2 local firms among hunters for venture capital
A Wichita software development company and a Valley Center-based maker of an ultralight wheelchair are among the 14 companies that will pitch their business plans to potential investors next month at the Great Plains Capital Conference.
GPCC said Xerces and Aero Innovative Research are the two area companies that will present at the conference, set for Sept. 16 at the Wichita Marriott.
Xerces makes software using voice over Internet protocol technology for mobile phones and handheld devices.
Aero Innovative has sold about 125 of its Flight ultralight wheelchairs and recently entered into a contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide wheelchairs. In June it received a $73,000 grant from the Kansas Bioscience Authority to develop a marketing campaign for its wheelchairs.
The 14 companies represent the most presenting companies in GPCC's seven-year history.
"It just so happened that we had 14 good deals that are out there on the street," said Trish Brasted, CEO of Wichita Technology Corp., the conference's organizer.
The other 12 are from the Kansas City area: AirMass, AudioAnywhere, CritiTech, Emerge Medical Solutions, KC BioMedix, Lead Horse Technologies, Mobile Symmetry, OsteoGenex, SocialVolt, Soleran, Spiral 16 and WorkSpace Communications.
Brasted said applications to present were up this year.
Officials from companies each have 12 minutes to present their business plans to a private audience of investors.
Most of the 75 investors attending will be angel, or early-stage, investors, but some traditional venture capitalists attend as well.
She said combined marketing efforts by Kansas Technology Corp. and Kansas Pipeline, along with GPCC, have attracted a more diversified base of investors this year.
The conference is part of the larger Kansas Day of Innovation event, which will include a luncheon and speech by Rob Adams, an angel investor and entrepreneur who teaches in the MBA program at the University of Texas' McCombs School of Business and is the director of Venture Labs and the Global Moot Corp Program.
Later in the day, Suzette Dutch, managing partner of Triathlon Medical Ventures in Cincinnati; Laura Kilcrease, founder and managing director of Triton Ventures, a Texas venture capital fund; and Cliff Reeves, general manager of Microsoft's Emerging Business Team in California, will participate in a panel discussion.
This story was originally published August 19, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "2 local firms among hunters for venture capital."