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May 2-3, 2006
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CED's Venture 2006

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Venture 2006 Newsletter - Issue #1, March 3, 2006.

Featured this Issue:

Three Questions for Integrian's Pete Durand

Pete Durand is CEO of Morrisville-based Integrian, developer and manufacturer of mobile digital video solutions for public safety and transportation markets. Integrian was recently selected as a Venture 2006 Showcase company.

CED: What are some of the biggest trends you see in mobile and wireless technology?

Pete Durand: A couple of the biggest trends that I've seen lately are video streaming and a focus on software application. I think we'll see a lot more of both of these in the coming year. Also, based on what I've seen so far, I think the entire market will see a lot of consolidation within the next 16 months.

CED: Speaking from your own experience, what is the most important piece of advice you would give to entrepreneurs seeking venture capital?

Pete Durand: I think this can be summed up in one word: momentum. By this I mean, have a plan, move forward with it, and be willing to think outside the box. The one thing I've learned is that as soon as you establish a plan, you should also expect it to change. So with momentum, there has to be flexibility as well.

CED: How important is customer validation to a company's success, particularly when raising venture capital?

Pete Durand: Once you've done research to understand your market, customer validation is the biggest thing. Particularly when you're raising money, venture capitalists will want to talk to your customers. You need to have a strong customer story before you go to VC's. Entrepreneurs need to clearly define their story and build on it.

Talking Trends with Chris Meldrum of Pique Therapeutics

Chris Meldrum is president of Venture 2006 presenting company Pique Therapeutics, an early-stage biotechnology company seeking to become the leader in therapeutic vaccines, focused initially on the treatment of cancer.

CED: What recent economic trends do you think may impact venture capital funding for biotech companies, both in the Research Triangle and beyond?

Chris Meldrum: In terms of the local environment, I have been excited to see a significant increase in biotechnology funding for start-up companies. For example, venture capital funding for North Carolina biotechnology companies more than doubled in 2005 (to $225 million) from 2004 funding levels ($104 million). Further, North Carolina's biotech venture investment as a percentage of total U.S. biotech venture investment reached an all-time high in 2005, at nearly 6%. This is an exciting trend that hopefully will continue.

CED: What predictions do you have for the upcoming year in the biotechnology industry?

Chris Meldrum: I am cautiously optimistic about the potential for the biotechnology industry this year. A significant number of pharmaceutical products are in the clinic, so I think we will see more new drug applications and more product approvals. Further, biotechnology as an industry is maturing, and companies such as Genentech and Gilead have been moving a number of exciting products onto the market. Finally, the financing environment seems to be improving as well, and if we are fortunate, we may begin to see the IPO window starting to open again in the fall of this year.

CED: What value do you see in presenting at this year's Venture Conference?

Chris Meldrum: I see significant value to entrepreneurs - both information technology and biotechnology - in presenting at this conference. CED and the conference organizers have done a great job in the past, particularly with recruiting venture capital and investment banking firms from the East and West Coast. It is a tremendous advantage for a start-up company seeking to raise capital to be able to reach a substantial number of high-quality, out-of-state investors during a single event.

Venture 2006 Showcase Companies: A Snapshot

Showcase Snapshot: Integrian

Morrisville-based Integrian, Inc. (www.integrian.com) has been developing mobile digital video technology for the public safety and transportation markets since its inception in the early 1990's. Integrian's two products, TransitCam and DigitalPatroller, capture high-quality video in mobile environments and tag, transmit, archive and search video files for security and law enforcement purposes.

Recently, Integrian secured $36 million in a round of financing led by Credit Suisse, a Zurich-based global financial services company. All of Integrian's current investors also participated in the round, including Polaris Venture Partners, Intersouth Partners, The Wakefield Group, Motorola Ventures and Dow Pension Fund.

“We are excited about Integrian and its strong prospects for success,” said Steve Nelson, Managing Director of the Wakefield Group. “This company has everything you'd want in a venture backed company - a large and growing market where there's a big need, a superior solution with trophy reference customers, and a truly outstanding CEO and leadership team.”

Integrian will use the most recent financing for internal growth and to fund its new acquisition of Innovonics, an Australian company focused on transportation surveillance systems. Innovonics offers a broad customer base, having delivered over 1000 transit and fleet computer systems over the past 3 years to transit authorities and corporations around the world.

Integrian CEO Pete Durham said Integrian's and Innovonics products groups represent a total solution in mobile digital video technology.

“Integrian and Innovonics have a shared vision for the future of this market,” said Durand. “The fit between our combined capabilities and current market demand is extraordinary, and we are tremendously optimistic about our future.”

Showcase Snapshot: TranS1

TranS1, Inc. (www.trans1inc.com) is a Wilmington-based company committed to creating the least invasive surgical options to treat lower back pain via a novel, trans-sacral approach to the lumbar spine. The company's technology, called the AxiaLIF (Axial Lumbar Interbody Fusion) System, includes surgical instruments for creating a safe and reproducible pre-sacral access route to the L5 - S1 vertebral bodies.

Formerly named Axiamed, TranS1 was founded in 2000 by Dr. Andrew Cragg, a Minneapolis-based interventional surgeon who developed and patented the trans-sacral approach to accessing the spine for lumbar spine surgical procedures. This trans-sacral surgical approach leaves native soft tissue spinal support structures intact, minimizing blood loss, nerve and blood vessel damage and expedites patient recovery time.

In September 2005, TranS1 completed a $25.7 million Series C round of financing. Thomas Weisel Healthcare Ventures led the round, with advanced Technology Ventures (ATV), Delphi Ventures, Cutlass Capital and Sapient Capital also participating. TranS1 used the financing to commercialize the AxiaLIF System and to develop clinical studies associated with the company's Percutaneous Nucleus Replacement (PNR) for earlier stage degenerative disc disease.

Venture 2006 Key Dates

Early Bird Registration Deadline
March 14, 2006

Pinehurst Resort Room Reservation Deadline
March 14, 2006

Venture 2006 Program News

Inventor, Author and Entrepreneur Ray Kurzweil to Keynote

Internationally acclaimed inventor, entrepreneur and author Ray Kurzweil will keynote CED's Venture 2006. Kurzweil has been called “the restless genius” by the Wall Street Journal and "the ultimate thinking machine" by Forbes.

Kurzweil's numerous technological breakthroughs include:

  • Principal developer of the first omni-font optical character recognition
  • First print-to-speech reading machine for the blind
  • First CCD flat-bed scanner
  • First text-to-speech synthesizer
  • First music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments
  • First commercially marketed large-vocabulary speech recognition

In 2003, Kurzweil was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He has received the Lemelson-MIT Prize, the nation's largest award in invention and innovation, as well as the 1999 National Medal of Technology, the nation's highest honor in technology. Kurzweil also won the 1994 Dickson Prize (Carnegie Mellon University's top science prize), Engineer of the Year from Design News and Inventor of the Year from MIT.

His best-selling book, “The Age of Spiritual Machines, When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence,” achieved the #1 best selling book on Amazon.com in the categories of “Science” and “Artificial Intelligence.” His most recent book, “The Singularity is Near, When Humans Transcend Biology,” has been #1 on Amazon in both science and philosophy.

28 Companies Selected to Present

The following 28 companies have been selected to present:

(*) denotes a Venture 2006 "Showcase Company"

For more information on the presenters, visit http://www.cednc.org/conferences/venture/2006/presenters/.

Fun Facts About Village of Pinehurst and Pinehurst Resorts

Learn more about the Village of Pinehurst and Pinehurst Resort, hosts of CED's Venture 2006:

Pinehurst Resort is the site of more championships than any other golf course in the country and most recently was the host of the 2005 U.S. Open Championship.

Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York's famed Central Park, assisted James Walker Tufts in his original concept of a New England style village entitled the Village of Pinehurst. Although established in 1895, the Village did not become a municipality until 1980.

The population within the corporate limits of the Village (14.3 square miles) has increased by an astonishing 91% since 1990.

The Village of Pinehurst and Pinehurst Resorts were given National Landmark status in 1996 for their historical, significant role in U.S. golf history.

Click here to reserve your accommodations for Venture 2006.

Conference Co-Chairs

  • Linda Markus Daniels Daniels Daniels & Verdonik, P.A.
  • Mark Larson Grant Thornton LLP
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