Tech start-ups embrace stiffcompetition for cash.Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard CORRECTION (Ran Oct. 16, 2007): A photo caption on Page F1 on Oct. 14 misidentified the founders of OsoEco. Caroline Cummings, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , was on the left and Katie Wilson-Hamaker, president, was on the right. Also, the source cited in the story for the LOHAS LOHAS Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability Consumer Trends Report was incorrect. It is The Natural Marketing Institute. On Friday, two Eugene-based technology start-ups will take the stage at the Bend Venture Conference to try to convince a group of 30 investors that these small firms have the most promising business idea in the room. The stakes are high: The winner will take home $100,000 in seed money. The two local competitors are Floragenex, a spin-out of lab research at the University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. that has developed a faster, cheaper way to conduct genetic mapping of plants and animals Plants and Animals are a Canadian indie-rock band from Montreal, comprised of guitarist-vocalists Warren Spicer and Nic Basque, and drummer-vocalist Matthew Woodley.[1] They are signed to Secret City Records. . The other is OsoEco, founded by two Eugene businesswomen. OsoEco is a sustainable social shopping Social shopping is a method of e-commerce in which consumers shop in a social networking environment similar to MySpace. Using the wisdom of crowds, users communicate and aggregate information about products, prices, and deals. Web site (think e-commerce meets a social networking site A Web site that provides a virtual community for people interested in a particular subject or just to "hang out" together. Members create their own online "profile" with biographical data, pictures, likes, dislikes and any other information they choose to post. , such as MySpace). Both companies are furiously trying to raise more than $1 million each to take their ideas to market. So winning a venture competition with a sizeable investment fund could be a significant step for either of them. The investment fund "is really important because it's sort of their base funding to get going," said Susan Nabbefeld, Bend Venture Conference marketing director. Local entrepreneurs have long complained that it's tougher to raise cash in Oregon than in states with bigger metro areas This article is about the music production team. For the article about population centers, see metropolitan area. Metro Area are a Brooklyn-based dance music production team composed of Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani. , such as Seattle or Silicon Valley. "There's always more capital in the larger markets like Seattle or San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , or even Portland," said Chris Nystrom, director of the Lane Venture Forum, a program of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce that gives early-stage companies an audience with local investors. Floragenex presented at the venture forum, and OsoEco recently applied, Nystrom said. But fledgling companies often just aren't developed enough to interest investors, said Nystrom and Jon Broome, who has seen many early business plans as director of the Centers for Hi-Tech Innovation at Lane Community College. "I run into a lot of people who think they have a good idea," Broome said, "but the idea is full of holes, or isn't researched enough." Broome said he thinks venture forums are worthwhile even for the entrepreneurs who don't win funding because they'll be asked the tough questions that help them improve their business plans. Business owners also can make key investment contacts that they can use later when their business ideas are further along. "The main thing I hope to get from the Bend Venture Conference is exposure to a wide range of seed venture investors," said Nathan Lillegard, co-founder of Floragenex. The company has raised $100,000 in equity capital, after initial help from a $30,000 small business development loan from the city of Eugene, he said. It is seeking $1.5 million more by mid-2008. Floragenex is one of four companies that have been invited to give a 10-minute business plan presentation, followed by 10 minutes of questions and answers. Any of the investors, or anyone in the 300-person audience, can ask a question, Nabbefeld said. The other three competitors are a Portland software company that has developed a platform for professional and broadcast video applications, a Bend company that has developed software to drive advertising to mobile phones, and a Seattle manufacturer of organic baking baking: see cooking. baking Process of cooking by dry heat, especially in an oven. Baked products include bread, cookies, pies, and pastries. kits for kids. The founders of OsoEco, the other Eugene start-up, will have to jump through an extra hoop. As one of 10 "wild card" candidates, the Web company has just one minute to try to persuade the entire audience to let it compete as a fifth entry against the group of four, which includes Floragenex. If selected, OsoEco would give a 10 minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes of Q & A. Other wild card candidates include a green outdoor gear manufacturer based in West Linn linn n. Scots 1. A waterfall. 2. A steep ravine. [Scottish Gaelic linne, pool, waterfall.] , a medical device manufacturer in Hillsboro, and a company in Portland that transforms on-site waste into electricity and organic soil amendments. Cracking cracking - cracker genetic code Floragenex is the first commercial spin-out from the UO Business School's technology entrepreneurship program. Founded in 2002, the program teams up a university researcher who has an innovation with potential commercial application with an MBA MBA abbr. Master of Business Administration Noun 1. MBA - a master's degree in business Master in Business, Master in Business Administration student and a law student. Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson (born August 17, 1954) is a guitarist and recording artist from Austin, Texas. , 39, an assistant professor in biology, had been working for about a year on new technology for genetic mapping before he met Lillegard,32, an MBA student, in 2005. "I obviously didn't have time to operate a company," Johnson said. "So ... we were glad to find each other." The company isn't involved in genetic modification, Johnson said. Rather, it identifies important areas of plant genomes to enhance the natural breeding process. Floragenex's work could help growers develop plants that thrive without pesticides and fertilizers, Johnson said. The company's technology also could identify and develop varieties that grow best in different regions, helping to support the locally grown agriculture movement, he said. One client, a blueberry blueberry, plant of the large genus Vaccinium, widely distributed shrubs (occasionally small trees) of the family Ericaceae (heath family), usually found on acid soil. They are often confused with the related huckleberry. grower in Florida, for example, hired Floragenex to identify the variety of blueberry plants it was planning to grow in Chile. It wanted to make sure that all the plants were of a variety best suited to Chile's growing conditions. Floragenex serves clients working with many different plant species, from grain crops to flowers, Lillegard said. Large agriculture corporations are investing a lot of money in genetic research of major crops, such as corn, rice and soybeans. But little genetic mapping has been done on many other crops, Johnson and Lillegard said. "Our strategy is to go after all those markets that the agribusiness agribusiness Agriculture operated by business; specifically, that part of a modern national economy devoted to the production, processing, and distribution of food and fibre products and byproducts. giants aren't interested in," Lillegard said. Green shopping Caroline Cummings, 38, and Katie Wilson-Hamaker, 33, founders of OsoEco, say they want to clear away the green clutter when it comes to shopping for sustainable products and services on the Web. "There's a lot of confusion about what products are really green," said CEO Cummings. The Web site and shopping tool OsoEco is developing would provide a clearinghouse of information and access to a community of like-minded shoppers to help sort through companies' claims of being environmentally and socially responsible. Market research shows that sustainable shoppers are an identifiable and sizeable demographic, Cummings said. Nationwide, "90 million people want to buy green products, and 70 million don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. where to buy them," she said, citing the 2006 LOHAS Consumer Trends Report by the The National Marketing Institute. LOHAS stands for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, and those consumers spend more than $200 billion a year on sustainable goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the report. Another characteristic of that shopper demographic is that 54 percent of them research products online before they buy them. Most people like to shop together offline, and "there's really nowhere to do that online," Wilson-Hamaker said. By December, OsoEco plans to launch a tool that shoppers can take with them as they browse online. Say a shopper is looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. "green" wine glasses for her wedding. She narrows it down to two choices, both made with recycled glass. She can grab images and descriptions of each, and ask her friends - or a wider community of sustainable shoppers - to vote for the greenest wine glass. By the end of next year, visitors to OsoEco's site should be able to buy from OsoEco-approved vendors, which must meet at least half of OsoEco's standards for environmental and social responsibility, as well as other practices, such as marketing messages, manufacturing methods and workplace conditions. OsoEco's marketing tag line tag line also tag·line n. 1. An ending line, as in a play or joke, that makes a point. 2. An often repeated phrase associated with an individual, organization, or commercial product; a slogan. Noun 1. is "Local. Wherever you are," so searches would connect shoppers with local vendors first, Cummings said. OsoEco plans to sign up 200 vendors by August, Wilson-Hamaker said. The firm has raised almost $400,000, which includes $70,000 invested by the founders. Now it's seeking an additional $500,000 to enable e-commerce at the site. That will carry OsoEco until August, when it will seek an additional 800,000 to $1 million. The company projects $14 million in revenues by 2010. That assumes 2 million monthly visitors by the end of 2010, Wilson-Hamaker said. OsoEco will make money through advertising appearing on its site and a percentage of sales from vendors listed on OsoEco's Web site. The company leases 2,700 square feet in a downtown office building for its seven employees, including the founders. When revenues hit $500,000, which OsoEco is projecting early next year, the company will hire six to 12 more people, Cummings said. Cummings, who had led marketing and communications for the global rollout of new technologies at Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), colloquially referred to as BMS, is a pharmaceutical corporation, formed by a 1989 merger between pharmaceutical companies Bristol-Myers Company, founded in 1887 by William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers in Clinton, NY (both were , met Wilson-Hamaker, a sustainable business A business is sustainable if it has adapted its practices for the use of renewable resources and holds itself accountable for the environmental and human rights impacts of its activities. development consultant, at a sustainability workshop at the UO three years ago. The pair immediately hit it off and decided to go into business. They said they initially looked for a company to buy, but when they came up empty-handed turned their attention to the social shopping site, an idea they had been tossing toss v. tossed, toss·ing, toss·es v.tr. 1. To throw lightly or casually or with a sudden slight jerk: tossed the shirt on the floor. See Synonyms at throw. around since shortly after they met. Floragenex Business: Genetic mapping technology Founded: January 2007 Founders: Eric Johnson and Nathan Lillegard Employees: Two Fundraising
On the Web: www.floragenex.com OsoEco Business: Sustainable social shopping Web site Founded: January 2007 Founders: Caroline Cummings and Katie Wilson-Hamaker Employees: Five Fundraising goal: $500,000; then $800,000 to $1 million more after August 2008 On the Web: www.osoeco.com |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion