U.S. Small Business Loans in Arrears Down
Ros Krasny, Reuters

Delinquencies among small and medium-sized U.S. business borrowers fell in October for a third straight month, according to PayNet Inc, which provides risk-management tools to the commercial lending industry. The improved snapshot of accounts in moderate and severe delinquency is consistent with indications that business conditions bottomed out earlier in the year... Read more ...

Vaccines on Horizon for AIDS, Alzheimer's, Herpes
By Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press

Malaria. Tuberculosis. Alzheimer's disease. AIDS. Pandemic flu. Genital herpes. Urinary tract infections. Grass allergies. Traveler's diarrhea. You name it, the pharmaceutical industry is working on a vaccine to prevent it.

Many could be on the market in five years or less. Read more ...

 

Our pick of Larta-alumni companies that are making the news and already on their way to making it big!

Larta's 2005 Venture Forum participant Row 44, a Westlake Village firm, is outfitting airlines with inexpensive satellite-based devices that allow passengers to stay connected.

Earlier this year, Southwest Airlines Co. and Alaska Airlines began offering Row 44's Internet service. Read more...

2009-2010 NIH Commercialization Assistance Program (CAP) participant Tensegrity Prosthetics, has created the first major non-robotic advance in prosthetic foot design in the past 25 years with a product that emulates the actions of the natural foot in walking. Tensegrity's foot allows functional efficiencies that will enable many more lower limb amputees to enjoy more stability and freedom of mobility. This prosthesis gives them the opportunity to participate in more activities because it allows wearers to do more without tiring, compared to other prosthetic foot designs currently on the market. Tensegrity will succeed by creating win-win relationships throughout the value chain. Read more...

 

Larta Selected as Partner for TRIO Program

Larta Institute has been selected as a partner by Southern California Edison to provide workshop support for the Technology Resource Incubator Outreach (TRIO) program. TRIO is designed to nurture new technologies from universities and a variety of incubating firms through workshops, training, and support services. Program participants will receive information to help them develop utility third party-implemented programs and be prepared with the necessary documentations to get started successfully. The program will speed up the availability of new technologies and products for electric customers and is slated to begin in early 2010.

 

National Science Foundation taps Larta Institute for Nationwide Commercialization Program

- Award continues existing initiative -

Los Angeles, CA — December 4, 2009. Larta Institute has been awarded a contract from the National Science Foundation to provide technical support to NSF’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I grantees. These programs reside under NSF’s division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP). Larta’s work will focus on commercialization planning for grantees seeking to apply for Phase II funding and transition their innovations to the marketplace.

"We’re proud of NSF affirming Larta as their partner in this effort and look forward to engaging with the entrepreneurs developing the next generation of solutions" said Rohit Shukla, Larta Institute's CEO.

The nationwide program will assist emerging companies in a wide range of sectors including Electronics, Biotechnology, Information-based Technologies, Nanomaterials/Advanced Materials, Manufacturing Innovation, and Chemical-based Technologies.

 

NIH Commercialization Assistance Program (CAP)
Commercialization Training Workshop a Success!!

The Commercialization Training Workshop (CTW) was conducted on November 18, 2009 at the Marriott in Marina Del Rey, CA. Commercialization topics were covered at the workshop by representatives from key players in the life science community. Bruce Pratt of Genzyme gave special remarks at the event. See the detailed CTW Agenda, which provides a full speaker list and description of panels. The workshop opened with a brief orientation of the CAP where NIH and Larta personnel educated the companies on important CAP issues related to scope, commitment, deliverables and resources and advisors available. The workshop materials included binders and some handouts. Companies have been provided the necessary program information and resources and at this point should be familiar with the various elements of the CAP. The workshop also provided for networking opportunities between the CAP companies and efforts were made both during and prior to the workshop to facilitate introductions and potential collaborations between the companies. The Larta Institute Networking reception held on November 17th also provided networking opportunities for the CAP companies.

 

USDA Commercialization Training Assistance Program (CATP)
Commercialization Training Workshop Concluded

The USDA-CATP’s 2009-2010 program year launched with a successful Commercialization Training Workshop in Washington, DC on October 29 and 30. This year’s 25 CATP companies came with motivation to advance their commercially promising technologies. This year’s companies represent all sectors of agriculture including Food Science, Renewable Energy, Animal Production and Plant Biology.

Larta Institute produced a two day program at USDA’s Economic Research Service office in Washington DC’s Dupont Circle area and brought high level speakers from the likes of Monsanto Company, Finistere Ventures, Dow AgroSciences, and Morrison & Foerster amongst others. Participating companies were given the opportunity to meet one-on-one with the Principal Advisors that will be mentoring them through the commercialization strategy development process. The agenda also encompassed networking opportunities which helped industry leaders, USDA personnel, and companies gather to discuss important challenges facing agriculture today and to brainstorm their solutions.

 

Larta Institute to present at World Bank Global Forum

- Larta Global Bridge Efforts on Agenda -
Rohit Shukla, CEO of Larta Institute, has been invited to discuss STI (science, technology & innovation) approaches at the World Bank Global Forum, “Science, Technology and Innovation Capacity Building Partnerships for Sustainable Development” in Washington, DC. The Forum is organized as a high level expert working group to address STI capacity building partnership ideas and formulate a plan to implement those ideas in the developed and developing world.

 

BioMalaysia 2009 celebrates joint venture with Larta Institute

Rohit Shukla, Larta CEO, was invited to BioMalaysia 2009, the annual event celebrating Malaysia’s biotechnology industry in Kuala Lumpur, November 17-19, 2009. During the opening session, Mr. Shukla and Mr. Iskandar Mahmood, CEO of Malaysia Biotechnology Corporation, exchanged documents detailing the agreement between the partners on the recently-launched Global Bridge Malaysia CAP (Commercialization Assistance Program). The formal “exchange of documents”, one of five collaboration programs featured at the opening plenary session at the national event, was witnessed by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and other dignitaries. Later, Mr. Shukla was the featured speaker at a special session on commercialization.

BioMalaysia bills itself as the largest biotechnology conference and exhibition in Asia. In 2009, the event drew some 12,000 attendees, up significantly from the year before, and shone a spotlight on the country’s National Biotechnology Policy, which has already yielded promising results in its quest to have the industry contribute 2.5 percent of GDP in the next few years. Drawing from a rich pool of natural botanical and plant-based assets, an ethnically diverse population, a history of directed research and a vibrant and competitive agricultural sector and world-class infrastructure, Malaysia is aggressively pursuing an “open door” policy toward the ASEAN region and beyond. It seeks to become a leading hub for the creation, import, export and development of products, services and processes serving the biotechnology and “agbio” industries.

For more information about Malaysia CAP or other Larta's Global Bridge™ programs please contact us.

 

Shukla to Speak at Biocom 2009 in Malaysia

Larta CEO Rohit Shukla has been invited to speak at the upcoming Biocom 2009, organized by the Malaysia Biotechnology Corporation (Biotechcorp) in Kuala Lumpur on December 10 and 11, 2009. The event is organized each year to present and discuss best practices in technology transfer and commercialization for the benefit of Biotechcorp’s research and commercialization programs, which seed commercially-viable research and science-based entrepreneurship in Malaysia. This year, the event will feature the launch of the Technology Commercialization Network (TCN), a specially-invited group of practitioners and experts from around the world which will collaborate with Biotechcorp in its technology transfer and commercialization initiatives. Speakers and guests are drawn from within Malaysia, the ASEAN region and the U.S. In addition to a keynote slot, Mr. Shukla will also be featured on a panel which will discuss “Challenges in Commercializing Research Outcomes & The Way Forward”, and has been invited to participate in TCN.

 

Staying Alive - Webinar for NIH-CAP Participants

In cooperation with MJF & Associates, Larta Institute is hosting a webinar specifically designed for CAP participating companies. This web-based seminar provides most up-to-date information on the internal financial and operational management practices relevant to small businesses. National Managing Director of MJF & Associates, Stephen Ragow, in collaboration with Jenny Chen-Drake of Chen-Drake Law Group and Steven Hughes of the Silicon Valley Bank will provide tips for establishing effective and efficient financial and operational actions, the legal steps to take before and after funding is in place and potential short-term funding options for small business. This webinar will also cover both “best practices” and “traps for the wary” in these key areas. Open only to NIH Commercialization Assistance Program (CAP) participants.

12th Annual Corporate Venturing & Innovation Partnering Conference
February 23-25, 2010 - The Hyatt Regency, Newport Beach, CA

This annual event provides corporate investors with strategies to gain a competitive advantage through corporate venturing and innovation initiatives. Over two days, attendees will have an opportunity to share B2B alliance models, investment approaches, strategies to capture technology innovation from external sources, and insights on ways to enhance their corporate venturing initiatives.

LARTA members are welcome to register at the reduced rate of $1,195. To receive this special discount, please use the code CVLARTA and contact IBF at Cathy@ibfconferences.com

Visit our Events Calendar for a list of Larta's partners events.