CED Selects Officers and Board of Directors Members

CED, the Southeast’s largest entrepreneurial support organization, today announced the officers and members elected to its Board of Directors for terms beginning July 1, 2012. Nominations to the Board of Directors were approved by the full CED Board of Directors at the May 2012 meeting.

Eric Linsley, managing partner at Pappas Ventures, remains Chair of the Board, and David Spitz, president and COO at Channel Advisor, remains Chair-elect. Helga Leftwich, partner at Hutchison Law Group, was elected Secretary, and David Hood, audit partner at Ernst & Young, was elected Treasurer. All officers serve one-year terms.

Members of CED’s Board of Directors serve two-year terms. The seven newly elected members are: Larry Bettino, general partner, StarVest Partners; Glen Caplan, shareholder, Robinson Bradshaw; Bob Geolas, president and CEO, RTP Foundation; Gary Hayes, managing director, Scale Finance; Nick Jordan, founder and managing director, Smashing Boxes; Giles Shih, CEO, BioResource International; and Craig Stone, CEO, HireNetworks.

Returning to CED’s Board of Directors for a second consecutive two-year term are: Kyle Breischaft, Emergency Technologies; Lee Buck, BlueBright Ventures; Kent Christison, K & L Gates; Joe Colopy, Bronto Software; John Crumpler, Hatteras Venture Partners; Mike Elliott, Noro-Moseley Partners; Vipin Garg, Tranzyme Pharma; Jonathan Gindes, Affinergy; Collin Hill, Cherry Bekaert & Holland; John Kerr, York Commercial Properties; R. Brooks Malone, III, Hughes, Pittman & Gupton; Chris Matton, Bandwidth.com; David Rizzo, NCIDEA; Laura Robinette, PwC; David Routh, Bank of America; Chip Royce, Lenovo; Lori Spivey, Financial Directions Group; Teresa Spangler, PlazaBridge Group; Alan Spurgin, Square 1 Bank; Wright Steenrod, Chrysalis Ventures; Rob Tyler, Poyner Spruill; and Rik Vandevenne, River Cities Capital Funds.

Scynexis reaches $11.5 M in funding round

Drug discovery and development company Scynexis, which is in midstage clinical development of a novel hepatitis C treatment, is getting closer to reaching its $15 million fundraising target.

Scynexis, a CED member, has raised nearly $11.5 million so far, according to an amended securities filing.
The fundraiser, a mix of equity, debt, options and warrants, launched in December. Sycnexis has raised money from 11 investors to date, according to the filing.

Capitol Broadcasting invests in Atlanta-based ScoutMob

Scoutmob, an Atlanta-based mobile application developer that delivers location-based deals in real time, just raised an additional $3.25 million in new financing. Capitol Broadcasting, a CED Member, is one of the investors participating in this round.

I've long been a supporter of Scoutmob--originally launched in 2010 in Atlanta, they quickly expanded operations in San Francisco, New York, and DC. There's three main reasons I enjoy the Scoutmob experience:

CED Wins Full Steam Ahead Award for Expert Mentorship in the Triangle

CED, the Southeast's largest entrepreneurial support network, received the "Steward" Award at the Full Steam Ahead Awards presented by WRAL Tech Wire on Thursday evening. The Steward Award honors the individual or organization that serves as the best mentor or advisor to startups in the Research Triangle region.

Accepting the award on behalf of CED, Joan Siefert Rose acknowledged the importance of mentoring relationships to the many startups in our region, noting that "mentors or a mentoring team often help entrepreneurs and their companies focus on their core mission, helping them streamline their businesses for maximum success."

North Carolina Companies to Watch – Where Are They Now?

The North Carolina Companies to Watch Awards recognize second-stage companies that demonstrate success in their market. What exactly makes these companies “worth watching?” We spoke with a few companies that received this prestigious award in the past two cycles to find out just where they are now, and what exactly made them a company to watch.

Innovative Products

DryCorp, based in Wilmington, NC, is creating and manufacturing a few incredibly innovative products, which, as the name suggests, are designed to keep things dry. Founded in 1998, DryCorp originally produced DryPro, a line of waterproof products that protected casts, PICCs and prosthetics from being damaged by water while swimming in the pool or ocean, hanging on the beach, or in a bath or shower.

            And then they created DryCase, a line of products that use vacuum seal technology to ensure that electronic devices stay dry in casual and extreme circumstances. Ever been to the beach with your smartphone, tablet, or e-reader? How did you protect it? Or were you too afraid to use it? Well, people need no longer fear sand or water ruining their devices. DryCase uses innovative technology to ensure the devices you use stay clean and dry.

Due to their innovative product line and continued growth through an expanding merchant network, DryCase was selected as an award recipient for the 2011 North Carolina Companies to Watch, presented in September. In the short time since, DryCorp has expanded their workforce, and completed an intense trade-show circuit. Experiencing their second-straight year of ~300% revenue growth, DryCorp is in a great position to continue their expansion. Later this month, expect two incredible new products, DryBuds and the DryCase Waterproof Backpack. DryBuds, a set of headphones that are 100% waterproof, meaning that you can go surf at Kure Beach whilst rocking out to your favorite surf rock jams. The DryCase Backpack is more ideal for the kayak or canoe trip you’ve been meaning to take, protecting all of your gear from the elements. Now that’s some innovative technology!

High Performance

Recognized as a North Carolina Company to Watch in 2010 for high performance in the marketplace, the aptly names file-sharing company ShareFile has seen tremendous growth and expansion. Started in 2003 by Jesse Lipson, the company grew to 30 employees by the time of the company’s nomination in 2010.

            ShareFile allows businesses to create a custom-branded and password-protected internet portal to exchange business files with teammates, clients, and collaborators easily and securely. Boasting an initial client list of prominent brands and Fortune 500 companies, ShareFile was a great nominee and award recipient for 2010.

            In October 2011, ShareFile was acquired by Citrix Systems for an undisclosed amount. The ShareFile offices are still based in Raleigh, NC, and the team is now more than 150 employees. In addition to their exit event, ShareFile was recognized on the Inc.com 500 list as the 241^st fastest growing company in the nation. ShareFile is now used by 99% of Fortune 500 companies as a data-storage, collaboration or file-transfer tool. Now that’s an impressive performance!

Rapid Growth

DataChambers, based in Winston-Salem, NC, is a full-service IT and managed services company that specializes in data storage. Named a 2010 North Carolina Companies to Watch recipient due to their successful expansion and economic impact in Winston-Salem, the company has continued to grow under the careful leadership of Nicolas Kottyan, CEO.

            In addition to receiving numerous awards for fast growth and employee performance, DataChambers attracted attention from many of its large corporate clients, eventually agreeing to an acquisition by North State Communications, one of the top 15 largest communications companies for an undisclosed amount. DataChambers retains their office space in Winston-Salem, and recently doubled the size of their office, taking over the second floor of their office park office building. Kottyan still serves as CEO, and plans to continue to grow the business, as evidenced by their office expansion.

The 2012 Recipients – Where Will They Go?

This year, we honor 25 additional North Carolina companies with the 2012 North CarolinaCompanies to Watch award, to be presented at an Awards Dinner on Thursday, June 7, 2012 in front of esteemed members of the entrepreneurial community of the Triangle and the state. We invite you to join us to meet the winners and make predictions about what the future will bring for these highly-successful and innovative companies.

What are your predictions for where these companies will be in one year? In two years? Leave us a comment or tell us in person on June 7^th! 

Silicon Valley Bank Releases Startup Outlook 2012

CED Member Silicon Valley Bank released "Startup Outlook 2012," a report based on survey responses from 207 executives from U.S. based startups yesterday. The report finds that startups continue to plan on expanding, showing that 82% of the companies surveyed plan on making additional hires this year. 

Silicon Valley Bank has released an infographic along with the report. We have received permission to share the infographic. Keep reading to see the highlights from the report.