LartaVOX - February 2011

Larta Featured in CHI’s 2011 California Biomedical Industry Report

The 2011 California Biomedical Industry Report published this past Tuesday by the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) highlights success stories from Larta Institute. The report features five successful California companies that have participated in the Larta-managed National Institutes of Health Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP). Larta has mentored more than 700 NIH-funded companies since the organization began managing the NIH-CAP in 2004. Larta has also assisted 105 NIH-CAP companies raise over $397 million in capital, and has had 10 acquisitions result from the program. The Larta feature in CHI’s report illustrates how a comprehensive commercialization program, such as the nationwide NIH-CAP, impacts industry development even at the state level. To view the full report from CHI, visit www.chi.org.

Registration Opens for the 2011 Ag Innovation Showcase

Larta Institute and BRDG Park at the Danforth Plant Science Center announce that they have opened registration for the 2011 Ag Innovation Showcase. The Ag Showcase is May 23-24, 2011 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, MO. The Ag Showcase is a distinguished world-class gathering of key players in the agriculture sector including industry members, innovators, investors, and ag leaders. The event features presentations from emerging ag tech companies, as well as a platform for dialogue, discussion, and deal making in sectors including ag-bio, food production, biofuels, sustainable materials, bio-based products, farming technologies, and animal health.

The event is open to the public. 20% discount available. Use coupon code 20AG11 for registration.

Larta Team Leads Roundtable Discussion in the 13th Annual Corporate Venturing and Innovation Partnering Conference

The 13th Annual Corporate Venturing and Innovation Partnering Conference welcomes Larta’s Constanza Pachon and Rebecca Lauber to lead the discussion, “Sourcing Opportunities & Partnering with Government: The $2B Innovation Pipeline.” The Larta team will discuss the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, which engages small, high-tech, innovative businesses as a significant part of the federal government's research and development efforts. The SBIR program operates across 11 federal departments and collectively deploys $2B each year (via a phased grant process) to advance the commercial potential of early stage innovations. The conference takes place on February 16-18 in Newport Beach, CA, and aims to provide corporate investors with strategies to gain a competitive advantage through corporate venturing and innovation initiatives. To learn more about the event, visit http://www.corporateventuringconference.com/.

Larta NIH-CAP Companies Present at Industry Feedback Sessions

Larta Institute is proud to present the NIH Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP) Feedback Sessions in the month of February, where companies funded by the NIH's SBIR program will present their commercialization opportunities and strategies to a roundtable of reviewers. The Feedback Sessions are informal and geared to provide the NIH-funded company useful input/feedback/critique from outside individuals from industry, capital providers, and domain experts. The companies will take the feedback and use it to refine their go-to-market approach.

These Feedback Sessions are a component of Larta’s ongoing commercialization assistance programs (CAPs) that Larta oversees on a national basis for the NIH, among other agency partners. Since the beginning of the NIH-CAP program in 2004, over $410M in equity has been raised and twelve companies/technologies have been acquired to date...Read more...

Larta Welcomes 83 New Companies to NSF-CAP1 Program

Larta would like to congratulate the companies who have successfully completed the NSF-CAP1 and submitted a Phase II proposal to the NSF in January and welcome the 83 newly funded Phase I companies. As the 2010 program cycle of Larta’s NSF-CAP1 comes to a close, another group of NSF Phase I SBIR funded companies are given the opportunity to participate in Larta’s 4th iteration of the program. The broad range of technologies represented in the new group of companies includes cleantech, energy, electronics, materials, software, and life sciences, among others.

As NSF-CAP1 participating companies make their way along the path to commercialization, each will receive one-on-one personalized mentoring services with a dedicated Larta industry consultant and commercialization expert. Additional resources, made possible by Larta’s vast network, are also made available, including Larta’s Industry Advisory Board, comprised of key industry members from sectors covered under NSF SBIR funding, as well as webinars delivered by experts on topics directly relevant to Phase I companies developing their business and commercialization plan...Read more...