4th Quarter 2011 UKEconDev News

B2B on Dec. 15 features commercialization awards and entrepreneurs

Join UK President Eli Capilouto and Mayor Jim Gray at the annual Bench 2 Business event Dec.15, 4:30 p.m., UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital Pavilion A Auditorium. Also on the program are Len Heller who will announce the 2011 commercialization awards and Bluegrass entrepreneurs Eric Hauck with Equinext and Eric Ostertag with Transposagen. Dr. Michael Karpf will talk about the new Chandler Pavilion (take a tour of the new hospital at 3:30 p.m.). A reception follows. This event is sponsored by the Bluegrass Business Development Partnership. RSVP to mary.bosserman@uky.edu. Invitation

UK medical technology incubator Therix Medical spins out Bluegrass Vascular Technologies

Therix Medical has launched its first spinout company Bluegrass Vascular Technologies. BVT will develop and commercialize life-saving devices and methods that address shortcomings in vascular access procedures. Their flagship product is the Surfacer™ Inside-Out Access Catheter System, a proprietary instrumentation set which allows physicians to perform a novel "inside-out" approach to gain venous access. Dr. John Gurley, a UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital interventional cardiologist, BVT chief medical officer, and the inventor of the catheter, expects their first-in-man study to be completed by the end of the year. read more

Watch the new Therix Medical video, which highlights the private-public partnership with UK.  

WSJ cites Lexington in top 10 "brain hubs"

A Nov 29. article in the Wall Street Journal, "Recipe for Middle-Class Jobs," listed Lexington as one of the 10 cities with the highest percentage of workers with a bachelor's degree or higher, and a 2010 unemployment rate below the national average. According the article, "Beyond creating new middle-skill jobs, such brain hubs have generally higher incomes and for the most part have performed better through the recession." Read the article on WSJ blogs. 

Tempur-Pedic breaks ground for global headquarters

State, local and University of Kentucky officials joined Tempur-Pedic International CEO & President Mark Sarvary and EVP & Chief HR Officer Brad Patrick for a groundbreaking at Coldstream Oct. 3. The company's $18 million investment is expected to create 65 new jobs, bringing its total employment to more than 300 in the next five years. The new 125,000 square-foot facility is expected to open by the end of 2012. read more

Listen to remarks by Tempur-Pedic CEO & President Mark Sarvary, Governor Steve Beshear, UK President Eli Capilouto, UK President Emeritus Lee T. Todd Jr., and Commerce Lexington Vice Chair Darby Turner. 

Equinext receives local funding to begin testing device to treat equine leg injuries

UK spinoff company Equinext is taking the first step to test its device to treat equine tendon and ligament injuries using funds raised entirely from local Kentucky investors. Equinext recently closed an $850,000 Series A investment round and began the initial work on their clinical trial with strategic partner Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. Investors include UK through Kentucky Technology Inc., the Bluegrass Angels, two state funds, and the local equine industry. Equinext is a spinoff of Orthopeutics-Intralink Spine recruited to Lexington last year and located at Coldstream Research Campus. read more

UK advances development plans for Coldstream

UK is evaluating options for research buildings, the restoration of the Carnahan House, and residential units at Coldstream following an RFP for developers released this past summer. "The consensus from mixed-use developers was that 'rooftops' need to come first," said Coldstream Executive Director George Ward. "We need to increase our residential population while continuing to match

development activities with the research strengths of UK." Currently, Coldstream only has 2,000 square feet of vacant lab space. "Our development ready building sites, access to redundant electrical service and fiber, and our highly visible location off I-75/I-64 make Coldstream one of the best development sites in the region," said Ward. read more

Seikowave produces dental units for international customer

Seikowave is producing specially designed optic units to capture 3D images for dental applications in its ASTeCC lab. The UK spinoff company uses Electrical & Computer Engineering Associate Professor Daniel Lau's real-time 3D measurement research. According to CEO Matt Bellis, two additional customers will use the UK technology in automotive and body scanning applications. Bellis is also raising the first tranche of Series B financing, which includes lead investor Mitsubishi, the Bluegrass Angels, BGA Fund II and Commonwealth Seed Capital. read more

Lexington celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week  

Sixty local entrepreneurs joined Mayor Jim Gray at Base 163 on Nov. 14 to kick off a week of activities for Global Entrepreneurship Week. Michael Hartman and his wife and business partner, Pang, talked about their decision to keep their online computer game company, Frogdice, in Lexington instead of moving to Austin, Texas. The Bluegrass Business Development Partnership supported GEW, which was coordinated by the Lexington ICC and the Bluegrass SBDC, part of UK Commercialization & Economic Development, and Commerce Lexington. read more

"Thinking Outside the Box" event draws 75 local entrepreneurs during GEW

Lori Cheek, founder of Cheek'd, led a panel of successful Bluegrass entrepreneurs at a special event that drew a sell-out crowd during Global Entrepreneurship Week. Cheek, a Kentucky native and UK School of Architecture graduate, began the panel discussion with how she started her New York City based social networking company. Local entrepreneurs on the panel were Jim Clifton of Therix Medical; Allison Davis, Wild Thyme Cooking School; Candace Klein, SoMoLend and Bad Girl Ventures; Paige Shumate Short, Four Tigers; and Nick Such, BuildingLayer. Sponsored by the Lexington ICC and the Bluegrass SBDC. read more

VAC workshop speakers discuss developing a business plan and pitching to investors

Faculty, students and local entrepreneurs attended the second of a five-part commercialization series sponsored by the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship on Nov. 15. Bart van Dissel, a former Harvard Business School professor and McKinsey consultant, outlined developing a business plan that works. Matt Bellis, president of Seikowave, talked about putting together a 15-minute pitch to potential investors. Both presentations are available online.  read more

Four Lexington ICC client companies received $290,000 from the Kentucky Enterprise Fund

Frogdice, Pheeva, customKYnetics, and Equinext, received $290,000, which was 62 percent of all funds awarded in the latest round of the Kentucky Enterprise Fund. KEF is a state-funded, venture capital-like fund that invests in Kentucky based seed and early stage technology companies. read more

Phoenix Global Designs wins 2011 5Across pitch contest

Technology company Phoenix Global Designs is the grand prize winner of the 2011 5Across pitch contest for local entrepreneurs. CEO Anthony Pistilli competed against five finalists from the bimonthly contests and won $3,500 and the opportunity to present to the Bluegrass Angels. Phoenix Global Designs, a Lexington ICC client, created a wireless technology product called Guardian Ace. 5Across is sponsored by UK, Commerce Lexington, Awesome Inc., and the Lexington Venture Club.

KSBDC event helps small business owners put technology to work

More than 160 people in Lexington, Louisville and Covington attended Kentucky Small Business Development Center events featuring Ramon Ray, editor of SmallBizTechnology.com., and local speakers from each area. Topics included building a better Web site, mobile marketing, and how to use technology to generate new business and increase efficiency. The KSBDC is a partner program with the U.S. Small Business Administration and part of UKCED.

Briefs

Liu-Watt LLC is UK's latest startup company     
Professors Chunming Liu and David Watt have formed Liu-Watt LLC to develop new chemical agents based on naturally occurring compounds for the treatment of colon and liver cancers. Liu and Watt are in the UK College of Medicine's Department of Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry. See all UK spinoff companies.  

UK iwin accepts nominations from innovative employers for Dr. Lee T. Todd Jr. award  
Applications are due by Feb. 1 for the first-ever Dr. Lee T. Todd Jr. Bridging the Gap Between Workplace Research and Practice Award, sponsored by the UK Institute for Workplace Innovation (iwin). read more    

Bluegrass SBDC client Bluegrass Veterinary Specialists named minority business of the year    
Bluegrass Veterinary Specialists was named minority business of the year at Commerce Lexington's 2011 Salute to Small Business Awards. Congratulations to all of the winners including business of the year Creative Lodging Solutions. read more        

3H graduates ASTeCC and moves to Coldstream
3H and Liang Hu have patented a process for capturing carbon dioxide from coal combustion. Hu has a DOE grant to develop clean coal technologies. read more   

SBIR/STTR Phase II proposal preparation workshop in Louisville Jan.10
This workshop sponsored by the KSEF will also cover the Ky. SBIR Assistance Program and the Ky. SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program. Register online at ksef.kstc.com. read more    

UK colloquium looks at ways to foster an entrepreneurial environment 
Listen to UKCED Vice President Len Heller during the first Communications & Information Studies Colloquium on Entrepreneurship at UK the end of October. Other participants were College of Design Dean Michael Speaks; UK graduate and entrepreneur Brian Raney; Wes Brooks, president of UK's Entrepreneurship Club; and moderator CIS Dean Dan O' Hair. read more

PureLite Labs moves into ASTeCC  
This company is a leading supplier of a liquid high performing, cost effective and high-refractive index technology platform designed to improve the capture of light. read more

Firmnexus wins GEW startup pitch contest  
Firmnexus, a startup with a mobile, Web-based application for the legal industry, won $500 at the pitch contest held during Global Entrepreneurship Week. Founder and CEO Kyle Thomas and Rusty Leskiv made the winning pitch.     

Kentucky Alumni magazine features UKCED and Seikowave
Read the winter edition cover story "The Fast Track for innovation: UK has a hands-on role." 

Bluegrass Angel funded media company, uHAPS, names former Anheuser-Busch VP strategic advisor and board director read more

Long-time Lexington ICC client, CMSText, to hire 135 in Lexington read more

Intel sponsors entrepreneurship competition for 18-24 year-olds read more

Licenses to UK startups 

Mosquito Mate, founded by UK entomologist Steve Dobson, is using Dobson's technology to limit mosquito-borne pathogens and control or prevent mosquito-borne disease such as Dengue fever.

PhylloTech is pioneering the use of protein-based biofungicides to fight pathogens in the agricultural industry by developing new techniques for the sustainable production of industrial biomaterials in plants. The technology is from George Wagner, UK plant & soil sciences and PhylloTech CSO, and Ryan Shepherd, CTO and UK Ph.D. in plant biochemistry & molecular biology.

New UK patents

Bradley D. Anderson and Tian-Xiang Xiang, pharmaceutical sciences, and Vijay Joguparthi, formerly pharmaceutical sciences #8,067,432

Robert A. Yokel and Chang-Guo Zhan, pharmaceutical sciences, and Wesley R. Harris and Christopher D. Spilling, St. Louis, Mo. #8,066,883

Michael Jay and Russ Mumper, formerly pharmaceutical sciences #8,030,358 

Nasr A. Shuaib, formerly mechanical engineering, and Marwan Khraisheh, mechanical engineering #8,042,405

David Hildebrand, Suryadevara Rao and John Thoguru, plant & soil sciences #8,053,633

UK research news

See uknow.uky.edu/research for all of the latest news on research at UK.

UK BioPharm Complex completed with opening of two research floors read more

$3 million NIA grant awarded to SBCoA to create multicenter Alzheimer's database  read more

UK expands to perform research on future fuels from coal and biomass read more

College of Pharmacy announces new center for pharmaceutical research and innovation read more

Save the dates

Feb. 1 - Annual Lexington Venture Club entrepreneur celebration, Busters Billiards & Backroom, 899 Manchester Street, 5:30-7:30 p.m.     

Feb. 15 - Third Von Allmen Center workshop Keeping Good Accounting Practices, Gatton College of Business & Economics, 4-6 p.m.

March 29 - Appalachian Health Summit: Neurological Disorders, Lexington Convention Center. Co-sponsored by the UK Center for Clinical & Translational Science. Contact: www.ccts.uky.edu

May 30 - June 1 - 2012 NIH SBIR/STTR Conference, Marriott Louisville. This will be the first time Kentucky has hosted this important conference, which is expected to draw some 600 small businesses and entrepreneurs. Approximately $2.5 billion are available for SBIR and STTR programs this fiscal year. Contact: Mahendra Jain, mjain@kstc.com, or 859.246.3230. 

June 1 - 8th annual Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference, Marriott Louisville Downtown, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Open to all faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students and small businesses. Contact: ksefpm@kstc.com or 859.255.3613 to register.