CED Announcement: Contest!

CED's TWITTER CONTEST

<TO ENTER YOUR PITCH, CLICK ON THE COMMENTS BUTTON BELOW THIS POST>

Here's your challenge: in 140 characters or less, post the best business pitch you and your thinking cap can produce. Either pitch your own company or use your creativity - but stay under the 140 character limit or you're DQ'ed. After all pitches are submitted (the deadline has been EXTENDED to October 20) a CED judging panel will then select the best pitch, as well as the 4 runners up, to be announced at CED's Housewarming Party on October 28.

The ultimate winner will be rewarded with a free Lenovo Computer for creating the best of the best.

Post your pitch in one of two ways- 1. Post your pitch to your twitter with hashtag #CEDNC. 2. Simply type your pitch into the Comment box below this post by clicking on "Comments", and we will post it to our twitter page. Make sure you save 7 characters for the hashtag if you post on the blog! Helpful link here.

Either way, make sure your name or company is associated or written below your pitch so we can announce you as the winner at our launch party. GOOD LUCK!


P.S. Feel free to comment on or "like" others' pitches in the comments below...

BCBSNC Launches iPhone App

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) recently announced the launch of HealthNAVSM1, a mobile application designed to help customers access information and manage their personal health care. The free app is now available for download by customers with an Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

"Too often, our customers will head to the emergency room with a sick child, wait two hours to be seen and then realize they could have visited an urgent care center and paid a lot less," said John Roos, BCBSNC senior vice president for sales and marketing. "In situations like this, customers can now use our new mobile app to access health information in a fast, easy-to-use format. We're leveraging technology to give our customers a better experience."

The 1.0 version of the mobile app features four functions, including:

• An urgent care finder that helps customers locate in-network urgent care centers, as a more efficient and affordable alternative to emergency rooms.
• A prescription drug finder that allows customers to compare average drug costs, and find cheaper alternatives while they are discussing options with their doctor, or in preparation for a visit.
• Customer service access that provides customers one-click access to call a customer service representative when they need answers quickly.
• Health notes that let users store notes about personal and family health in one place, and includes suggested questions to ask your doctor during a visit.

"This is a first generation mobile app for BCBSNC," added Roos. "The company has plans for more apps and for availability on more smartphones in the future. We believe the launch of this mobile app will provide our customers with a relevant tool that will make it easier for them to do business with BCBSNC."

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has been a CED members since 2004. In addition to contributing to CED's Innovation to Impact campaign at the Supporter level, the company sponsored CED's Biotech conference in 2005 and 2010, CED's Venture conference in 2005 and 2009, and CED's inaugural Companies to Watch program. Currently, Michael Parkerson, vice president of ancillary markets serves on CED's Board of Directors.

NC Ranked 3rd Best State For Business

Recently, Forbes magazine ranked North Carolina as the 3rd Best State for Business in America.

North Carolina improved from last year's Forbes ranking of fifth. In addition to this encouraging news, Governor Perdue announced that recent statistics from the Federal Bureau of Labor and Statistics show North Carolina is the 3rd best state for declining unemployment and 4th in the nation for job creation.

In the Forbes rankings, North Carolina scored third in Business Costs and Regulatory Environment and ninth in Growth Prospect. Forbes scored the states on six measures including business cost, labor supply, regulatory environment, economic climate, growth prospect and quality of life.

Call for Internet Summit Demo Companies

Co-sponsored by CED, the Internet Summit is actively seeking high growth oriented Internet centric startups for the Startup Demo Showcase at the 3rd annual event slated for November 17th-18th, 2010 at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Internet Summit Demo Showcase companies are emerging high-growth firms that best represent the future of the Web. Selected companies will have the opportunity to exhibit to more than 1200 Internet executives, senior marketers, business strategists, bloggers, entrepreneurs and investors from across the country. The final deadline to be considered for the Internet Demo Showcase is October 22nd. Additional details on applying can be found at www.internetsummit.com

Advanced Animal Diagnostics Presents At Toronto Agriculture 2.0 Conference

Durham-based, Advanced Animal Diagnostics (AAD), a research and development company dedicated to bringing highly accurate, rapid animal diagnostic tests to the farm will present the company's platform of diagnostic technologies at the Agriculture 2.0 Conference in Toronto, Canada today.

AAD is one of 16 companies chosen by jury to present proprietary investment opportunities to the conference's audience of investors and industry professionals. AAD's presentation focuses on new diagnostics technologies that will help ensure the sustainability and safety of animal protein and milk products.

"At AAD, we're developing technologies that will help farmers detect and diagnose diseases in their animals more quickly and efficiently," said Joy Parr Drach, president of AAD. "This will revolutionize the way farmers approach animal health and help them treat and prevent diseases in a more sustainable way, ultimately helping them deliver a safe and plentiful food supply to consumers."

Advanced Animal Diagnostics has been an active CED member since 2004. In addition to company representatives regularly attending CED events, the company sponsored CED's Biotech conference in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2010.

TBJ Announces Fast 50 Award Winners

Yesterday, Triangle Business Journal announced the 2010 FAST 50 award winners. The celebratory awards dinner, honoring companies for their entrepreneurial excellence and achievements in the past year, is scheduled for November 4 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in RTP.

The following leaders and companies will be honored for their accomplishments with Fast 50 Awards (in alphabetical order):

ACC On Demand
American Support
Ateb, Inc.
Bandwidth.com, Inc.
BBH Design
BioResource International, Inc.
Bronto Software, Inc.
Bulk TV & Internet
Campbell Alliance
Captive-Aire Systems
Clinipace Worldwide
Connexion Technologies
Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems, Inc.
Corporate Investors Mortgage Group, Inc.
Drug Safety Alliance, Inc.
Ellis & Winters LLP
Environmental Holdings Group LLC
Eye Care Associates
FM:Systems, Inc.
Greene Resources, Inc.
Hatteras Funds
Highmark Companies
Hosted Solutions LLC
iContact Corporation
INC Research, Inc.
Integrated Laboratory Systems, Inc
Intelligent Access Systems of NC LLC
LM Restaurants
Lonesource, Inc
MedPro Rx, Inc.
MedThink Communications
Meridian Kiosks LLC
Mutual Distributing Company
Novella Clinical
Ockham Development Group, Inc
Pharmaceutical Calibrations and Instrumentation LLC
Physicians Pharmacy Alliance, Inc.
Quality Equipment LLC
Rockett Interactive, Inc.
SciMetrika LLC
SciQuest, Inc.
ShareFile
Spectraforce Technologies, Inc.
Strategic Connections Inc.
Surety Systems, Inc.
The Select Group
TowerCo
TrialCard, Incorporated
Workplace Options
Yonkers Industries, Inc.

The 2010 Fast 50 Awards program is a Triangle Business Journal event presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Bank of America and sponsored by USFalcon.

Profiles of the honorees will be featured in a Fast 50 Awards special section that will be available in the Nov. 5 issue for subscribers and at Triangle Business Journal.

Those interested in attending the event may register at TBJEVENTS.COM/fast50.

Neuronex Raises $1.5 Million Series A

Morrisville-based Neuronex, a startup drug development company, recently announced that it raised a $1.5 million series A round of funding.

Some of the details surrounding the financing were published in the October 6, 2010 edition of the Triangle Business Journal:

Neuronex is led by management team of Durham company Addrenex Pharmaceuticals, which was sold to Sciele Pharma last year for $29 million.

Moise Khayrallah, one of the co-founders and former CEO of Addrenex, is reprising those roles with Neuronex.

Another former Addrenex exec, Stephen Butts, is Neuronex's executive vice president of commercial operations. He says Neuronex will focus on developing products for the central nervous system. Neuronex has licensed one compound for epilepsy that is expected to go into clinical trials later this month. Butts said the company is also in talks with several other entities about licensing additional compounds.

The investors in Neuronex are the same angel investors who backed Addrenex. The company also has received a $250,000 small business research loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Butts said Neuronex could be in a position to seek additional capital in the second half of next year, depending on how the company's portfolio develops.

In 2007, Khayrallah presented at CED's Venture conference on behalf of Addrenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2010, CED celebrated his accomplishments at a Life Science CEO dinner.

In 2007, Khayrallah presented at CED's Venture conference on behalf of Addrenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2010, CED celebrated his accomplishments at a Life Science CEO dinner. He also spoke at a CED's first FastTrac class of this year, and participated in the program himself as he was starting his company.

Zift Solutions' Round Estended To $1.5 Million

Durham-based, Zift Solutions, a SaaS company that increases channel sales by enabling channel partners to create and execute measurable marketing campaigns, recently announced that it extended its A round to $1.5 million.

Kinetic Ventures joined Southern Capitol Ventures as investors in the round.

The funding will enable Zift to significantly expand its development and sales efforts. As part of the investment, Jason Caplain, general partner at SCV joins the Zift Solutions board.


Zift Solutions has been a CED member since 2008. Company CEO, Kenneth Romley, presented the company to investors at CED's Venture 2010 conference.

Ajinomoto Publishes Whitepaper and 3-D Video

 Ajinomoto Aminoscience LLC, a Raleigh-based supplier of pharmaceutical and research-grade amino acids, recently published a new whitepaper and 3D animated video showcasing their protein expression system Corynex. Their use of video to convey the application and effect of their product is very well done - it's an engaging and quick way to grasp what Corynex does.  If your company's website is largely text, or your primary product or service isn't intuitive, perhaps you should take a leaf out of Ajinomoto Aminoscience's book and optically spice up your site.

The company's success has resulted in an invite to present on the "Effective Protein Secretion Platform Using Corynebacterium glutamicum" at the BioProcess International Conference (BPI), an international conference focusing on innovation, science and solutions across a myriad of fields from economics and manufacturing strategies to formulation and analytical methods for biologics.

Ajinomoto Aminoscience has been a CED member since 2009, and sponsored our 2009-2010 Biotech Forum series. Congrats to them for their many successes, we will certainly keep an eye on them as they continue to move forward.

Local Biz News: Netsertive Completes $4 Million Seris A Financing

 Netsertive, a CED member since last March, recently announced it has completed a $4 million Series A financing. RRE Ventures and Greycroft Partners lead the round. Netsertive is a Cary-based, online marketing technology company focused on helping small and medium-sized businesses and their related product manufacturers reach customers in their respective local markets.

"Our mission is to help businesses that serve their local area bridge the gap between online discovery and offline sales," said Brendan Morrissey, CEO, Netsertive. "Far too many small and medium businesses lose out to larger competitors simply because potential customers cannot find them online. Our approach enables these smaller companies to affordably compete for online presence with the largest companies in the world. The return on investment that our clients experience speaks for itself."

In the past year, Netsertive has launched hundreds of online advertising campaigns for local businesses and national product manufacturers throughout North America. Due to this rapid growth and its aggressive technology development, Netsertive plans to fill up to 35 new positions within the next year. Those of you who are job-hunting and in this field should definitely keep an eye on Netsertive for job openings.

The company is set to move into its new headquarters in Raleigh/Durham's prestigious Research Triangle Park on October 1. If your company is looking to advertise on the web, Netsertive may be an ideal go-to for you. Check out their website here: http://www.netsertive.com/.

Local Biz News: SciQuest, Inc. Announces Pricing of its IPO

SciQuest, Inc. (Nasdaq: SQI), a Cary-based provider of on-demand strategic procurement and supplier enablement solutions, recently announced the initial public offering of 6,000,000 shares of its common stock at $9.50 per share. The shares began trading on Friday, September 24, 2010 on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker symbol "SQI."

SciQuest is offering 6,000,000 shares and certain selling stockholders have granted the underwriters the option to purchase up to an additional 900,000 shares at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any.

The company, which was backed by CED member company, Intersouth Partners, is profitable, based on SEC filings.

SciQuest, a CED member since 1997, has a rich history with the organization. In 1996, company co-founder, Peyton Anderson, participated in CED's Fast Trac course. In 2004, co- founder, Scott Albert spoke at CED's Entrepreneur conference. In 2007, the company sponsored CED's Biotech conference and in 2010, SciQuest made a generous gift to CED's membership campaign. Current CEO, Steve Wiehe, served two consecutive terms as Chairman on CED's Board of Directors. He oversaw the change in executive leadership from 24-year president, Monica Doss to current president, Joan Siefert Rose. Wiehe was instrumental in CED re-focusing on its mission to identify, enable and promote high growth companies.