TRECC Provides Technology to Enable Statewide Investment Forum

Released Mar 8, 2005

The Illinois Business & Investor Forum (ILBIF) held its inaugural interactive investor event on Feb. 28 using Access Grid communications technology provided by the Technology, Research, Education, and Commercialization Center (TRECC). TRECC is a program of the University of Illinois, funded by the Office of Naval Research and administered by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).

The newly formed ILBIF connects members of the investment community with start-up companies, entrepreneurs, and universities from across the state of Illinois that have viable intellectual property.

ILBIF’s first statewide event showcased early-stage investment opportunities at several venues including: downtown Chicago, West Chicago, and Peoria. These venues were connected via the Access Grid, state-of-the-art communications technology based on grid computing and high-speed data networks. The Access Grid supports group-to-group interactions across high-speed networks, with large, high-resolution multimedia displays, advanced interactive environments, and interfaces to Grid middleware and visualization environments. TRECC led efforts of the downtown Chicago and Peoria site teams in their quest to enable the Access Grid technology at each site.

The forum feature presentations by technology start-ups Populex (http://www.populex.com/) and Snap2play (http://www.snap2play.com/). Populex is commercializing an accurate touch-screen voting machine with secure paper ballot output, while Snap2Play is a publisher and developer of computer games for the casual downloadable game market.

Caterpillar, Inc. (http://www.cat.com) also showcased commercialization opportunities stemming from an effort to monetize intellectual property via licenses, joint ventures, and start-ups. Caterpillar has experienced early success with the spinout of an innovative battery technology start-up called Firefly Energy, Inc., which recently closed on a $4 million round of funding.

The forum also featured Bart Carlson, founder of Northern Illinois Angels, presenting information on the Illinois Capital Fund and Raman Chadha, executive director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, discussing DePaul University’s newly formed Angel School.

The ILBIF was formed to address the need for increased early-stage (seed and pre-seed) investment in Illinois. ILBIF supporters include Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, Caterpillar Inc., the West Suburban Technology Enterprise Center (WESTEC), DePaul University, Northern Illinois Angels, TRECC, Heartland Capital Network and VenCore Solutions.

For more information on ILBIF, including information on presenting at future forums or attending as a accredited investor, go to www.ilbif.com.

View Other TRECC News