9 CED Members Selected as NC IDEA Semi-Finalists for Fall 2012

CED Member NC IDEA, an organization committed to supporting business innovation and economic advancement in North Carolina, announced today that it has selected 23 semi-finalists in its 14th grant cycle to-date. These semi-finalists were chosen from the 123 applications received from NC-based startups focused on software, information technology, medical devices or material sciences.

Nine of the semi-finalist companies are CED Members, and they are in bold, below. Six participated as Demo Companies at the CED Tech Venture Conference 2012 in September. The NC IDEA Fall 2012 Grant Cycle semi-finalists include:

• 3DFS Power Solutions – Pittsboro, NC
• Able Device – Raleigh, NC
• ActaTex – Chapel Hill, NC
• Arcametrics Systems – Durham, NC
• Healthdax – Charlotte, NC
• ibid2SAVE – Charlotte, NC
• iMedia Revenue – Hillsborough, NC
• Lucerno Dynamics – Raleigh, NC
• MEFIVER – Cary, NC
• NeuroSpire – Durham, NC
• Novametics – Raleigh, NC
• Pluribus Systems – Durham, NC
• PopUp – Chapel Hill, NC
• Rheti – Durham, NC
• RxAnalytics – Chapel Hill, NC
• Scimarket Technologies – Durham, NC
• Spendburner – Greenville, NC
• Starfish – Durham, NC
• SyncHear – Carrboro, NC
• SYNSTREAMS – Raleigh, NC
• TEO Systems – Greenville, NC
• Tethis – Raleigh, NC
• Tilt, Inc. – Raleigh, NC

The semi-finalists have been invited to submit a full, more detailed proposal by mid-October. Finalists will then be selected at the beginning of November to present before a team of experienced investors, industry experts and entrepreneurs. Approximately four to six grant recipients will be announced in early December. The grants, which are up to $50,000 per recipient, support business plan research and development, reduce the risk of early failure and advance projects to the point of suitability for angel or venture capital investment. In addition to the funding, winners will also benefit from mentoring by successful entrepreneurs and experienced investors; use of MBA interns; in-kind services from attorneys, accountants and marketing consultants; public recognition and access to growth capital.

Earlier this summer, NC IDEA announced the organization’s latest grant recipients from its Spring 2012 cycle: ArchiveSocial, DealCloud, Gema Touch, Impulsonic and Motaavi. All companies with the exception of Motaavi participated in the CED Tech Venture Conference 2012 in September as Demo Companies. All Since its inception in 2006, NC IDEA’s grant program has awarded approximately $2.5M to 67 companies across the state.