News

Monday, October 13, 2008 Phoenix Business Journal - by Patrick O'Grady

Invest Southwest, Sponsored by The Miller Group, Taps 13 Companies as Presenters

Invest Southwest has chosen 13 companies from Arizona, Mexico, Utah and New Mexico to present their business plans at this year's conference in December.

The companies were selected out of 84 submissions, a 20 percent increase over the previous year. The group represents a range of industries from biotechnology to software and alternative energy.

The conference tends to be technology heavy because of the criteria used in selecting companies to appeal to a range of investment groups, said Dave Bittner, this year's conference chairman.

"Generally speaking, (the businesses) have to be highly scalable and highly defensible, and you get a lot of that in the tech industry," he said.

The conference is pleased with its presenters, which will now work with a mentoring group to help hone their pitch for funding down to a polished 10 minutes, Bittner said.

Those presenting at the conference, sponsored by The Miller Group, will be:

Captivemotion LLC of Tempe, which develops animation for use in video games, movies and ads.

CellTrust Corp. of Scottsdale, a mobile security application developer in use by a number of carriers.

Clareity Security of Scottsdale, which develops solutions for identity fraud in online transactions.

Consolidated Energy Systems LLC of Salt Lake City, which is developing a process to turn petroleum coke into diesel fuel for modified engines.

Grip of Glendale, which is developing network solutions for the audio/visual industry focused on simplification.

IMemories of Scottsdale, which converts home movies and photos to digital formats.

Medipacs of Tucson, which is developing miniature, wearable infusion pumps.

MedTrust Online LLC of Scottsdale, which is connects physicians through an online social media Web site.

NanoMR of Albuquerque, N.M., which is developing a quicker way to test blood cultures.

Octopi LLC of Tucson, the developer of video games for the casual, online market, including a game called "PoxNora.

Protein Genomics of Sedona, which developed a human elastin protein for wound care.

Solar-Breeze LLC of Phoenix, which developed a solar-powered robotic pool skimmer.

Unima Integral Biosecurity of Zapopan, Mexico, which is working on a biotechnological way to control food-borne disease.

The companies will be looking for funding ranging from $250,000 to $5 million from investors at the conference. Bittner said the conference has for the first time drawn a lot of applicants from the biotechnology field, indicating Arizona's efforts to spur the industry may be paying off.

The conference is slated for Dec. 10-11 at the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale. For more: www.investsouthwest.org.