Open Innovation: To Cooperate or Collaborate –That is the Question
Bengt Järrehult, SCA on Innovation Management

One of the major findings in mankind’s history is realizing the value of working together. Without it we would have starved to death about 100 000 years ago because a single man going hunting is very inefficient (I know – I am a hunter). We have also seen a very strong correlation between the amount of innovations happening and the number of people who are interconnected in the society during the course of the years. Read more...

The 'Rubin 300' - An Experimental Market Index of Tech Leaders
Howard Rubin, Wall Street & Technology

Traditional indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) or the Fortune 500 focus on top performers without any considerations other than their market capitalization, share price, revenue or other 20th-century measures of business performance. But in a Technology Economy, technology is a strategic lever, a tool to drive new business growth, protect revenue, reduce business costs and manage risk.

So let's do an experiment and look at a "new age" Dow Jones Industrial Average -- a market index of firms that have been identified as technology leaders. Read more...

What is the single best thing Washington can do to jump-start job creation?
McKinsey & Company - A collection of articles by multiple authors

As the United States struggles to cope with a stubbornly high unemployment rate that’s beginning to look more systemic than cyclical, [McKinsey & Company's] What Matters joins forces with the Atlantic to convene top thinkers in business, government, and academia to debate the question of how to create more jobs—perhaps the number-one challenge facing the country today. Read more...

The Kuala Lumpur International Venture Capital Symposium, October 9-12, will bring together leading figures in global innovation to discuss the importance of the venture capital industry, creating a culture of risk taking, and openness to new ideas in building sustainable innovation-led economic growth.

Larta CEO Rohit Shukla will embrace the insights gained through Larta's 18 years of work with emerging high-tech startups to lead a discussion as part of the Symposium’s “Commercialisation & Early Stage” Track.


Larta to Manage 2011-2012 NIH-CAP

Larta is pleased to announce that we will continue to manage the National Institutes of Health Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP) for the 8th consecutive year. Since 2004, Larta has assisted over 700 life science companies transition their products/services into the marketplace while helping 151 of those companies collectively raise $425 million.


Roche Joins Larta Life Sciences Advisory Board

Roche, a major player in healthcare innovation, constantly looks for emerging technologies advancing the industry and is sure to be a valuable asset to Larta life science companies. As the newest member of Larta's Industry Advisory Board (IAB), Roche joins a group of over fifty Fortune 1000 companies leveraged to benefit participants of Larta's Commercialization Assistance & Global Bridge Programs.


Buchalter Nemer to Host NIH-CAP Los Angeles Feedback Session

We are pleased announce that long-time Larta supporter Buchalter Nemer will host a Larta NIH-CAP Feedback Session at their Los Angeles office in February 2012. Twenty life science companies will attend to refine their investor or industry partner presentation materials.

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

Morphonix Brings Excitement to Science for Young Students

Morphonix entered Larta’s National Institutes of Health Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP) in 2006 with the vision of reshaping education and the way young students engage in learning about science and technology. They planned a collection of video games, targeted at students age 4-14, centered around learning about the brain. After 9 months of personalized mentoring from Larta CEO Rohit Shukla, the company had a solid foundation on which to move forward.

Since graduating from the Larta NIH-CAP, Morphonix won the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Games for Health Competition in 2007 and received a Parents’ Choice Gold Award in 2008. Most recently, the company received yet another Parents’ Choice Award for their newly announced product suite “Every Body Has a Brain”, a product planned in the pipeline over 4 years ago. View the trailer here.

Affectiva Raises $5.7 Million in Series B Funding

Affectiva, a current Larta NSF-CAP1 participant, is a leading emotion measurement and communication technology startup. Last month, the company completed a $5.7 million Series B financing round led by WPP's Consumer Insights group, Kantar and Myrian Capital. Emerging out of the MIT Idea Lab 2 years ago, Affectiva is making steady progress. Recognizing the importance of emotion in consumer decision making, the company is teaching computers to recognize and read emotion as a tool for measuring consumer reactions. Marketers can use Affectiva's technology to measure the effectiveness of media on a large scale and remotely using a consumer's own webcam (with some incentive for them to turn it on, of course.) Analyze your smile with Affectiva's technology here.

Midwest Clean Tech 2011 & Brinks Innovation Competition
September 14, 2011 - Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, IL

Now in its 4th consecutive year, the conference is an international marketplace forum that creates opportunities for Midwestern and global entrepreneurs to engage with top keynote and panel speakers, innovators and financiers from the clean tech community. The event highlights opportunities in energy, infrastructure, green manufacturing, transportation, agriculture and environment.

In conjunction with the conference, the Brinks Innovation Competition is a one day program exhibiting Midwest excellence in Clean Technology innovation, products, and services.  Read more...

AdvaMed 2011: The MedTech Conference
September 26-28, 2011 - Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.

AdvaMed 2011 will bring together 2,000 executives from the medical device and diagnostics industries. In addition to the quality sessions on topics such as the 510(k) process, product development and funding, you will have direct access to a growing list of executives who plan to attend the event.

Use the PartneringOne™ software to arrange meetings on-site with only the companies/firms you want to see. Larta affiliated companies may register here at the low investor rate of $695.00.

NASVF 18^th Annual Conference
October 17-19, 2011 - Sheraton Arlington Hotel, Arlington, TX

We are proud to partner with the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds to provide a special rate for members of Larta’s network to attend the NASVF 18^th Annual Conference.

Join your colleagues in seed and early-stage capital formation and share best strategies and tools for building and managing innovative investment programs. Network with professionals from outside your local networks and communities to discuss new methods of advancing innovation capital and coaching entrepreneurs to success.

The 2011 NASVF Conference will feature presentations and panel discussions covering entrepreneurial development, seed and early-stage capital formation, commercializing technologies and economic development investment programs. View the program with speakers and sessions.

Register today and receive a $150 discount off the current registration rate. Use the discount code: nasvf150.

Opportunity Green Conference 2011
November 10-11, 2011 - Los Angeles Center Studios, Los Angeles, CA

Early registration is NOW OPEN for the 5^th Annual Opportunity Green Conference - the premier sustainable event. Sign-up before August 31st to receive the 40% early-bird discount, while it's still available. When registering ENTER CODE: LARTA2011

Opportunity Green is where today's thought-leaders and innovators at the forefront of sustainable technology, design and business converge. If you are committed to accelerating the growth of profitable and sustainable companies, this is the most important event of the year!

This two-day executive event brings together change-agents from companies such as KPMG, NBC, Patagonia, Deloitte, Google, SAP, Coca-Cola, BMW, Newsweek, JP Morgan Chase, Universal Music Group, Latham & Watkins, P&G, Vans, Conde Nast, Xerox, Sony and more as we gather again in Los Angeles for OG'11.

Contact OG: opportunitygreen.com or call 310.765.2233 for group rates or to sponsor

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