101 Tech Corridor gains attention; surge in deals expected to continue.

The boom in the wireless market and Internet-related businesses locally is expected to continue in 2006 as a good year is predicted for the 101 Tech Corridor.

In the new year, many expect companies like Calabasas-based Strix Systems and Xirrus Inc. to continue making a name for themselves in the tech space. Strix Systems spent much of 2005 gaining large sums of venture capital funding and Xirrus is well-regarded in the industry thanks to a management team led by Dirk Gates, the former head of Xircom.

Ben Kuo, the founder of well-known technology website, Socaltech.com, singled out both Xirrus and Strix as among some of the companies leading the pack locally.

"Strix and Xirrus have been garnering a lot of attention as have companies like Inphi and Fulcrum Microsystems," Kuo said. "They all seem to be making some progress in getting customers and Strix recently deployed a wireless network for the entire country of Macedonia."

Kuo also mentioned that another trend to watch for in 2006 is a continued interest of angel investors in tech firms locally. In particular, Kuo mentioned the emergence of the Westlake Village chapter of Keiretsu Forum. Indeed John Dilts, the chapter president of the Westlake Village, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles chapters of Keiretsu says that his organization has seen a lot of tech deals in the past year. And for 2006, he expects this surge to continue.

"We've seen a sizable number of software deals including some very interesting game companies as well as enterprise software opportunities. Digital media seems to be a hot area that's expanding as new technologies in that space are hitting the market," Dilts said. "Software on demand and software as a service have created a lot of buzz. Instant access to software of all types seems to be a definite trend to watch. And we've seen a noticeable upswing in our technology deal flow lately and investor interest in the tech sector generally seems to be coming on strong as we head into 2006."

Also 2006 might turn out to be the year of the local search firm, as Kuo also singled out local firms like Encino-based ReachLocal and Agoura Hills-based Jambo for having gained a great deal of traction in this rapidly growing niche.