Daily Links 1/31/2013: Monetate, RES Software report big years




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RES Software Shatters Multiple Sales and Performance Benchmarks in 2012 (Business Wire)

Monetate More than Doubles Revenue, Client Base and Employees in 2012, as Marketers Realize the Power of Big Data for Personalization (Monetate Website)

SAP to buy Ticket-Web, a CRM tool for promoters of sports and entertainment events (Computerworld)

Time Warner Cable Falls as Forecast Misses Analysts’ Estimates (Bloomberg)

In shift, Comcast now bills for once-free digital adapters(Philadelphia Inquirer)

CES Drops CNET, Names Dish Hopper Best in Show (Hollywood Reporter)

Craig Moffett, Top-Rated Analyst, Is Leaving Bernstein (Bloomberg)



TiVo Looks for Acquisitions in Data and Ad Sales (Ad Age)

GSI Commerce considers expansion in Louisville (Louisville Business First)

Philadelphia group launches campaign to save newspapers(Poynter)

NetSuite delivers strong Q4 (ZDNet)

CEO Interview: Jason Blessing of Plex Software (Brian Sommer/Enterprise Irregulars)




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Medecision Completes Acquisition of Cerecons




January 29, 2013 09:15 ET
Medecision Completes Acquisition of Cerecons
Connected and Coordinated Solutions for Productive and Profitable Accountable Care
WAYNE, PA--(Marketwire - Jan 29, 2013) - Medecision, the leader in connected care solutions, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of California-based Cerecons, a provider of SaaS care coordination, population management, and quality outcomes/reporting applications to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and other risk-bearing organizations. The integration of the two organizations' capabilities will serve as the foundation for high-performance healthcare networks, in which risk-bearing organizations stand up efficient systems and processes in support of new care delivery and payment models that reward healthcare stakeholders for coordinated, high-quality accountable care. The acquisition results in a care management and coordination entity that supports more than 90 healthcare organizations nationally, helping more than 135,000 physicians and hospitals care for millions of consumers with a set of unparalleled information technology applications, guidance, and services.
For 25 years Medecision has executed against a strategy that standards-based, interoperable care management and coordination solutions are core to helping health plans and health delivery organizations effectively and profitably manage care. The Company has made significant investments in a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and web services platform that will enable a new era of great connectivity. Today, Medecision, through its Aerial™ solution, enables the exchange of data between disparate systems in near real time, connecting all stakeholders -- health plans, hospitals, independent physician groups, third party administrators, and consumers -- to liberate the highest quality and most cost-efficient health outcomes.
The acquisition of Cerecons is an extension of this strategy and positions Medecision to offer additional productivity and connectivity to all healthcare stakeholders. Cerecons has an excellent track record of serving progressive ACOs and other organizations with automated business processes and tools to facilitate coordinated care of high-risk populations. Its physician and consumer applications are rapidly implemented in care delivery settings, requiring minimum staff training and quickly delivering efficient population and panel management and quality outcomes reporting.
"It's no secret that our nation's fragmented healthcare system has inefficiencies which undermine accountability and quality," said Deborah M. Gage, president and CEO, Medecision. "Together, Medecision and Cerecons offer an unprecedented platform to power the level of complete information sharing and care coordination needed to transform today's medical management and care delivery silos into tomorrow's high-performing accountable care delivery systems."
"We're thrilled to work alongside such industry leaders and look forward to collectively setting the standard for coordinated accountable care," said Cerecons CEO Philip Paul, who has assumed a role of executive vice president at Medecision.
The complete solution portfolio will be demonstrated and launched at the upcoming HIMSS 2013 conference in New Orleans.
About Medecision
Medecision is the leading provider of connected care technology and services for risk-bearing healthcare organizations including health plans, hospitals, thousands of physicians, and millions of consumers. Working within the framework that patients, care providers, and health plans are all driving towards better health outcomes, Medecision and its Aerial™ solution helps connect all stakeholders to liberate the highest quality and most cost-efficient care.
As more organizations transition to accountable care and delegated risk management, Medecision continually applies its 25 years of experience, its comprehensive technology platforms, significant investments in research and development, and the broadest implementation and clinical expertise to ensure consumers receive the best possible care. With Medecision as a business partner, health plans and care providers confidently manage through market changes, regulatory updates, and new populations, while improving quality and reducing costs.
About Cerecons
Cerecons, newly acquired by Medecision, is a private SaaS-based platform for care coordination and patient engagement that uses community-based electronic health records to deliver clinical decision support at the point-of-care and also gives patients access to their healthcare information. With more than a decade of experience that counts 72 risk-bearing entities currently under contract, 60,000+ primary care physicians and specialists, and 1.5 million consumers, Cerecons' innovative health IT solutions and data integration capabilities are used by leading medical groups and healthcare organizations including health plans, MSOs, IPAs, hospital networks, ACOs, and self-funded employer groups. For more information, visit cerecons.com


Daily Links 1/30/2013: PE firm to acquire Newtown-based BioClinica for $123 million, along with NJ firm




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JLL Partners to Acquire BioClinica and CoreLab Partners
Transaction to Create an Industry Leading Provider of Medical Imaging and eClinical Solutions for Clinical Trials
(Business Wire)

Drexel U. to launch entrepreneurship school with gift from Close Foundation (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Ticketmaster Launches New, Innovative CAPTCHA Solutions, Making The Fan Experience Better (PR Newswire)
Partners with Solve Media, which is based in New York and Philly.

Unisys watches ClearPath mainframe sales climb
Plans to build a channel, push Windows and Linux
(The Register)

How Dell Computer's Philly-born president learned to sell (Philly.com: Philly Deals)


Salesforce.com 'aggressively investigating' database error
Salesforce.com has long used Oracle under the hood, but is also embracing other database technologies
(Infoworld)

Oracle Has Big Plans To Beat Salesforce And Amazon In A $72 Billion Market (SAI: Enterprise)



Amazon Makes Murmurs About Its Video Business (All Things D)

Comcast Business Services Offers Hotel Industry an All-in-One Communications Suite (Business Wire)



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Daily Links 1/29/2013: SAP Ventures, Comcast Ventures discuss investment preferences




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Software AG '12 Ebit off 8%; deals to drive growth (MarketWatch)


IBM extends SmartCloud infrastructure for SAP alliance, global coverage (ZDNet)

Wonga Said to End On Deck Deal Talks After Price Gap (Bloomberg)
On Deck Capital investors include First Round Capital and SAP Ventures.

Enterprise startups too hot? SAP Ventures CEO says yes (Silicon Valley Business Journal)

Michael Yang Opens Up about the Startups that Excite Comcast Ventures (Xconomy)

Comcast's ThePlatform Leads With HTML5 Instead of Adobe Flash (Multichannel News)

Medecision Completes Acquisition of Cerecons (Marketwire)
Wayne-based Medecision recently said it would lay off 83 employees.

Startup Communities Are Built By Self-Appointed Leaders ( Brad Bernthal/Contributor to WSJ Blog)

VMware dives more than 20 percent to new lows amid dour 2013 forecast, layoffs (San Jose Mercury News)

Sprint: DOJ’s Request for Time to Study SoftBank Deal Is Routine
(All Things D)

Unisys Announces Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2012 Financial Results (PR Newswire)

USA Technologies Reports GAAP and Non-GAAP Profitability for the Second Quarter of Fiscal 2013
Total Revenues Up 29%; Recurring Revenues Up 33%
(Business Wire)


Cobham moving 70 Maryland jobs to Lansdale, Pa., plant (Philadelphia Business Journal)



PennApps followup: students are putting together a Finishathon! on Saturday, mentors needed

Tom Paine



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For those who participated in the hugely successful PennApps event the weekend before last and crafted a working prototype, but still have some polishing up to do, PennApps is organizing a Finishathon! this coming Saturday, February 2, at McClelland Hall, Ware College House. Hacking starts at 12pm, and demos will begin at 7:30pm.

PennApps is also asking that people who have already helped mentor at PennApps or other experienced developers to help out by coming on Saturday. Mentors are welcome to show up around 3pm and can leave when the demos start if they wish.



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Daily Links 1/28/2013: IBM intros integrated Kenexa product at IBM Connect




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IBM Makes A Play For The CMO And HR Pros (TechCrunch)
Unveiling Kenexa plans at IBM Connect in Orlando.

IBM Delivers New Software And Cloud Services To Accelerate Social Business (PR Newswire)

eBay loses head of local Jack Abraham (Fortune Tech)
Abraham founded Milo while at UPenn, which was later sold to eBay.

Two Years of Comcast and NBCUniversal. How’s it Going? (MediaBistro: TVNewswer)


Software Companies Find Tax Advantages in the Cloud (Dow Jones Newswires via Fox Business)


Analyst: Sports Costs Not Only Reason for Burgeoning Bills
Says retrans boosts are also taking toll on cable bottom line
(Broadcasting & Cable)

NBC Sports Network looks for fans after hockey lockout (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Comcast enlists Lancope for data center DDoS fight (FierceTelecom)




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Century 21 Super Bowl Ad created by Red Tettemer + Partners







Top 5 Database Platforms - the Developer Experience Exposed. (John Appleby/SAP Community Network)

The Enterprise Cool Kids (TechCrunch)


Philly Tech People News 1/27/2013: QlikTech, iPipeline, Adminovate







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QlikTech Appoints Terrie O’Hanlon as Chief Marketing Officer (Business Wire)

iPipeline Announces Appointment of Kevin Kemmerer as Executive Vice President of Product Management (Business Wire)

Adminovate Further Strengthens Sales and Marketing Team with Two Key Additions
Insurance industry veterans Jim Rourke and Rich Yeni join the Adminovate Sales & Marketing team as the company prepares to launch its forwardPAS™ solution.
(Business Wire)

Rodale Inc. Names Bobby Chowdhury Chief Technology Officer (PR Newswire)

Yoni Greenbaum, formerly Vice President and General Manager, Digital at the Philadelphia Media Network, has joined NBC Philadelphia as Director, Integrated Media, according to his twitter feed. He has most recently been President of consulting firm Media Vanguards.

Van H. Leichliter, Former Head of Global Trademarks for DuPont, Joins RatnerPrestia (PR Web)

Camille Vallinino Promoted to Vice President, Client Services, Markitects, Inc.; Agency Adds B2C Leadership, Expanding its Capabilities (PR Web)




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Daily Links 1/25/2013: First Round Capital annual report is out




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AT&T to Acquire Spectrum From Verizon Wireless for $1.9 Billion (Bloomberg)

Verizon appeases regulators by selling spectrum to AT&T
AT&T will strengthen its sometimes spotty LTE coverage in some major markets.
(Ars Technica)

First Round Capital’s 2012: 37 New Deals; 66 Follow-On Rounds, $23.1M Invested (TechCrunch)

Looking back at 2012 (Redeye VC)

QUALITY SYSTEMS, INC. REPORTS FISCAL 2013 THIRD QUARTER RESULTS (Press Release)
Revenue increases 2%, net income declines 26%. Quality Systems' principal business
unit is Horsham-based NextGen Healthcare.


AssetWorks Expands Product Offerings through Planned Acquisition of Mentor (Business Wire)

Once king of enterprise software, Lotus Notes is dragging IBM down (VentureBeat)

SAP HANA: disrupting 3 markets, but does SAP have the stones to disrupt itself? ( John Appleby/People, Process & Technology)

SAP launches an analytics dashboard for NFL.com fantasy football fans (VentureBeat)


Nation's oldest cable tv operator, Bethlehem-based Service Electric, acquires Shen-Heights TV

Tom Paine



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Its certainly not a big deal from a cable industry perspective, but Bethlehem-based Service Electric's agreement to purchase Shen-Heights TV Association , announced this week, represents the combination of two of the cable business' oldest operators. Service Electric, founded in 1948, is the 16th largest multiple system operator, with more than 250,000 subscribers in some 250 communities in central and northeastern Pennsylvania and northwestern New Jersey. It is considered the oldest Cable TV operator in the US. Shen-Heights TV started operations in 1951.

Cable TV got its start because people in remote, hilly or mountainous regions could not get adequate reception of basic over-the-air signals. Service Electric was a GE dealer in Mahanoy City (not too far from Hazelton) trying to sell TV sets, but found that most of its customers couldn't clearly pick up the three Philadelphia stations then on the air. So its owner, the late John Walson, who had an electronics degree and experience as a PP&L field employee, rigged up a system using an antenna located atop a mountain to pick up the broadcast signals and transmit them via cable to his appliance store and a few homes. And that become the basis for his cable TV system.

Shen-Heights (Shenandoah Heights) is not for from Mahanoy City.

It was decades, in some cases, before cable systems were built out in major metro areas.




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Daily Links 1/24/2013: Wall Street Journal on new Safeguard Scientifics CEO Stephen Zarrelli




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Safeguard Scientifics CEO Built Career From CFO Roles (Wall Street Journal: CFO Journal)

SAP Co-CEO: Revenues Might Rise to EUR21 Billion or EUR22 Billion by 2015 (Dow Jones Newswires via Fox Business)


Big Data: Overhyped And Overpaid? (ReadWrite)

Google testing new wireless network, asks FCC to keep details secret
Experimental network at Mountain View given "confidential" status.
(Ars Technica)

Is Salesforce pivoting from its social enterprise rap? (ZDNet)

Netflix stock spikes nearly 40% in early trading (LA Times: Company Town)

Island, Comcast agree on cable TV contract (Martha's Vineyard Times)


AppNexus Raises $75 Million (Silicon Alley Insider)
First Round Capital was an early investor in AppNexus.

Why We Can’t Kill the Patent System (Wired: Innovation Insights)
By InterDigital CEO Bill Merritt.

Is there hope for DC’s startup scene? (VentureBeat)



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WVT Communications Group Elevates Stature as Unified Communication Leader With Name Change to Alteva Alteva Branding Leverages Position as 9th Largest Unified Communications Provider

January 22, 2013 09:00 ET
WVT Communications Group Elevates Stature as Unified Communication Leader With Name Change to Alteva
Alteva Branding Leverages Position as 9th Largest Unified Communications Provider
WARWICK, NY--(Marketwire - Jan 22, 2013) - Warwick Valley Telephone Company (NYSE MKT: WVT), referred to as WVT Communications Group or the Company, the parent company of leading cloud communications pioneers, today announced that it will immediately begin conducting business as Alteva. The official name change will be effective upon receipt of shareholder approval, reflecting a single unified brand.
Commenting on the name changes, David Cuthbert, President and Chief Operating Officer, stated, "As Alteva, we embrace a singular vision for generating profitable growth though the provision of high-quality communications services. The influential presence that Alteva has developed within the business markets it serves and the cloud-based UC ecosystem will be leveraged by all our operating segments. This united branding under the Alteva name enables the Company to benefit from the considerable investments we have been making in sales, marketing, advertising and channel partner development."
All of the Company's previous business units, including the nation's ninth largest unified communications provider, the carrier services provider, and the highly respected traditional telecom provider turned premier regional broadband company, will now be doing business as Alteva. Consistent with the Alteva branding, the Company's ticker symbol on the NYSE MKT exchange will be changed to ALTV effective February 4, 2013. Until that time, the shares will continue to trade under the ticker symbol WVT.
About Alteva
Alteva (previously referred to as WVT Communications Group) is a world technology leader in providing cloud-based Unified Communications (UC) solutions for small, medium and enterprise businesses. Founded in 1902, the Company has continued to adapt and remain on the forefront of technology, chiseling its position among the most stable and respected communications vendors around the globe. Alteva continues to forge the new model that communications providers, large and small, are striving to emulate. Alteva continues to integrate new innovations with proven technology from industry leaders like Microsoft, Cisco, BroadSoft, Level 3, and Polycom to provide best-in-class hosted unified communications solutions.
Alteva is enabling businesses of any size to communicate more efficiently with hassle-free communications tools. By overlaying a UC division on its stable, regional broadband company, Alteva has positioned itself in front of its peer group of companies and created an evolutionary change in its strategy. Visit www.wvtcg.com or call 855-U-GO-CLOUD for more information.
All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.


WVT Communications becomes Alteva: No longer your great-grandfather's phone company

Tom Paine



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WVT Communications (originally Warwick Valley Telephone), the small local New York telco that acquired Philadelphia-based unified communications provider Alteva in 2011, is making Alteva its official corporate name, the company announced yesterday. It plans to change its ticker symbol on the NYSE MKT exchange to ALTV effective February 4, pending shareholder approval.

I asked WVT by email whether it was in the plans for the renamed corporation to move its headquarters from New York to Philadelphia, and a spokesperson rsponded that "we have no plans for a move at this time and we still have substantial operations and management in Warwick, NY."
.

In its press release, WVT/Alteva referred to itself as the "nation's ninth largest unified communications provider." I recently wrote about one of the larger ones, Wayne-based Evolve IP. Although the two vendors are not precisely
apples-to-apples in terms of strategies and service offerings, Evolve IP reported 2011 revenue of $17.2 million and indicated that it had very substantial but unspecified growth again in 2012. According to its latest financial report from last year, Alteva's cloud communications revenue were running at annual rate of about $15 million with 38% growth. Alteva's current market capitalization (the total value of its stock) is about $68 million.

Alteva opened a new Philadelphia headquarters last year at 401 Market Street, featuring an "innovation center" that is viewable at street level, with "experience zones" where individuals can get a hands-on look at Alteva's system. Alteva's President & COO is David Cuthbert, who is based in Philadelphia, while Duane W. Albro is Chief Executive Officer based out of New York. The corporation reports having over 50 employees in Philadelphia.



See also Alteva: Comcast enters its market, as it expands office space & hiring; Launches new ad campaign



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Daily Links 1/23/2013: ICG agrees to sell InvestorForce for $23.5 million




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SAP Forecasts At Least 12% Profit Gain on Software Demand (Bloomberg)

SAP CEO: Software Industry Being Split in Two (CNBC)

SAP's 2012 earnings mask challenges (Dennis Howlett/ZDNet)

Why Microsoft May Want to Invest in Dell (Wall Street Journal: The CIO Report)

Google: Motorola Home Had $820 Million in Q4 Sales
Internet Giant Reports Motorola Home as 'Discontinued Operation' with Pending Arris Deal
(Multichannel News)

Google Fiber 'not a hobby,' could expand, tech giant's execs say (LA Times)

Netflix Subscriber Gain of 2.05 Million Beats View; Shares Surge (Bloomberg)

ICG Agrees to Sale of InvestorForce to MSCI for $23.5 million (Globe Newswire)
InvestorForce is based in Conshohocken.



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Today in Philly Tech History January 22, 1999: DirecTV to buy assets of PrimeStar; Comcast exits satellite business



DirecTV announced on January 22, 1999 it would acquire the assets of Primestar, a rival satellite TV provider owned by a group of cable operators including Comcast and a GE satellite unit, for $1.82 billion. The deal would give DirecTV potential access to Primestar's 2.3 million customers, as well as its satellite assets. Primestar was reported to be running out of cash, hurt by older technology and a high churn rate among its customer base.



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Daily Links 1/22/2013: Microsoft may invest in Dell buyout




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Microsoft May Invest $1-$3 Billion in Dell Buyout (CNBC)

SAP cloudwashes its image (Vinnie Mirchandani/Enterprise Irregulars)

Questions SAP should answer during its Q4 earnings call
SAP's HANA, the cloud, changing sales culture and product mix will all be up for discussion
(Computerworld)

Verizon Earnings Fall as Discounts Yield Customer Record (Bloomberg)

Sandy, Pension Charges Bite Into Verizon Q4 Results
Telco Adds 134K TV and 144K FiOS Internet Subs, Drops 117K DSL Lines
(Multichannel News)

Verizon Strips Sports Out of FiOS TV 'Select HD' Package (Multichannel News)

Intel-Comcast TV Everywhere Deal Tops CES Show, GroupM's Michael Bologna (Beet.TV)

Service Electric buys Shen-Heights TV (Pottsville Republican Herald)
Interesting story covering the origins of the Cable TV business.

The world’s largest student-run hackathon isn’t at Stanford or MIT — it’s at Penn (PandoDaily)

Social to Play Second String on Game Day Marketers debate value of Twitter, Facebook in Super Bowl mix (Ad Week)
Philly's Red Tettemer + Partners producing Century 21 spot again this year.



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Dish Hopper Ad Mocks CBS and CNET
Satellite Giant Presses PR Advantage Against CBS and CNET
(Ad Age)

Mixed Response to Comcast in Expanding Net Access (New York Times)


Philly Tech News VentureWatch 1/20/2013: Hoopla HQ goes West, Quintiq triples Radnor space, Real Food Works raising funds & staffing up


Tom Paine



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Hoopla, the gamification platform currently oriented to the Salefsorce.com platform that encourages (hopefully) friendly competition and goal attainment among sales and customer service teams, has officially announced it has established a new Silicon Valley headquarters in San Jose, CA. Originally based in West Chester, Hoopla has received funding from Safeguard Scientifics and Salesforce.com. CEO and founder Mike Small, a long-time Philly area tech executive, tells me by email that "we are doing all software development in West Chester and will continue to expand that office in the coming year."



Quintiq, the supply chain planning & optimization software firm with dual headquarters in the Netherlands and Radnor, announced in December that it had tripled its office space in the Radnor Financial Center. “The accelerated demand for our software is not surprising when you consider that our solutions are helping organizations such as Walmart improve their productivity and profitability. Quintiq has a history of steady growth and we’ve decided that now is the time to invest in expanding our North American footprint,” said Quintiq CEO Dr. Victor Allis in a statement. The company said it "currently reports an average annual growth rate of approximately 40%", which means based on past reports its revenue may be approaching $100 million. LLR Partners and NewSpring Capital acquired a reported 48% stake in Quintiq in 2011, and it is a potential future IPO candidate.



OpenX, the Los Angeles-based online advertising technology platform, has raised another $22.5 million, with Samsung's venture unit coming on as lead investor in this round. SAP Ventures (which participated again) and First Round Capital (early stage) are among its existing investors. OpenX, which now has 260 employees, has raised a total of $70 million to date. Last year OpenX acquired King of Prussia-based LiftDNA (now operating as OpenX Lift), founded by former myYearbook ad tech exec Vadim Telyatnikov, which provided it with an important supply-side platform. In late 2011, OpenX said it had a $100 million annual run rate and that it was profitable.

Conshohocken & New York-based Real Food Works is raising capital and staffing up. Real Food Works, which provides subscription-based meal plans featuring healthy meals with an emphasis on plant food, was founded by area serial entrepreneur Lucinda Duncalfe (Infonautics, Destiny Software, TurnTide, ClickEquations). New executive additions include another Infonautics veteran, Mike Krupit, as Chief Operating Officer, ex-Inhabi CEO David Friedman as Head of Technology and David Navarro as Philadelphia Operations Manager. An SEC filing shows that Real Food Works has made an offering to raise up to $1,000,000, of which $50,000 has been committed. Wharton professor, startup veteran and angel investor Leonard Lodish is listed as a Director on the filing. Real Food Works is currently rolling out its delivery service to the Philadelphia area and plans to expand to some other major markets later in the year.

Curalate, which made a remarkable pivot to reach an apparently booming market in little more than a year, received $3 million in funding from New Enterprise Associates, First Round Capital, and Penn-affiliated MentorTech Ventures, the same firms that participated in its previous $750,000 seed round. Originating as Storably, which allowed people to rent out things like spare storage space or parking spaces, the startup realized quickly it wasn't gaining traction and switched to a different
business model built around analyzing brand presences on Pinterset. Much of what is pinned on Pinterest is based on visual images, not textual information, meaning measurement requires identifying and matching similar images with each other. Curalate is looking to expand its "visual search" model to other platforms. Curalate founder & CEO Apu Gupta recently told the Philadelphia Daily News that his company currently has 14 full-time employees (most based in Philly) and "now have hundreds of brands on the platform." Meanwhile, more competition is on the way.

Philadelphia-based social media-oriented ecommerce platform Sidecar (AKA Snipi) raised an additional $1.5 million, according to a recent SEC filing. Sidecar, which last raised $2.52 million in late 2011, has numerous investors including Innovation Ventures, NextStage Capital, Gabriel Investments, MAG Fund, ARC Angel Fund, and GSI Commerce and Kynetic LLC founder Michael Rubin. They are a quiet company, however; I have found it difficult to discover much about what Sidecar is actually doing beyond the broadest description.

Colin Devroe, until recently Director, Strategy & Technology at business video website Viddler in Bethlehem, says he will be slowly unveiling details about his new startup, named Plain, over the next few weeks on his App.net site. For now, however, details are mostly a mystery, so you will have to stay tuned.

A group of Penn freshmen have launched a new startup, Textbook Friend, which enables students to
easily buy and sell used textbooks directly between each other. Textbook Friend is already working with students at Drexel University, Temple University and the University of the Sciences to expand to those institutions, the Daily Pennsylvanian reports.
Meanwhile, out in West Chester a recent WCU alum, Kehinde Roberts ('12) has launched LogicPad, a social learning management platform currently in use at WCU and by some students at other institutions. LogicPad will also soon be launching a direct student-to-student textbook sales app, Roberts tells me.



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The Changing Of The Enterprise Guard (TechCrunch)
By Box co-founder Aaron Levie.


Daily Links 1/18/2013: Area VC funding hits 16-year low (PBJ)




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The Suite Life of SAP HANA: Why Customers Will, Won’t Adopt
(Thomas Wailgum/ASUG News)

GridIron gobbled up by Violin Memory
SAN acceleration added to Violin's string
(The Register)
SAP Ventures is a major investor in Violin, whose flash memory products may be important to SAP as it expands its in-memory Hana platform.

Michael Dell’s Empire in a Buyout Spotlight (New York Times: DealBook)


Venture capital funding in area fell to 16-year low (Philadelphia Business Journal)

N.J. Pension Fund Posts 13.3% Gain for 2012, State Reports (Bloomberg)

TODAY IN 2011: THE FCC APPROVES THE COMCAST-NBC UNIVERSAL MERGER (WestLaw Insider)

FCC wants gigabit Ethernet in all 50 states by 2015 (ZDNet)

TelVue unveils hosted broadcast service (Broadcast Engineering)
TelVue is based in Mount Laurel.


NJEN Panel Discusses “Where’s the Money?” Alternative Financing for Tech Companies, Part 2



Esther Surden
Publisher & Editor, NJTechWeekly.com

(NJTechWeekly.com is continuing to catch up on pre-Sandy coverage that would have been published in early November but was postponed because of post-storm chaos and the volume of Sandy-related stories. We apologize for the delay.)



While it was often difficult for the N.J. tech community to obtain funding in 2012, there were a variety of alternative options for companies, according to panelists at an October 10, 2012, New Jersey Entrepreneurial Network (NJEN) event in Princeton.

Some 60 attendees heard about crowdfunding, bank financing, a myriad of tools available from the state of N.J. and even a funding vehicle that gives immigrants green cards while providing financing to companies that create jobs.

New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) director of technology and life sciences Kathleen Coviello’s presentation on ways the EDA can help tech companies was extremely comprehensive and demonstrated the agency’s view of its relationship with the state.

“Our role is to function as the bank for the state. We have money. As the bank for the state, we have underwriting standards we have to meet and due diligence we have to go through. Particularly in this tough economic environment, we have a fiduciary responsibility and must be fiscally prudent. We are not throwing money out the door,” Coviello said. However, she added, “we are doing transactions.”

EDA transactions made prior to the October meeting include providing $3.3 million to Fluitec, a Belgian company that had relocated to the U.S. and wanted to develop a manufacturing facility in northern N.J.

“This is one of the most attractive programs we have,” Coviello said, referring to financing through the Edison Innovation Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund, funded by the N.J. Board of Public Utilities and administered by the EDA. Companies can get up to $1.3 million in grant and the remainder in very low-interest loans if they meet certain performance metrics,” she noted. “We get funding for this from a sister agency formed to help promote clean technologies in the state of N.J.”

“We also just closed a transaction for FieldView Solutions (Edison), a company that has received funding through the Edison Innovation Green Growth Fund. “We provided that company with a million-dollar loan and, again, if they hit performance metrics, half of it gets converted into a grant.” (NJTechWeekly.com profiled FieldView Solutions here.)

Another approved company, Phone.com (Newark), “provides phone services to small and medium-sized businesses throughout the state. The company was virtual at the time and already had a little bit of VC funding. We provided matching money to that VC money in the form of a loan with warrants. And the company is going to relocate to the NJIT EDC [New Jersey Institute of Technology Enterprise Development Center] and put down roots in New Jersey,” said Coviello.

CareKinesis , a Moorestown company with a healthcare IT business model, has also been helped by the EDA. Its founder, Cal Knowlton, already had a successful business in Pa. but wanted CareKinesis to stay on the Jersey side of the river, where he lived and had grown up. “We provided a matching loan program to some of the VC money he raised,” said Coviello.

She continued, “As the bank for the state, we administer some legislative programs. You may be familiar with the Net Operating Loss Program, which is unique to N.J. I’ve even spoken to the federal government about this, as they are looking to deploy something like it on a national level. Companies that are losing money can sell those losses for cash today.

“We all know as entrepreneurs that cash in hand today is much more important than taking it as a write-off against your future losses. The state says you can sell those losses to profitable N.J. businesses. We set the threshold and ask that the recipient companies demonstrate they are growing jobs in N.J. There are three checkpoints: year one, year three and year five. Companies have to be at 10 jobs by the end of year ten.”

This program has been very helpful to N.J. biotech companies, Coviello said, and it benefits profitable firms by providing them a tax shield. The process involves an annual application that must be received by the end of June.

“In his budget the governor approved a $60 million annual allocation for this program this year [fiscal year 2013],” Coviello said. There is always an oversubscription, she added. “This year we expect the average award to be around $920,000.” [NJTechWeekly.com will be publishing the 2012 list of tech companies that participated in this program.]

“We also administer tax incentives for job growth, so before any of you entrepreneurs think about signing a lease in N.J., see us about a program we have that can incentivize you to grow your jobs in N.J.”

Coviello said the EDA is constantly approached by people who need early-stage capital, but as a bank, the organization doesn’t give out “risky money.” However, the state does invest in venture funds, working with partners and professional managers.

“We are invested across 11 funds currently,” she said. Some of the funds are fully invested, and some have capacity in them. “We take a portfolio approach: we have healthcare, life science, early-stage, and growth venture funds.” The state puts money into the funds as a limited partner and requires the venture partner to match the money the state contributes with a three times multiplier, said Coviello.

“Most recently we announced a $3 million investment in Osage Partners [Bala Cynwyd, Pa.]. Osage had been doing transactions in N.J. on a one-off basis but was located in Pa.” Funds were selected during a competitive application process that evaluated the VC’s activity in N.J. Now Osage has opened an office in N.J., Coviello said, and it has to “turn $3 million into $9 million in early-stage investments” by funding companies with less than $3 million in revenues.

“This approach takes the due diligence process and puts it in professional hands,” she pointed out. “The VCs can offer the coaching and mentoring we can’t,” she added.

The state has also invested $2 million in NextStage Capital (Audubon, Pa.), “which will be turned into $6 million for N.J. entrepreneurs.”

Coviello also spoke about TechLaunch (Montclair), the first N.J. tech accelerator funded by the EDA and which NJTechWeekly.com has covered in depth.

Coviello discussed her organization’s support of biotech through a real estate play. The EDA has purchased a complete campus in New Brunswick from Johnson & Johnson and put in a state-of-the-art wet lab facility close to Rutgers and, geographically, in the heart of the pharmaceutical industry. “We have strategic relationships with Rutgers, so our tenants can use its resources for mentoring and cooperation on animal studies. We are really looking to build that pharma community,” she noted.



Esther Surden is Publisher and Editor of NJTechWeekly, and a contributor to Philly Tech News. This article originally appeared in NJTechWeekly, and was reposted here with her approval.



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Daily Links 1/17/2013: More on SevOne; Philly Fed Index declines unexpectedly




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Pike Creek's SevOne makes Bain investment deal to expand (Wilmington News Journal)

27-Year-Old Box CEO Plans To Hire 300 More People, IPO In 2014 (Bloomberg via Business Indsider)

Manufacturing in the Philadelphia Area Unexpectedly Shrinks (Bloomberg)

January 2013 Business Outlook Survey (Philly Fed)

Google: TWC Is 'Withholding' Metro Sports RSN in Kansas City (Multichannel News)

Comcast upgrades core network with Ciena (CED Magazine)

OpenX Raises $22.5 Million in Round Led by Samsung Venture Unit (All Things D)
QpenX investors include First Round Capital and SAP Ventures. OpenX acquired King of Prussia-based supply side ad platform LiftDNA last year.

Ten New Ventures Join the Ranks of the Wharton Venture Initiation Program (Wharton Entrepreneurship Blog)

Union agrees to bargain to help save Philly papers (AP via phillyBurbs.com)

New Survey Shows Health Information Exchanges Growing in Pennsylvania (PR Newswire)




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Daily Links 1/16/2012: Report suggests Comcast may buy out GE NBCU stake sooner rather than later
Comcast encouraged Arris to acquire Motorola Home




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Comcast, GE Seen Fast-Tracking NBCU In $16 Bil Deal
(Investor's Business Daily)

Comcast (and Others) Urged Arris to Buy Moto Home (Multichannel News)

Cox Enterprises Invests $250 Million With Board Member Rackley (Bloomberg)

SAP earnings fall short of expectations (Reuters via Yahoo News)


Salesforce Partners Stir Pot (Denis Pombriant/Enterprise Irregulars)

Hoopla Establishes New Silicon Valley Headquarters
Leading provider of business gamification solutions expands operations to meet demand
(Business Wire)
Hoopla was originally founded in West Chester. Hoopla CEO Michael Smalls tells me by email: "We are doing all software development in West Chester and will continue to expand that office in the coming year." Hoopla investors include Safeguard Scientifics and Salesforce.com

Doug Pelletier/Founder, Trifecta Technologies (Keystone Edge)

CRM Slips on SEC Note; Nothing to Worry About, Says Morgan Stanley (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Announces Third Class of Project Liberty Digital Incubator (Ben Franklin Press Release)

EHRs Continue To Take A Beating (Information Week Healthcare)

Up in the Cloud: Hype and High Expectations for Cloud Computing (Knowledge@Wharton)
Knowledge@Wharton and SAP team up on survey.




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Posting Its 6th Consecutive Year of Record Revenues, SevOne Receives $150 Million Investment From Bain Capital

January 15, 2013 07:30 ET
Posting Its 6th Consecutive Year of Record Revenues, SevOne Receives $150 Million Investment From Bain Capital

WILMINGTON, DE--(Marketwire - Jan 15, 2013) - SevOne, creator of market leading IT infrastructure management solutions, today announced that it closed 2012 with its 6th consecutive year of record financial results. The company's results were driven by existing customers adding more elements to manage their burgeoning networks as well as adding a record number of new customers. Based on this success, leading business software investor Bain Capital invested $150 million in the company.
"SevOne is the only solution that enables its customers to see all services in real-time within global distributed networks of any scale. The world's largest and most sophisticated customers choose SevOne for its fast time to value and unique peer to peer architecture that scales to address big data network growth," said Ben Nye, Managing Director at Bain Capital Ventures.
"We were attracted by the incredibly high satisfaction levels of SevOne's customers, the unique differentiation of their technology, and the talented management team. We look forward to partnering with the SevOne team to maintain their growth and accelerate their go to market operations," added Ben Holzman, Partner, Bain Capital Ventures.
SevOne provides a highly scalable, easy to deploy IT monitoring and reporting solution that provides high levels of visibility for enterprises, service providers or any entity dealing with challenges around network latency, new service rollout, business interruptions and increasing volume of data on their networks. SevOne's IT Performance Appliances scale cost-effectively without limitation or performance degradation so customers, for the first time, can monitor and manage any IT infrastructure, no matter how massive or complex.
"SevOne is thrilled to partner with Bain Capital as we take the company to the next level," said Mike Phelan, CEO, SevOne. "The investment caps a highly successful 2012 for SevOne. Our bookings doubled year over year, profitability increased significantly and our customer base doubled."
Pacific Crest Securities served as financial advisor to SevOne in this transaction.
About SevOne
SevOne, Inc. delivers the industry's fastest, most scalable, and comprehensive real-time IT infrastructure monitoring, troubleshooting and performance reporting solution. SevOne invented a proprietary, next-generation distributed technology, called the SevOne Cluster™, that combines the cutting edge principles behind peer-to-peer sharing and big data analytics to scale smoothly so that millions of IT elements, across all monitoring technologies, can be managed and provide a single view to the user. Hundreds of customers, including the top cable companies, wireless network and managed service providers, and top financial services institutions rely on SevOne to reduce operating expenses and improve quality of service. SevOne was recently named the 75th fastest growing company in North America on Deloitte's 2012 Technology Fast 500 rankings.
About Bain Capital
Bain Capital, LLC (www.baincapital.com) is a global private investment firm that manages several pools of capital including private equity, venture capital, public equity, high-yield assets and mezzanine capital with approximately $67 billion in assets under management. Since its inception in 1984, Bain Capital has made private equity investments and add-on acquisitions in over 450 companies in a variety of industries around the world. Bain Capital Ventures (www.baincapitalventures.com) manages over $2 billion of assets and has over 70 active portfolio companies. Bain has a long history of investing in branded technology and business service companies, such as Solarwinds (NYSE: SWI), AppAssure Software, Archer Technologies, Network Intelligence, dynaTrace Software, LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD), SurveyMonkey, Taleo, and DoubleClick. The firm has offices in Boston, Palo Alto, New York, Chicago, London, Munich, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Mumbai.


Daily Links 1/15/2013: Curalate raises $3 million ; First Round invests in Invite Media founders' Health IT startup




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Pinterest Analytics Service Curalate Raises $3M
(All Things D)

SAP Falls After Earnings Trail Analysts’ Estimates (Bloomberg)

Despite Strong HANA Launch, SAP Sales Come Up Short (All Things D)

SAP Sweetens Hana Deal With Free Sybase Database (Information Week)

Flatiron Health Raises $8M From Google Ventures, First Round To Build An Intelligent Data Platform For Oncology (TechCrunch)
Flatiron Health is the new venture started by Invite Media co-founders Nat Turner and Zach Weinberg.

Announcing our latest investment, Flatiron Health (Redeye VC)

Silver Lake in advanced Dell buyout talks: sources (Reuters via Fox Business)

QlikTech and Attivio Partner to Deliver QlikView Direct Discovery for Big Data Analytics (Business Wire)

Why Amtrak's New Wi-Fi Upgrade Won't Fix Amtrak's Terrible Wi-Fi (The Atlantic Wire)

New website gives easiest look yet at crimes by neighborhood (Philly.com)

Phila.-area companies sharing $1.2M in Pa. innovation tax credits (Philadelphia Business
Journal)

Backed By New Partnerships With Humana, Aetna & Verizon, Blueprint Health Debuts Its Third Class Of Healthcare Disruptors (TechCrunch)




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Bain Capital invests $150 million in Wilmington-based SevOne


Tom Paine



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I thought Wilmington-based SevOne might be on to something big. It is.

Today the network performance monitoring company announced it was receiving a $150 million investment from Bain Capital, following a year in which SevOne said "bookings doubled year over year, profitability increased significantly and our customer base doubled."

SevOne is one of those companies that may have invented the proverbial "better box". In a world increasingly dependent on big data, distributed networks and cloud computing, the company's "SevOne Cluster" architecture helps customers monitor network performance at a detailed level on a dynamic, real time basis. SevOne's IT Performance Appliances scale to the size of any network, and its peer-to-peer architecture means that each node in the network can communicate with the other nodes. Comcast was an early and important SevOne customer.
SevOne CEO Mike Phelan


“We want to pursue the public markets,” CEO Mike Phelan told TechCrunch, presumably meaning the company is looking towards an IPO. He said that SevOne plans to use the funds to expand internationally, into the Goverment market and also to reach more middle market customers. Most of its early customers have been very large.

SevOne was founded in 2005 and currently has about 140 employees, but "will scale to several hundred by the end of the year," Phelan told TechCrunch.

SevOne has only raised a reported $3.5 million prior to this round. Osage Ventures has been the only institutional investor, leading a Series A in 2007 and a subsequent round in 2009. Other investors include a private group led by CEO Phelan, who prior to co-founding SevOne founded StorNet, which he built into a leading national storage consulting firm; Jonathan Brassington, the CEO and Founding Partner of Liquid Hub; and John Ryan, founder of SunGard Data Systems and a private investor.

I had SevOne ranked 4th among Philly Tech News' "Young Companies To Watch", but will probably move it up a few notches based on this. I would guess early investors received a good valuation since they got to this point with so little capital invested. Its a huge win for Delaware, assuming they stay there.




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Comcast to buy stake in Arris with close of Arris acquisition of Motorola Home from Google


Tom Paine



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Arris Group announced today that Comcast will purchase $150 million in Arris Group stock, shares that previously were to be sold to Google as part of its $2.35 billion sale of Motorola Home to Arris announced late last month. The result would have Comcast owning 7.85% of Arris, roughly the same percentage Google will own post-close.

Comcast is one of Arris' largest customers (the largest, I believe), as it is one of Horsham-based Motorola Home's largest.

While certainly not a huge investment by Comcast standards, the deal may reflect some interest by Comcast to be more actively involved in owning and developing proprietary cable technology.

Comcast's investment is contingent on the Arris-Motorola deal closing.



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Daily Links 1/14/2013: Dell said to be talking about buyout with PE firms




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Seven More Questions for SAP’s Co-CEO Bill McDermott (All Things D)

News Analysis: SAP Business Suite on HANA (Ray Wang/A Software Insider's Point of View)

Marin County settles legal claims against Deloitte, SAP over software project
The county will reportedly net just $3.9 million in the deal and will continue using SAP's software
(Computerworld)

Dell Said to Be in Buyout Talks With Private-Equity Firms (Bloomberg)

Dell Shares Surge After Report of Possible Buyout (New York Times: DealBook)

Edison says it did well on WAM deal, not much more about it (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Weidenhammer Merges With 4O1! Creative (Marketwire)



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NJEN Panel Discusses “Where’s the Money?” Alternative Financing for Tech Companies, Part 1



Esther Surden
Publisher & Editor, NJTechWeekly.com


(NJTechWeekly.com is continuing to catch up on pre-Sandy coverage that would have been published in early November but was postponed because of post-storm chaos and the volume of Sandy-related stories. We apologize for the delay.)






The New Jersey tech community knows how difficult it was for companies to get VCs and angels to write checks in 2012. Acknowledging this, the New Jersey Entrepreneurial Network (NJEN) organized a panel discussion on alternative means for entrepreneurs and businesses to obtain financing.

Some 60 attendees at the Oct. 10, 2012, event, held in Princeton, heard about crowdfunding, bank funding, myriad financing tools made available by the state of N.J. and even a vehicle that gives immigrants green cards while providing financing to companies that create jobs.

Part 1 of this post covers the crowdfunding presentations, including an interesting discussion by Savraj Singh Dhanjal, a Princeton entrepreneur who gave a Kickstarter campaign a try.

The first speaker was Freeman White, CEO and cofounder of Launcht (Buckingham, Pa.), a website providing custom crowdfunding platforms and white-label sites for nonprofit social fundraising, online voting and use by universities.

White spoke about the history of crowdfunding, including the difference between the form of it authorized by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act and the version of it carried out today via Kickstarter, Indiegogo and other sites. For entrepreneurs, today’s sites are used to build something of interest to the market and then presell it, White said. “However, if you want to invest in the business itself, that is still illegal, unless you are an angel investor or an accredited investor through a Rule 506 offering or a Regulation D offering,” he noted.

When the rules are finally promulgated, the JOBS Act will change things so that ordinary people can invest upwards of 5-10 percent of their income in startups and small private companies, White said. The investment can take many forms, such as revenue sharing, equity, debt and any kind of regulated security, he added.

However, “if you see anyone offering you a crowdfunded security today, they are trying to defraud you of your money,” White told the group. When the rules are finalized, it will be ethical to invest this way, and “you are going to know when that is, because the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are going to shout it from the rooftops!”

There is a role for crowdfunding right now. Current sites can be used for product development, for example. They basically let companies that want to design a product’s first run do so, if they have the design and suppliers, White said. Companies are essentially preselling “cool gadgets.” This kind of selling is based on how commerce is already being carried out, as in the case of preselling books.

Another interesting use for today’s crowdfunding sites is tech transfer for universities, White said. Universities are setting up campus crowdfunding portals and offering research projects to be funded, or they present a product ready for commercialization, requesting funding to make a first run at the market. With this model, crowdfunding becomes market research; you learn very early on whether someone will buy the product, he noted.

Dhanjal, CEO of the startup Wattvision, which ran a successful Kickstarter campaign this year, was the next speaker to tell his story. A Princeton graduate, he had an idea in 2008 for a gadget that would record how much energy a home or business was using at any given moment. He made a prototype of his product and tested it in his parents’ house. A neighbor saw it and wanted it, and Dhanjal thought he had a business.

In 2009 he was able to raise money with the help of Y Combinator (Mountain View, Ca.) founder Paul Graham. “I pitched him, and he realized this was a cool energy monitoring system that was really simple and didn’t involve electricians,” explained Dhanjal. Graham liked the idea because it incorporated both hardware and software, “and most people only do one or the other.

“This was after I had spoken to angels in the Princeton area. At that time there were no local accelerators. So I moved to California for three months, refined the prototype a bit and raised more money from angels. … We spent ... time turning a standalone device into a tiny box that connects to the wireless network in the house and a sensor that you put on your meter.

“There are three ways to raise money from VC firms. The first is if you are a cofounder at something like Facebook. If you’ve already achieved a lot of success, you can probably raise money from a VC. Another way is to have something so cool and amazing that everyone will want one. If it’s low-cost enough, you can raise money for that. The third way is to have traction [ongoing revenue generation, users and success in the market].

“Angels have the same three requirements, but they may be personally vested in your product and you can connect with them,” he said.

Dhanjal was able to produce and sell the first version of his gadget, which he named Wattvision. When it was time to produce an updated version, however, the company needed to raise more funds. “We saw another Y Combinator company that made watches, Pebble put its [smart] watch up on Kickstarter and be wildly successful,” he said.

With Kickstarter, if you can convey your product as cool or interesting, you can connect with that audience, Dhanjal noted.

“This was a risk for us. We had already taken angel funding, and we already had a product out there. We didn’t know how we would be received on Kickstarter. Also, we were selling our product to homeowners — someone who has a house, not someone in a New York apartment who wants a cool watch.” Dhanjal said the company thought long and hard about how to frame the product in a light that would inspire people to pre-order it.

“We put up our campaign in late August. Our goal was $50,000 for version 2 of Wattvision. We had a local filmmaker make a marketing video.” Dhanjal said being located in the Tigerlabs (Princeton)coworking space was an advantage for the firm, because others working there helped out, lending scenery to make the video “cool.”

We made the video and we waited,” he said.

That’s not all the company did.

“We emailed our existing user base. We had had some great press in 2009. Forbes and Business Week covered us, and we collected the email addresses of users interested in the product.”

In the email it sent them, Wattvision offered existing users a better deal: if they preordered , they would receive the next version of the device at a discounted price. Other Kickstarter users had to contribute a higher amount to preorder. “Thanks to our own email list, we raised $18,000 in 24 hours, which was exciting,” noted Dhanjal. The campaign raised $67,000 in total.

There are some things to note about Kickstarter, Dhanjal said. The site takes 5 percent off what you raise, and 2 percent goes to credit card processing. So people considering using it should do the math. Also, you have to have a physical product. Finally, Kickstarter reviews products, so yours can be rejected.



Esther Surden is Publisher and Editor of NJTechWeekly, and a contributor to Philly Tech News. This article originally appeared in NJTechWeekly, and was reposted here with her approval.



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