Three to Square Off for $100K Prize at Summit

Three companies with technologies ranging from medical record software development to e-mail applications to the manufacturing of electronic security applications will square off in the final round of the $100,000 Business Plan Competition at this year's Summit in Tech Valley.

More than 300 CEOs, presidents and senior-level executives from the technology, business, government and academic communities are expected to be in attendance at the seventh annual event, which will be held in the hangar at the Million Air terminal at Albany International Airport in Colonie, New York on May 14. Berkshire Bank, through its Greater Berkshire Foundation, will serve as the event’s major sponsor; Nixon Peabody LLP is the lead sponsor of the Business Plan Competition.

The finalists are: PrecisionCare Software of New Paltz, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) developer of web-based electronic medical record solutions for Community-Based Healthcare providers; Celery LLC of Troy, developer of an easy and affordable way for people to send and receive email and color photos without a computer; and, Veratag, LLC of Albany, which manufactures nanoscale devices used in electronic security applications.

All three firms will present their business plans to a panel of venture capitalists from the U.S., with the winner to be announced at the conclusion of the daylong event. Along with a cash prize of $100,000, the winning company will also receive professional advisory services from several firms to improve its chances for long-term success.

Previous winners include BullEx Digital Safety (2006) of Troy, a technology company offering new products in the fire safety and security industry; Valogix Inc. (2005) of Saratoga Springs, a developer of business software that forecasts future demand, sets stocking levels, creates replenishment orders and optimizes inventory; Natec Inc. of Plattsburgh, a manufacturer of polymer-based ammunition (2004); Crystal IS Inc. of Watervliet, a materials research and manufacturing firm that focuses on semiconductors (2003); Starfire Systems Inc. of Malta, a developer and manufacturer of high-temperature, high-performance silicon carbide ceramic materials (2002); and, ReQuest Multimedia of Troy, which produces cutting-edge equipment that can store an entire music collection (2001).

Venture capitalists serving as judges for the final round of presentations are Bob Greene of Oncore Capital; Michael P. McQueeney of Summer Street Capital; Mark J. Morrissette of North Atlantic Capital; Tripp Peake of Long River Ventures; and Tony Schmitz of Pine Street Capital.

For the fifth consecutive year, the law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP is serving as lead sponsor of the business plan competition; Albany Molecular Research Inc., MapInfo Corporation, New York Business Development Corporation and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are major supporters of the competition. Blue Slate Solutions LLC, Center for Economic Growth, MARKTECH Optoelectronics and UHY Advisors NY Inc. are participating sponsors.

Companies headquartered in the 19-county Tech Valley region whose products or services are technology-oriented, are legal entities and have a $2 million per year revenue cap were eligible to enter the competition. From the original group of applicants, 10 were selected to present their business plans to a panel of regional business leaders, which selected the three finalists for this year’s competition

In addition to the $100,000 prize, the winner of the business plan competition will receive consultation from several area firms to help improve the venture’s chances of success. The winning company will receive $50,000 upon being selected, and the additional $50,000 as it reaches pre-determined milestones developed in conjunction with a professional advisory committee, made up of representatives of each service provider. The winning company will meet with that committee on a quarterly basis.

Berkshire Bank, through its Greater Berkshire Foundation, will serve as the major sponsor of the 2007 Summit for the second consecutive year; the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce, Albany International Airport, First Albany, FOX23 WXXA-TV, Midhudsonmedia, National Grid and the Times Union will serve as Summit sponsors. Red Herring is the national media sponsor. Chamber of Commerce sponsors include Plattsburgh-North Country, Rensselaer County and Schenectady County.

PrecisionCare Software is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) developer of web-based electronic medical record solutions for Community-Based Healthcare providers with a focus on corporate compliance to ensure billing accountability and audit protection. This estimated $1.2 billion market is burdened by heavy regulation and documentation requirements. PrecisionCare’s unique SaaS enables Community Based Healthcare providers to focus on consumer care instead of documentation, significantly improve the quality of services they provide, drastically reduce operating costs, and avoid costly Medicaid audits. PrecisionCare has successfully bootstrapped and raised angel capital to develop and sell its SaaS approach to omore than 65 customers.

Formed in 2004, Celery LLC has developed an easy and affordable way for people to send and receive email and color photos without a computer. The company married its custom software application to off-the-shelf fax technology and designed a business model to profitably sell and service Celery’s customer base. Celery utilizes an existing telephone line, and there is no need for the customer to have a dial-up or cable modem connection. It has developed a product that is easy to use and available at a much lower cost than alternative applications. The company has sold systems in 45 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. This is the second consecutive year that Celery, LLC has been named a finalist in the $100,000 Business Plan Competition.

Veratag, LLC is a start-up company whose mission is to offer an alternative to encryption for security conscious applications. Veratag manufactures nanoscale MEMS devices which create unique electronic "fingerprints" or signatures for RFID tags as well as other electronic security applications. These devices eliminate the need for costly and crackable encryption systems. The signature is an analog signal that can be used for unique identification, authentication and counterfeit prevention.