antonio.
Ya’all Rock!
New San Antonio Venture Fund - Targeted Technology Fund I, LP Announces Its First Investment
July 15, 2009
One of the greatest challenges in building a sustainable technology sector in San Antonio has been the lack of having a local venture capital fund that was actually based here in town. That’s starting to change, even amidst the economic downturn, let alone the decline in VC funding in traditional regions like Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, and Israel.
San Antonio-based Targeted Technology Fund I, LP has just announced that it has closed its first round of funding and has made its first investment in Vidacare. This is a really big deal because Targeted Technology Fund is from here, is investing here, and has its eyes and ears and key team members in Texas, Alabama, Colorado and Georgia.
The investment in Vidacare is compelling. I met founder, Dr. Larry Miller, back in 2001, just when he was getting the company going. Since then, the company has won numerous awards for a simple and ingenious patented power-driver and needle technology to provide a safe and effective method to access the intraosseous space (inside the bone).
Yesterday, Vidacare announced that it had closed a $7.6 million private equity Series D1 financing. The financing will provide capital to launch Vidacare’s hematology/oncology product, the OnControl™ Bone Marrow System, and its OnControl Bone Access System for spinal surgical procedures as well as provide support for ongoing global expansion efforts for its EZ-IO® Vascular Access System. The financing was led by Piper Jaffray, along with Tullis Health Investors, Targeted Technology Fund I which this story is about, and from the existing investor base.
The fund has also managed to attract some great institutions and local leaders who bring a great deal of credibility.
One of the significant investors in the new Fund is the Texas Research & Technology Foundation, which is comprised of multiple organizations whose work involves various stages of the very complicated drug development process. Graham Weston, Chairman of the Board of Rackspace; Bruce Barshop, a founder of Barshop Ventures LLC; and David Spencer, who is president of Texas Intrepid Ventures, a San Antonio-based investment firm, are also included in the pool of individual investors who share the Fund’s vision.
BioMed SA Chair and former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros also openly encourages the Fund’s creation, citing the industry’s strong growth potential. “San Antonio has a track record of developing lifesaving medical devices, such as the Palmaz® Stent, Titanium Rib, and Vidacare’s EZ-I0®,” said Cisneros. “The city’s four pillars of biomedical excellence – clinical care, medical education, biomedical research, and bioscience firms – provide the foundation for continued growth in this sector.”
The fund itself has an impressive management team, comprising of:
- Managing Director Alan Dean - who brings more than 25 years experience in the technology development industry with experience in venture capital and technology transfer, both in the private and non-profit sectors. Dean is the former director of the University of Texas Health Science Center’s Office of Technology Ventures, so he gets how to take IP and turn it into real businesses that create intellectual and capital wealth.
- Managing Director, Dr. Paul Castella, is a real live doc and a business person with an MBA who’s been involved in experienced in the evaluation, financing, licensing, formation and operation of biotechnology and medical technology companies, including CardioSpectra, BiO2 Medical and Aeon Bioscience. Castella is the co-founder and CEO of ViroXis which is developing an anti-viral treatment that recently completed an FDA IND phase IIb study.
- Managing Director Christopher E. Banas is a medical device industry veteran with over thirty years of extensive leadership experience in cardiovascular company start-up, financing and management. Banas has held various engineering and executive management positions at medical device companies such as W.L. Gore, Guidant/ACS and IMPRA/C.R. Bard. Banas holds 33 U.S. patents in the fields of cardiovascular medicine and nanotechnology. Intellectual property portfolios developed by Banas have, in part, resulted in deals valued in excess of $250 million, not including the value of future royalty income. Along with Dr. Julio Palmaz, the inventor of the balloon expandable stent, Banas co-founded and held the position of CEO and President in ABPS, a San Antonio based medical device company which has subsequently licensed all its technology to Cordis, a Johnson and Johnson Company (NYSE: JNJ). Banas, along with Castella, then co-founded CardioSpectra where Banas held the position of Chairman and CEO and Castella held the position of CFO and President. CardioSpectra was awarded funds from Governor Perry’s Emerging Technology
- I’ve personally known Fund Partner, Lukin T. Gilliland, Jr, for almost 20 years. He’s smart, gets business and politics and has vast experience in real estate, health care, ranching and restaurant businesses including 29 Black Eyed Pea restaurants in four states, the landmark Broadway 50-50 Bar & Grill in San Antonio and two Elway’s restaurants in Denver, CO. He’s a native San Antonian, and serves as chairman of the San Antonio Development Board of the Nature Conservancy, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Cibolo Nature Center, the Former Texas Ranger’s Association, the Board of Visitors of the McDonald Observatory and the Board of Directors of the San Antonio Library Foundation.
Congratulations to Vidacare, the amazing fund’s management team– and kudos to the first round of institutional and individual investors who are making a huge contribution in advancing our great city’s medical technology on to the national and international scene.
Salesby5’s Erik Darmstetter, Advises on Having a True Purpose in Your Startup
May 14, 2009
By Erik Darmstetter, Salesby5
When you’re building any company or an organization, having a true purpose is a fundamental driver that will get future employees on board as well as help keep you on a successful path. This purpose is the why you do what you do and not how or what. If it is to make money then you have no real real purpose for keeping people or recruiting people on your team as getting a paycheck is a commodity.
Purpose is the reason to get up in the morning and do what you do every day to help benefit others with your product or service. The importance of have real purpose versus something that sounds good is that customers or employees can tell if your culture or your behaviors do not match what your said purpose is or REAL Vs. FAKE!
Our purpose at Salesby5 is to inspire others. We talk of inspiration often, as it has so much to do with sales. One of the stars on our team is Kya, who is our Brand Evangelist. She has radar that picks out “REAL.”
She has a unique strength to know if someone is sincere (real) or fake in seconds, where most are about 100 times slower. Why does this matter? She can pick off someone trying to get a date, sell copier toner or attempting to get in your wallet faster than my computer can get an Internet connection.
Tomorrow’s success is today’s real. This is why we fire customers who are rude, lie or don’t pay when they say they will pay. This is why we do not take a customer or vendor who we do not feel has the REAL Win-Win attitude versus just WIN. We need to feel good about making them prosper or there are plenty of others.
A few thoughts on being real regarding sales:
- If you have to remember your pitch: Fail
- If you can’t remember the prospects problems and your opportunities: Fail
- If you remember a client’s child’s name because you care: REAL!
- If you remember they love Papouli’s Greek Grill’s Mediterranean Salad for lunch on Thursdays: REAL!
The point: Get real or get a new purpose. Today is about transparency and about being real. Fake billboards or sales pitches that leave me wondering don’t work anymore. Do you need some REAL in your life?
Frost & Sullivan to Join SATAI Advisory Committee
May 7, 2009
Being based in San Antonio, and having Frost & Sullivan in town should be a big help to SATAI (the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative) now that they are joining its committee of technologists, investors, entrepreneurs and professional organizations that provide a 360 degree review of business plans for technology-based companies seeking funding and guidance.
You take the collective brain power of Frost & Sullivan, marry it with some very smart and pre-qualified entrepreneurs in the making, and you have the potential to help accelerate the chances of getting it right with your vision by getting a reality check with one of the best market research firms in the world.
SATAI fosters economic development in South Texas by fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. Once per quarter, SATAI presents an opportunity for start-up companies to present their business plans, products, and models to a group of experts who decide if the company should proceed to the next level of funding and development or continue in consultation with SATAI or their network of experts to re-tool the plan and make it more attractive to investors in successive funding opportunities.
My take is that SATAI has really evolved into serving as the South Texas portal of the $200 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund and also manages the South Texas Angel Network to provide channels to additional funding.
As a partner with SATAI, Frost & Sullivan will help assess the viability of companies’ business plans and offer guidance for entrepreneurs. Frost & Sullivan’s consultants will have the opportunity to review entrepreneurs’ business plans, confirm that the company is ready to proceed to another funding level, and/or suggest the changes necessary to transform into growing businesses.
PodCamp San Antonio 3.0 Happens Saturday, May 16. Register Today!
May 3, 2009
PodCamp is a great way to not just learn about Podcasting. It’s a way to surround yourself with the best and brightest in our community who are breaking ground and disrupting traditional media.
Highly recommended. And thank you Jennifer and Luis for making this happen!
| Time: May 16, 2009 all day Location: El Tropicano Hotel Organized By: Jennifer Navarrete & the San Antonio Podcasters Event Description:
Sign up to attend the Premier Camp event in San Antonio. This is the event that kicked off all of the Camp phenomenon in the Alamo City Podcamp San Antonio is being held May 16, 2009 at the El Tropicano Hotel on the Riverwalk. It’s an UnConference, meaning that its a conference organized in an ad-hoc manner for everyone to attend and participate. Attendees create the sessions which are held in an open and conversational manner. If you’ve never been to a Camp before, get prepared to for one of the best learning experiences of your lives! There are no keynote speakers or rigidly defined schedules. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join. That means YOU! Want to learn more about podcasting, blogging, online video and social networking? Then Podcamp San Antonio is the place to be! We are planning for a crowd of the most plugged-in, most active bloggers, podcasters, video and new social media folks from all around Texas. Register now for this free “Learn, Share, Grow” event: Feel free to check out the blog to get the latest updates: In addition to all of the connections you’ll make and knowledge you’ll gain, you will also receive a t-shirt and badge. Wear these with pride to show the world you were at PodCamp San Antonio 3.0! Feel free to share this with your friends, co-workers and family. |
Espimedia Continues to Break New Ground in News Reporting and Broadcast Media
April 26, 2009
San Antonio’s Patricio Espinoza is a traditional broadcast news journalist that is breaking ground in developing innovative and original programming and production. Of late, he’s been spearheading coverage of the San Antonio’s Mayoral race with his SA4Mayor.com site. He was able to bring together the leading candidates and held a town hall meeting that was well received and well participated. Aside from his role at Espimedia, Patricio works with leading networks acting as their local freelance reporter / producer for breaking news, including this one on a local family being affected by Swine Flu.
If You Have An Interest in Online Video, Be Sure To Register for VMX- Video Marketing Expo
April 20, 2009
|
|||||||
The Perfect Dwelling and Workspace for your Startup: Urban High Rise Living Now A Reality in San Antonio
April 11, 2009
About every six months, Ed Cross and I sit down for breakfast at the Olmos Pharmacy to compare notes on business, economic trends and the changing landscape here in San Antonio. For the last 2 years, I have been keeping tabs on his dream of creating a very unique and very cool urban high rise known as The Vistana.
When you stand right in front of the building, you’d think you are in mid-town Manhattan or a very cool building in San Francisco or Portland. Ed made sure that having a cool place to live (and possibly work) had the right amenities and architectural characteristics that made The Vistana the premier downtown address for urban rental living.
The Vistana offers studios, one and two bedrooms, one and two bedroom loft-style penthouses and an amazing 3,500 square foot, three bedroom / 2 level Tower Suite that goes for $7,000 per month. Part of attracting young, smart people to San Antonio is having places like The Vistana available to not only rent, but are wired for living and working. Ed decided to go with AT&T’s U-verse IPTV service which makes his building the first residential, multi-dwelling unit that is based on AT&T’s all IP platform.
Here’s my interview with Ed and his tour…
The Vistana / San Antonio’s First Urban High Rise Apartment from Alan Weinkrantz on Vimeo.
San Antonio Startups (and Startups to be) here’s $20K in cash; $20K in free stuff and 20 mentors for your startup (not a misprint)
March 27, 2009
Hey San Antonio: Got a compelling idea for a startup, but are held back by some basic seed money?
Here’s the deal: Marc Nathan, just told me about something way cool. Marc, who is the Director of Development at the Houston Technology Center and an investor in the Capital Factory, just told me about a new seed capital and mentorship program in Austin. (You don’t have to live or work in Austin to take part).
They’re choosing 3 startups to spend 10 weeks in Austin to build their company. They receive $20k in cash, $20k in free stuff, and 20 successful mentors as investors. The 10 weeks end in August with a Demo Day to potential investors. It’s the mentor’s job to ensure they head in the right direction, and introduce them to potential customers and investors.
This is an unbeatable opportunity for a technology-based entrepreneur to get an accelerated start, especially in tough times. There is an April 3 deadline so hop on the stick.
Contact: Marc Nathan mhn@bulldogfinancial.com and tell him Alan from San Antonio Startups.com sent you!