Event: Capital Connection ‘08

This coming week, the Mid Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA) is holding Capital Connection ‘08

the region’s premier event that brings together the country’s most prominent investors with leading-edge technology companies, has expanded its scope.  This year, in addition to the start-up, early-stage and expansion-stage companies traditionally showcased at the annual venture fair, Capital Connection 2008 for the first time also will feature later-stage private growth companies and present a significantly expanded program.

There is quite an impressive list of later stage companies that will be presenting at the conference.  I was a bit surprised to see the list of companies.  I see many of them listed on buildings in the area and never quite knew what many of them did.  Here is the list:

• Approva (Reston, Va.) – The leading provider of controls intelligence software, Approva’s solutions are the industry standard for three of the five largest audit and advisory firms. The company automates the IT and financial controls for all of the major applications companies rely on to run their business, including Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP.
• BroadSoft Inc. (Gaithersburg, Md.) - BroadSoft creates voice over IP (VoIP) application software that enables telecommunications service providers to offer the most advanced calling features to enterprise and residential customers. The company’s application software is the VoIP platform of choice for the delivery of hosted telephony, multimedia and unified communications, and mobile services.
• CapTech Ventures Inc. (Richmond, Va.) – As a consulting firm that designs, builds and manages complex software systems, CapTech Ventures has spent more than 10 years delivering management consulting and systems integration. The company has a particular emphasis on data management, data warehousing and business intelligence services, as well as portal development and maintenance services.
• ChannelAdvisor Corporation (Morrisville, N.C.) - From small niche businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises, ChannelAdvisor’s on-demand solutions enable retailers to create, analyze and streamline e-commerce initiatives so they can sell more products, faster across multiple online marketplaces, such as eBay, Amazon.com and Overstock.com; comparison shopping engines such as Shopping.com, Shopzilla and Google Product Search; and search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN.
• ForeSee Results (Ann Arbor, Mich.) – The leader in online customer satisfaction measurement, ForeSee Results captures and analyzes online voice of customer data to help its clients increase sales, loyalty, recommendations and website value. ForeSee Results owns the patent to deploy online the methodology of the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index, which it has been doing for the past six years.
• GlobalLogic Inc. (Vienna, Va.) – As a leader in providing outsourced R&D services GlobalLogic has helped both emerging and established technology firms bring innovative software offerings to market in less time and at less cost. The company’s clients include innovative technology companies such as Autodesk, Broadsoft, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, MobiTV, Motorola, NextPoint, Oracle, Qualcomm, Telcordia and Yahoo.
• Gratis Internet (Washington, D.C.) – Gratis Internet is a global performance-based Internet advertising firm that pioneered online incentive marketing in the U.S. with www.FreeIpods.com. The company, which ranked 18^th in the 2005 Inc. 500 – has built a portfolio of technologies that enables global advertisers to rapidly expand their business. In its eight years in operation, the company has sent more than 10 million online customers to advertisers in 40 countries worldwide.
• iBiquity Digital Corporation (Columbia, Md.) – iBiquity is the developer of the HD Radio™, a transformational technology that allows radio stations to broadcast digital audio and data within the existing analog spectrum. The technology provides broadcasters with a platform to deliver vastly more content through FM multicast channels; static-free, clear reception on both AM and FM and a variety of data services that range from text information to real-time traffic reports to iTunes Tagging without subscription fees.
• mindSHIFT Technologies (Walthmam, Mass.) – mindSHIFT offers a variety of managed IT services, software-as-a-service (SaaS), VoIP, compliance, e-business application development and professional services to small and medium-sized organizations. The company’s expertise and experience enable it to meet the compliance requirements of financial services firms as well as the complex demands of the legal community for integration of applications, such as document management.
• The Motley Fool (Alexandria, Va.) – The Motley Fool was founded in 1993 as a newsletter designed to educate, amuse and enrich its readers, has grown into a privately held, multimedia financial information company. The Motley Fool currently offers eleven services that cover a range of investing strategies (including mutual funds, value, growth, income, and small caps) and financial topics (including personal finance and retirement planning).
• Presidio Inc. (Greenbelt, Md.) – With revenues now approaching $1 billion, Presidio is a leading provider of IT infrastructure lifestyle solutions. The company is a Cisco-centric solution provider that focuses on advanced technologies of unified communications, security, wireless, storage, network infrastructure and managed/hosted services. Presidio holds the highest networking industry certifications from such vendor partners as Cisco, EMC, IBM, Microsoft, NetApp, Nortel and Sun.
• Revolution Health Group LLC (Washington, D.C.) – Revolution Health is a leading consumer-centric health company founded to transform how people approach their overall health and wellness. By putting individuals at the center of their own healthcare, Revolution Health allows them to make informed choices and offers more convenience and control over their individual healthcare decisions. Revolution Health is part of the Revolution LLC family of companies created by AOL co-founder Steve Case to be a disruptive force in industries in need of a “better way.”
• SkyBitz (Sterling, Va.) – SkyBitz is a leading mobile asset management company that provides real-time information to customers in the fields of transportation, energy, construction, agriculture and waste management. The company’s patented two-way GLS satellite communicator is used by more than 500 customers in North America and Europe to manage more than 150,000 assets. SkyBitz was named the second-fastest growing company in North America by Deloitte and was honored with the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation Leadership Award.
• Telarix Inc. (Vienna, Va.) – Telarix provides software solutions to incumbent telcos, emerging global carriers and dominant regional players in both the fixed and mobile industry – including eight of the 10 world’s largest telecom providers. Telarix’s solutions enable them to effectively manage how they exchange large volumes of voice and IP/data traffic with other carriers around the globe.
• Trusted Computer Solutions (Herndon, Va.) – A leading provider of cross-domain software security solutions, Trusted Computer Solutions provides government and commercial customers with solutions for securely sharing and protecting critical information assets and enables an automatic lock down of a Linux operating system.
• WeatherBug (Germantown, Md.) – A brand of AWS Convergence Technologies Inc., WeatherBug combines the world’s largest network of live weather stations and cameras with aggregated weather data from around the world to deliver the most reliable, live neighborhood-level weather reports. Live local weather conditions are delivered to millions of consumers via the Internet and mobile devices; to more than 100 state and local government agencies, including the National Weather Service; and to broadcast television stations, schools and businesses.

Local News: Clearspring Raises $18 million

This was really exciting news here today in the DC area. Clearspring, everyone’s favorite widget network got a Seires C funding round of $18 million.  This is a nice infusion of cash and will allow them to

The new round will fund expansion of Clearspring’s viral marketing network, which currently serves and tracks almost four billion widgets monthly. It will also be used to extend Clearspring’s reach into international markets and further develop its rapidly growing advertising network and vast data infrastructure and optimization services.

Of course we are all happy to see a local company secure such a nice round of funding.  At the recent SocialDevCamp in Baltimore a ccouple of weeks ago, one of the final sessions of the day was about the local area and issues like funding.  Some of the good insight came from Clarence Wooten, of CollectiveX, who had previously cashed out of a company that was bought by Network Solutions.  He said that until the local area gets some major funding under its belt, the area would have a hard time standing out in the crowd.

Maybe a funding infusion to such a great company will help to continue to put DC on the technology company map.  Congrats to the team at Clearspring and good luck.  Use it wisely