Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Future of 5G is under the microscope at Georgia incubator

By

Entrepreneurs needing — or wanting — a 5G testing environment can now start their search in the metro Atlanta area.  Peachtree Corners, a small town firmly rooted in technology growth, has launched a new incubator with a focus on the next-gen Internet innovation.

The initiative is a collaboration among the Georgia Institute of Technology, the city of Peachtree Corners and T-Mobile.  The 5G Connected Future incubator is based out of the $6 million Curiosity Lab, a city-owned 500-acre smart city technology park, outfitted with an autonomous vehicle test track and other advancements.

“This is kind of a unique model.  I’m not sure that I’ve seen one that’s exactly like it,” remarked John Avery, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a startup incubator.  ATDC is providing the program management, startup educational and event planning, and other services which go along with helping startups become successful.

“It’s very unique to have a public entity — the city of Peachtree Corners, an academic institution like Georgia Tech — and then a commercial provider, T-Mobile, come together, with overlapping interests, and decide to work together to help not only figure out some of the innovation about what 5G will bring us in the future, but to together, help whoever it is that’s coming up with this technology to get from Point A to Point B,” said Betsy Plattenburg, executive director of Curiosity Lab.

Continue reading at:  Government Technology

Georgia Tech and Morehouse announce collaborative effort

By

The Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) today announced the launch of a new initiative that will support MSM’s commercialization efforts to create health technology (HealthTech) startups.

The effort brings the Institute’s globally recognized technology incubator — the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) — to the MSM campus, ranked the No. 1 medical school in the nation in fulfilling its social mission and the top ranking historically black college or university for producing patents (2009-2019).

“We’re excited to forge this effort between our two schools that will help translate ideas that may start in the lab to real-world solutions for minority and rural populations in healthcare,” said James W. Lillard, Ph.D., MSM’s associate dean for research and director of the Office of Translational Technologies.  “This initiative leverages the research rigor and innovations developing at Morehouse School of Medicine with Georgia Tech’s proven ATDC model of helping technology entrepreneurs create viable, scalable companies.”

The collaboration with MSM, the eighth for ATDC through its ATDC @program, continues the incubator’s mission of working with technology startups across Georgia.  The catalyst for this initiative was an i6 Challenge grant the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded to Georgia Tech in 2015.

That $500,000 grant, secured by Tech’s Innovation Ecosystems group, supported wide-ranging innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives across the state.  In Atlanta, it called for the Institute to collaborate with Georgia State and Clark Atlanta universities, Morehouse College, the Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College to develop entrepreneurship programs that supported their unique visions.

The ATDC @ MSM will provide the medical school with a full suite of services and educational programming to support entrepreneurship in the HealthTech arena among faculty, staff, and students on the MSM campus.  The core goal is to help entrepreneurs gain insight into successful HealthTech commercialization, through the program, which includes curriculum, connections, and coaching.

Continue reading at:  Georgia Tech News Center

Chris Downing, vice president and director of Enterprise Innovation Institute, announces retirement

By

Chris Downing, VP of EI2

Chris Downing, who has led the Georgia Institute of Technology’s economic development efforts as vice president and director of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), is retiring after 31 years of service.

Downing, who has led EI2 since 2016, leaves behind a decades-long legacy of leadership experience at Georgia Tech in technology-based economic development, university outreach and technical assistance, entrepreneurship and start-up support, and program management.

His retirement is effective June 1, 2019.

“I feel very fortunate for such a diverse and challenging career and to have shared so many good years with the Georgia Tech family, and I am very appreciative of the many faculty, staff, and students who have made my time at Georgia Tech so interesting and inspiring,” Downing said. “Although I am leaving my full-time duties, I look forward to staying connected to Georgia Tech and supporting its mission of progress and service.”

After leaving IBM where he was a mechanical facilities engineer, Downing joined Georgia Tech in 1988 as a senior research engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

In 1996, he joined EI2 — then called the Economic Development Institute (EDI) — as the Griffin regional office manager and provided industrial extension and economic development services to the south metro Atlanta region.

Two years later, he was named group manager of technology services for the Economic Development Institute, where he was charged with overall management of technology deployment and information technology services to more than 200 EDI staff and associates located both on campus and in 12 regional offices across the state. In addition, this group provided technical research services for EDI clients in industry, business, and community economic development organizations.

In 2005, he was tapped to lead EI2’s Industry Services group, which included several key outreach programs: the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), the Energy and Environmental Management Center, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC), the Southeast Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (SETAAC), and the Georgia Tech Regional Office Network.

Downing was named EI2’s associate vice president in 2013 and vice president in 2016.

In that time, he spearheaded the three-fold expansion of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and created the Venture Center space that has helped to attract several Fortune 100 corporate innovation centers to Technology Square.

His technology-based economic development efforts helped Georgia Tech and the EI2 win the prestigious “2014 Innovation Award” from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the “2014 Outstanding Research Park Award” from the Association of Research Parks.

Most recently, Downing led the feasibility study for the expansion of Georgia Tech’s second research park, Technology Enterprise Park, into a broader life sciences and technology innovation district.

“Chris has been a tireless champion and supporter of our economic development initiatives, working to maintain strong partnerships across the state while creating new collaborations,” said Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson. “We appreciate his leadership role as Georgia Tech partners with the state to strengthen Georgia’s economy.”

Downing is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering.

Current portfolio companies of Georgia Tech’s ATDC raise $114 million in investment capital in 2018

By

Startups at the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the state of Georgia’s technology incubator, raised more than $114.3 million in investment capital in 2018.

While the activity represents a slight decrease from the year-end 2017 figure of $140 million, it reflects the general investment trend nationally for 2018: Even though the deals made were larger, fewer deals were done overall.

When ATDC program graduates’ capital raises for the year are included — $380.8 million — the total amount of money that came to Georgia technology companies with ties to the incubator is $495.1 million.

“Our current portfolio and graduate companies really made a difference in Georgia’s deal flow activity in 2018, because of the roughly 100 deals that were done in the year, 68 of those were ATDC companies,” said Brad Schweizer, ATDC investor relations manager. “That’s nearly 70 percent of all the Georgia deals and it speaks to the quality and caliber of companies that we have in our portfolios.”

In addition to the $114.3 million in capital funding current ATDC portfolio startups received from investors, they garnered an additional $8.4 million in non-dilutive funds from federal grant awards in 2018.

That’s nearly triple the amount received in 2017.

“This is significant because these federal grants and awards are extremely competitive for companies that are still refining and verifying their research and technologies,” said Connie Casteel, ATDC’s program manager for grant awards and funding.

Key to ATDC’s continued success with its portfolios is its Investor Connect program, which curates meaningful interactions between the startups and investors.

That, along with programming that prepares the startups for successfully raising money and make long-term connections with investors, is a critical component of why Investor Connect has been so successful, Schweizer said.

In 2018 the program strategically curated more than 500 connections with introductions to more than 250 different venture capitalists and angel investors.

“Introducing our companies to the investor community and making meaningful connections is our core focus,” Schweizer said. “Through our events and meetings with the venture capitalist firms such as our yearly ATDC Venture Showcases on the East Coast and West Coast and our ATDC Startup Showcase, investors continue to see as a critical and trusted partner for deal flow with high-growth startups for their firms.”

Among those investors is Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Las Olas Venture Capital. The firm, which has more $30 million in assets under management, was the lead investor in the $4.5 million seed round of DEVCON, an ATDC portfolio company whose proprietary cybersecurity software technology helps media publishers maximize advertising revenue by identifying and eliminating fraudulent ads within their networks.

Las Olas Venture Capital also was the co-lead investor in Cypress.io’s $4 million seed round.

Cypress, another ATDC portfolio company, provides front-end automated software testing for anything that runs in a browser.

“What ATDC does well and what makes it different from other programs is the entrepreneurial fabric that makes up ATDC,” said Esteban Reyes, one of Las Olas Venture Capital’s founding partners. “You have former CEOs and founders in the equation at ATDC, working and engaging with the startups in the program in ways that are useful and practical for those startup founders.”

Las Olas focuses its investments mainly in companies that are business-to-business and creating the next generation of enterprise technologies.

DEVCON, Reyes said, is in a sector with a $40 billion opportunity, while Cypress has a $20 billion opportunity.

The two companies, he said, reflect another strategic difference with ATDC in that the incubator, which is a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, focuses on leveraging Atlanta’s strengths to build successful technology companies.

“ATDC and Georgia Tech are taking a long-term view with their strategic focus to turn Atlanta into a major tech hub,” Reyes said. “They’re looking at the key levers that Atlanta has to its advantage and pulling those levers.

“There’s a trifecta here of new startup founders, ATDC’s team of experienced entrepreneurs, and Georgia Tech’s technical student talents. ATDC has found the right way to engage those three stakeholders and provide them with a platform so they can be collaborative and productive, which is very unique.”

About ATDC

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

About ATDC Investor Connect

ATDC strategically matches its portfolio companies to capital through curated investor interactions. The investor relations manager is available for consultations to help companies develop a focused funding strategy. In addition, the manager works with the incubator’s coaching staff for funding preparation. The outcome creates exceptionally engineered investor readiness, resulting in high value deal flow for investors. For more information, visit atdc.org/how-we-help/capital.

Source: https://atdc.org/atdc-news/advanced-technology-development-center-current-portfolio-companies-raise-114-million-in-investment-capital-in-2018/

Georgia Tech names new leadership for ATDC

By

John Avery is the new director of Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC).

The Georgia Institute of Technology has named John Avery as its next director of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC).

Avery, a serial entrepreneur who was involved in four startups, assumes his position Nov. 6. Most recently, he was engineering group manager of Panasonic Automotive Systems’ Panasonic Innovation Center at the Georgia Tech campus.

A unit of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), Georgia Tech’s outreach and economic development arm, ATDC works with more than 800 technology startup entrepreneurs each year across Georgia. Founded in 1981, ATDC has become one of the most successful, longest-running, and largest university-based startup incubators in the country.

The announcement follows a comprehensive, four-month national search for a new leader at ATDC following the departure of Jen Bonnett, who left in June 2018 to become the Savannah Economic Development Authority’s vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship.

In taking the permanent appointment, Avery will lead a team of 26 full- and part-time staff and advisors who run ATDC’s various initiatives, including its financial, health, and retail technology verticals, support statewide activities such as the ATDC @ program, and coach technology entrepreneurs in Georgia.

Avery will report to Chris Downing, EI2 vice president and director.

“John is an outstanding leader and successful entrepreneur who understands the startup journey and commercialization process, with vast relationships in the startup and business communities,” Downing said. “We’re pleased to welcome him to EI2and see him bring ATDC, one of the nation’s premiere technology incubators, to even greater success in its mission of helping entrepreneurs build great companies here in Georgia.”

At Panasonic, Avery oversaw the innovation center’s development projects in next-generation automotive systems including, infotainment, bio-sensing, machine vision, deep learning, and heads-up displays.

A tech startup veteran with broad experience in data and wireless voice technologies, Avery was co-founder and chief technology officer of Convergence Corp., a maker of software that connects wireless devices to the Internet. Amazon acquired the company in 1999. Following that acquisition, he joined Amazon as engineering manager.

In 2001, Avery became an early employee of Mobliss, a mobile applications and messaging solutions company in the entertainment space. He later became the company’s chief technology officer. Japan’s Index Corp., a developer of mobile phone content and information and other media services such as video on demand,acquired Mobliss in 2004 for $15 million.

He holds six patents and owns Onboard Now, a developer of software for embedded devices such as smart phones, Web-enabled cameras, and industrial controls.

Avery, who sits on the board of the Midtown Alliance, is a familiar presence at ATDC, having served as a mentor to its startups since July of 2018.

“I am deeply honored to join ATDC and lead this amazing team,” Avery said. “ATDC’s work has resulted in the creation of great, disruptive Georgia companies in health, financial services, hardware, and numerous other sectors. I look forward to continuing ATDC’s momentum of success and legacy of impact.”

He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Georgia Tech.

About Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2)

Comprised of a dozen programs, including the Advanced Technology Development Center, Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development. Through its philosophy of innovation-led economic development, EI2serves all of Georgia through a variety of services and programs designed to create, accelerate, and growGeorgia’s tech-based economy. For more information, please visit, innovate.gatech.edu.

About the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising more than $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/11/05/georgia-tech-names-new-director-for-advanced.html 

Georgia Tech’s ATDC hosting healthcare summit Sept. 12th

By

Georgia Tech’s  Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the longest-running state-sponsored startup incubator in the country, has been chosen as one of eight stops on a national “Startup Day” tour for federal health officials to connect with tech startups.

The ATDC Federal Healthcare Innovation Summit, which will be held September 12, will allow entrepreneurs and technologists to connect with representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

The federal government spends more on healthcare than any other single entity in the country, about 28.3 percent of the total national health expenditure in 2016. That’s compared to 28.1 percent spent by individual households, 19.9 percent by private businesses and 16.9 percent by state or local government. Those hundreds of billions present a massive market opportunity for startups to make operations more efficient and streamlined with new technologies.

The capstone of the Federal Healthcare Innovation Summit will be a “Shark Tank”-type pitch event where startups can share their products and services with HHS officials, including the agency’s Chief Technology officer Edward Simcox, for feedback. 

The Summit, to be held from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, requires preregistration.  You can register for the event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/atdcs-federal-healthcare-innovation-summit-tickets-49397520313

Tech Square Innovation Week starts May 7th

By

Technology Square on the Georgia Tech campus in Midtown Atlanta.

Technology Square is abuzz with the activity of startups, corporate innovation, and disruptive research, as well as outstanding student talent from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

For one week in spring 2018 — May 7-10 — the Tech Square neighborhood and the components that make it one of the nation’s most successful ecosystems of ideation and disruption will be on display as part of Tech Square Innovation Week.

The Georgia Institute of Technology’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and its Enterprise Innovation Institute are the hosts of Tech Square Innovation Week.

“With this week, we and our partners really wanted to show all the various components that make Tech Square the vibrant innovation ecosystem that it is,” said Jen Bonnett, ATDC general manager.

“Tech Square is a national model of economic development, ideation, and technology disruption. With Tech Square Innovation Week, this is the opportunity for visitors and event attendees to see how and why we’re succeeding and possibly join to continue that momentum.”

The week’s events include a “portfolio night” at Engage, the private startup accelerator and venture fund owned and operated by its 10 founding companies, the Georgia Tech Innovation Showcase of up-and-coming research ideas Georgia Tech students and faculty have developed, and the Atlanta Startup Battle at Tech Square Labs, with $100,000 at stake.

Tech Square Innovation Week also includes the Technology Association of Georgia’s FinTech South 2018, a two-day summit focused on the latest trends in the financial technology sector, and the ATDC RetailTech Summit, which will explore technological disruptions and opportunities in that sector.

Tech Square Innovation Week will culminate with the 2018 ATDC Startup Showcase on May 10 at the Georgia Tech Academy of Medicine and the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel.

Now in its 32nd year, the ATDC Startup Showcase is Georgia’s largest spring startup confab. The event, which draws nearly 1,000 attendees,features more than 80of disruptive technology companies from the state of Georgia.

About Tech Square Innovation Week:

Tech Square Innovation Week — May 7 through May 10, 2018 — is a weeklong celebration that highlights and celebrates different components that combined, make Technology Square in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood, a national economic development model that entrepreneurship, disruption, research, corporate partnerships and investment. For more information, please visit techsquareinnovates.com.

 

About the Advanced Technology Development Center:

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Here’s the rundown of Tech Square Innovation Week events:

  • MAY 5: Day One Innovation Summit (All Day) at The Garage at Tech Square – The Day One Challenge is open to students in accredited Georgia high schools and this year’s contest will focus on artificial intelligence.
  • MAY 6: Creative Hack (4 p.m.- 5 p.m.) at The Garage at Tech Square – High school students from Frederick Douglass High School and Forrest Hill Academy will pitch their ideas integrating technology for financial management to help their peers in Southwest Atlanta. Students apply the design innovation model to present their creative ideas.
  • MAY 7: Tech Square Innovation Week Kick-Off Party (5 p.m.) – in the ATDC Lobby.
  • MAY 7 & 8: FinTech South 2018 (All Day) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium – FinTech South 2018 is a global exchange of insights, innovations and trends fueling tomorrow’s financial tech industry.
  • MAY 8: Atlanta Startup Battle (6 p.m.) at Tech Square Labs – Atlanta Startup Battle is the freshest and most unique pitch competition in Atlanta. With 100+ ideas and 2 days of competition, the top participants develop their ideas with seasoned mentors and present to investor judges, real VCs from Atlanta and Silicon Valley, all in an effort to help Atlanta build, scale, and fund the next generation of outstanding tech companies.
  • MAY 9: Georgia Tech Innovation Showcase (1 p.m.-3 p.m.) at Tech Square Research Building – See Georgia Tech’s best student teams, student startups, and research projects currently being commercialized at the Georgia Tech Innovation Showcase. Hosted by ATDC and its partners, VentureLab, and CREATE-X.
  • MAY 9: ATDC Retail Summit (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.) at the Hodges Room in Centergy – A gathering of retail executives and innovators gather to discuss the future of retail and the technologies impacting it.
  • MAY 9: Engage Spring Portfolio Night (4 p.m. – 7 p.m.) Engage will present its new portfolio of startups to investors and corporate executives at Invesco Global Headquarters, Two Peachtree Pointe, 1555 Peachtree St. NE.
  • MAY 9: ATDC Investor Dinner (7 p.m.) at Community Smith – A gathering of local and out-of-town investors.
  • MAY 10: ATDC Startup Showcase (11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.) at Renaissance Hotel – The ATDC Startup Showcase is the premier Atlanta technology event where more than 800 investors, corporate partners, entrepreneurs, and researchers converge to discover the most promising and emerging technologies, network with each other, and forge new relationships and partnerships.
  • MAY 10: Tech Square Block Party (5:30 p.m.) at Centergy Courtyard – Food, games, drinks, & a live performance from a Georgia-based Grammy Award Winning Act.

RELATED LINKS

CONTACT INFORMATION

Péralte C. Paul

404.894.8727

peralte.paul@gatech.comm.edu

Focus of Feb. 20th Georgia Innovation Summit is emerging technology

By

How will emerging technologies affect small businesses and what that sector will be like in the future?

That core question is the theme of the 2018 Georgia Innovation Summit, scheduled for Feb. 20 at the Georgia Tech Research Institute Conference Center in Atlanta. (Register at this link: http://workforce.georgia.org/event/3rd-annual-innovation-summit/)

Now in its third year, the Georgia Innovation Summit is an annual gathering of the state’s top business, education, and government leaders who meet in a series of panel discussions to discuss emerging trends and innovations that will affect businesses of all sizes across Georgia.

The Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection — in partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the Georgia Centers of Innovation, and Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) — is presenting this year’s summit.

Keynote speakers include Jen Bonnett, general manager of Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), and David Justice, the Georgia Centers of Innovation’s executive director.

“Emerging technologies are rapidly shaping and changing not only the types of businesses that are being created, but also how business itself is being done,” said EI2 vice president Chris Downing.

“The topics and themes we’ll be exploring this year reflect that understanding and will help attendees better understand how they can incorporate and use emerging technologies to drive business forward.”

Among the topics is financial technology (FinTech), an important sector in Georgia’s economy. Jeff Gapusan, ATDC’s FinTech catalyst, will moderate a panel discussion titled “FinTech’s Impact on Your Business.”

The industry is big in Georgia with 70 percent of the $5.3 trillion in annual U.S. card spending being processed through companies in Georgia. “FinTech isn’t static,” Downing said. “There’s constant disruption in this sector which is affecting everything from traditional banking to retail. This panel features the thought leaders in this space who are driving that innovation.”

Other panel topics include the Internet of Things (IoT), dealing with cybersecurity, and connecting businesses with the resources they need to navigate the ever-changing business climate.

ATDC taking applications for fall 2017 venture showcase road trip

By

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the state of Georgia’s technology incubator, is now accepting applications from high-growth technology startups for its upcoming Dec. 4, 2017 Venture Showcase Roadtrip to New York City.

The application period is open from Oct. 2 through 5 p.m. on Oct. 20, and any Georgia-headquartered technology company raising a Series A round or higher is eligible.  The 10 selected companies will be notified Oct. 27 after the selection committee has reviewed all applicants.

The Venture Showcase Roadtrip is co-hosted by Morris, Manning & Martin, Silicon Valley Bank, Venture Atlanta, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, and Aprio.

Those interested in applying should send a one-page executive summary to ATDC Assistant Director Jane McCracken at jane@atdc.org.

The initiative is an offshoot of the ATDC’s Investor Connect program, and allows funders — from angels to venture capitalists and other later-stage investors — to network with the highly vetted, market disruptive companies in ATDC’s Signature and Accelerate portfolios.

David Thomas headshot
David Thomas, founder and CEO of Evident, an ATDC Signature portfolio company.

“The Venture Showcase Roadtrip introduces investors to a carefully curated group of companies to foster meaningful and targeted conversations and connections, as well as give the venture firms a sense of the caliber of technology startups in Georgia,” McCracken said. “Our inaugural roadtrip to the West Coast earlier this year is a perfect example of the kinds of connections we facilitate.”

In that trip to San Francisco, 11 Georgia companies met with a group of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. Evident, an ATDC Signature portfolio company, met with New Enterprise Associates (NEA). That initial connection resulted in NEA becoming the lead investor in Evident’s recent $8.8 million Series A round.

“The San Francisco trip was an important milestone for our company. The ATDC name got us in front of an extremely selective and highly sought after group of venture capitalists eager to meet quality, disruptive companies,” said David Thomas, Evident’s founder and CEO. “It facilitated a critically important series of initial meetings that ultimately led to our successful Series A.”

ABOUT ATDC:

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

Companies selected for new Tech Square-based venture firm

By

Eight companies will be part of the inaugural class of Engage Ventures, a new early-stage venture firm created by Georgia Tech and 10 leading global companies.

The selected startups are from across the country and the companies’ leaders include first-time founders and serial entrepreneurs. The startups are:

  • Bee Downtown is working to build healthy, sustainable, honey bee communities around the world.
  • Cyrano is a leadership communications platform using video messaging to help businesses better connect and engage with employees.
  • EmployUs helps companies hire more referrals by automating the employee referral process.
  • Fast Radius enables companies to manage the design, engineering, prototyping and production of end-use parts with digital manufacturing
  • Gauge Insights is a platform for companies to obtain feedback from customers in minutes.
  • Sudu is a technology-based logistics company that offers an end-to-end platform to match shippers and carriers based upon route organization.
  • The Mom Project is a marketplace and community that connects enterprises with diverse female talent.
  • TransRisk creates products and solutions that help transportation industry participants efficiently manage price risk in the North American freight transportation market.

Cyrano and Sudu are part of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), which was established at Georgia Tech by Georgia lawmakers in 1980 to launch and build technology companies. Engage Ventures will offer programming and other services through a contract with ATDC.

Engage Ventures is the largest strategic grouping of major corporations in an independent venture firm. The focus is helping startups develop and execute go-to-market strategies.

“What makes Engage unique is the level of access and interaction with our founding corporate partners at the executive and C-suite level to help streamline partnerships and strategic relationships with these startups and growth companies,” said Thiago Olson, managing director at Engage Ventures.

The 10 founding companies contributing capital, expertise, time and resources in support of Engage include AT&T, Chick-fil-A, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Foundation Inc., Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Invesco Ltd., The Home Depot and UPS. Executives from these firms will serve as mentors to the companies receiving financial support from the venture fund.

Engage is headquartered in Georgia Tech’s Technology Square.

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2017/08/15/companies-selected-new-tech-square-based-venture-firm

Contracting News

Read More

Contracting Tips

Read More

GTPAC News

Read More

Georgia Tech News

Read More