SparkIP, an intellectual property research and marketplace platform recently released a new version of its product with a host of advanced features as well as subscription packages aimed at both individual and enterprise users. With this release the service is widely available to the scientific and business communities.
New features in today’s release include international patent coverage, bookmarks, exports, alerts, custom portfolios and advanced views. Targeted to corporations, law firms, universities, government labs,
research institutions and individual innovators, SparkIP uses multiple techniques to associate the world’s innovation into a visual landscape consisting of more than 40,000 SparkClusters.
Here is the online demo. Cool stuff.
ATM Direct, founded and funded by Nandan Sheth, the co-founder and COO of Harbor Payments,is the winner of the 2008 GRA/TAG Business Launch Competition. ATM Direct seeks to become the leading alternative payments provider
with a platform technology that enables PIN debit payments on the
Internet.
$100,000 in cash. $200,000 in services. Cha-Ching!
ATM was selected by a group of judges that included Adam Coyle of
Advent Group, Tom Crotty of Battery Ventures, Cynthia Glassman of the
U.S. Department of Commerce ,
Mark Johnson, formerly of CheckFree, Chris Klaus of Kaneva, Ann Lamont
of Oaks Investment Partners, and Fred Sturgis of H.I.G. Why did this
stellar team chose ATM? The company has great management with a unique
solution that is addressing a large and growing market. They present
well. What more do you want?
This was a great year for the competition. Seventy five companies,
the most ever, initially applied. Thirty one mentors helped the
companies refine their businesses and presentations. Forty five
companies completed the second stage of the competition. And ATDC
played a larger role then ever. Leading a kickoff luncheon, evaluating
the initial applicants as well as the full business plans and
recommending the semifinalists.
Most importantly I am proud of the fact that I, (along with my
partners in crime Scott Burkett, Nelson Chu, Alan Graber, Melanie
Leeth, Sig Mosley, and the whole ATDC gang)
helped to move these companies along and make them stronger startups.
How did we do this? With pitch coaching for the semifinalists and
finalists. With one on one coaching with companies that requested it.
By providing feedback to companies when they missed a cut.
How do I know we helped them? Because they told me and GRA the
value they were getting. It took a lot of time and effort to support
this effort from the time it launched in January. It was time well
spent.
Congratulations to Sid Elliot of GRA and Tino Mantella of TAG for
putting together the best competition yet. It is a great program. One
that deserves continued support from GRA and from the community at
large.
Seems like folks in Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute like what they see happening with PeachSeedz.
Recently VentureLab and SBIRGA both started their own blogs. The links take you to their respecitve blogs and you can subscribe if you wish. Good stuff for those interested in early stage tech companies.
Maybe this whole social media thing is more then just a fad.
Lady finds painting in trash. Keeps it for years. Does not know what to do with it. Goes to WorthPoint. Turns out to be the work of Takanori Oguiss. Takes it to Sotheby’s based on WorthPoint’s advice. Appraised for $70k. Sells for $103k.
That my friends is the value of WorthPoint.
Earlier this week we quietly unveiled a redesign of the ATDC web site. The redesign was first announced on twitter, and now here on PeachSeedz. Tomorrow at the Entrepreneurs Showcase it will be formally launched.
We had several goals when redesigning the site:
- Clearly explain our positioning and value proposition;
- Provide more information on our companies;
- Make the site more current and relevant;
- Provide mechanisms for the various groups interested in ATDC to get involved;
- Delineate the services that we offer;
- Integrate PeachSeedz;
- And create a similar look and feel between PeachSeedz and the site.
At a higher level the aim was to make the site the online version of ATDC itself, the hub of entrepreneurial startup activity in Georgia. For the most part I think we succeeded. But you are the ultimate judge. Give it a whirl. Your comments and feedback on how we can improve are most welcome.
Kudos to our graduate assistant Blake Perdue for bringing the site to life.
Clearleap, a new video technology company that recently joined ATDC, has closed its first round of venture capital funding. Industry leaders Trinity Ventures of Menlo Park and Noro-Moseley Partners of Atlanta co-led the $9 million investment.
Fred Wang of Trinity and Alan Taetle of Noro have been named to Clearleap’s board of directors. They are joined by Sig Mosley of Imlay Investments and Jim Chiddix, who both took a minority stake in the company.
Clearleap is developing a platform that brings the breadth and diversity of Internet video to the convenience and quality of TV. Clearleap was co-founded by Braxton Jarratt and John Vecchio, veterans of venture funded N2Broadband, a video pioneer acquired by Tandberg for $120 Million in 2005.
Join me in congratulating Braxton and John for taking this big step.
Last fall I was walking down the hall when Scott Ryan of Asankya introduced me to Braxton Jarratt. Braxton, a visionary leader with a background that includes executive stints at Tandberg, N2 Broadband and Cox, is the CEO of Clearleap. Braxton had teamed up with John Vecchio, the technical guru behind both Tandberg and N2 who cut his teeth at Scientific-Atlanta, to form the company.
Clearleap, which is in semi-stealth mode has joined ATDC. They are developing a revolutionary new internet video system with enormous potential. That’s about all I can say for now. A great team with market knowledge, the proven ability to execute, and a very interesting concept. Clearleap could be one of the big stories in Atlanta this year and next.
Welcome to ATDC Braxton, John, and the rest of the ClearLeap team.
The 2008 GRA/TAG Business Launch Competition officially kicked off last week. So those that are not aware, this is a program that was put together by the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) to support the creation and growth of new startups in Georgia. The contest winner will receive a $100,000 cash award courtesy of the GRA and a diverse array of services valued at an additional $200,000. This comprehensive $300,000+ prize is one of the largest in the country. This year the competition is focused on Internet technologies, which includes companies that are developing products, online services, or backend technologies that are using or extending the reach, flexibility, and ease of the Internet.
To support entrepreneurs that have an interest in applying to the competition, ATDC is hosting a luncheon and workshop on Thursday January 24th from 11:45 am to 1:00 pm. At the workshop you will learn the logistics of the competition, get some coaching on how to best fill out the preliminary application materials (which are evaluated by ATDC staff), hear from a judge on why they picked past finalists, and enjoy lunch with other Internet entrepreneurs.
ATDC is providing boxed lunches to all registrants. If you want to register you need to do so by January 21. Please only register if you intend to attend. Food is a precious resource.
Social media consultant Josh Hallett recently spoke at an ATDC brown bag lunch on awareness, discoverability, and approachability using social tools on the Internet. Here’s the video of the event:
ATDC has a little speaker series on a variety of subjects that are of interest every week on Wednesdays during lunch that we call "Brown bags". Typically anywhere from 10 to 35 people attend.
Next week Josh Hallett of Hyku is coming in to discuss how social media is changing the way people communicate, consume media, and interact with businesses. He is going to be providing an overview of the current social media landscape: blogs, podcasts, wikis, and then address how companies can effectively reach out to online communities by creating and implementing an engagement strategy.
Key takeaways from the session will include:
- How to use blog search tools along with RSS news readers to monitor current trends and issues within the blogosphere that are related to your organization.
- How to identify the key blogs and bloggers within your industry and how to put together an effective engagement strategy with them.
- How to develop effective strategies to publicize your blog and gain RSS feed subscribers.
Since Josh is a pretty accomplished speaker we are going to try something a little different. We are going to open up this session to the general entrepreneurial community. If you are interested in attending you need to contact me. lance at atdc dot org. Space is limited.