Friday, June 7, 2013

Long Island Capital Alliance Announces Participants for Biotech Technology Transfer Capital Forum


Long Island Capital Alliance Announces Participants for

Biotech Technology Transfer Capital Forum

Event to be Held on June 14 in Collaboration with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Melville, NY – June 7, 2013The Long Island Capital Alliance (“LICA”), the leading non-profit capital formation and business development organization serving regional companies, today announced the presenting companies and panelists for its Biotech Technology Transfer Capital Forum to be held on June 14, 2013.  The capital forum is being held in collaboration with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (“CSHL”) in an effort to facilitate the formation and acceleration of high-growth businesses on Long Island, based on technologies developed at CSHL.

CSHL scientists will present some of the exciting new technologies developed there to biotech investors, and investors will have an opportunity to meet and establish relationships with the CSHL officials and scientists.  Each of the underlying technologies LICA selected for presentation at the event is believed to represent catalysts for significant growth which will be attractive to investors and other financial backers.  CSHL is continuing to expand its outreach and partnerships toward building locally-based companies around its technologies using the “technology transfer” concept.

Technology transfer involves the use of inventions, processes, and knowledge developed by subject matter experts to create and enhance private sector businesses. Technology transfer involves a wide range of approaches to get technologies to market, including licensing to larger, more established companies, establishing equity transactions to provide technology to startup businesses, and entering into research and development agreements, including Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs, to collaboratively advance the technology toward commercialization.
A panel of investors and technology transfer experts will describe the process of financing and building companies around technological discoveries.
 
Biotech Technology Transfer Capital Forum on June 14, 2013 – Participants

Panel of Investors

Greg Blake:  Mr. Blake founded Brocair Partners in 2004 with a focus on providing advisory services to healthcare companies on a variety of merger and acquisition, financing, and strategic matters. Mr. Blake has an exceptional set of senior-level relationships in the healthcare industry, and has worked with clients that range from large publicly-traded healthcare companies to small family-owned businesses. 

Larry Chaityn:  Larry Chaityn is a Managing Director and Head of Global Health care Banking at Kaminski Partners, a global investment bank. He is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the bank including deal sourcing, deal review, due diligence investigation and client-facing operations. He has 14 years of health care/life sciences advisory experience, is an active member in the venture capital and angel investment communities and in the National Association of Health Services Executives.

Scott Livingston:  Mr. Livingston is the President of Livingston Securities, an investment banking firm that specializes in the nanotechnology and biosciences industries. Mr. Livingston has hosted the annual "Livingston Nanotechnology Conference," Wall Street's largest annual nanotechnology investor conference, since 2005.

Steve Winick:  Steve Winick is a principal of Topspin Partners, one of Long Island's leading venture capital firms. Steve previously served as CIO of Honeywell International's $2B security group. He had been with Honeywell (and the Ademco division of Pittway Corp., before its acquisition by Honeywell in 2000) for over 21 years as CTO of the security business, as well as founder and president of its wireless communications services business.

Presenting Companies and Technologies

 Novel Treatment for Diabetes, Obesity and Cancer: exploiting an oral dosage of a key regulator of insulin, leptin and HER2 oncogene function. (Professor Nicholas Tonks, FRS)

RapidCaP: the next generation platform to cure metastatic prostate cancer. (Professor Lloyd Trotman)

Velocin-N(TM): a new enzyme that enables faster, more sensitive and more selective detection of proteins (the miniature machines and structures of life) in mass spectrometers. (Dr. John Wilson)

Wilson Advanced Research:  develops products with novel health, social and commercial benefit, spanning a wide range from consumer products to environmental clean-up, including a simple solution to eliminate the largest reservoir of bacteria--including MURSA and E. coli 0157-- from homes. (Dr. John Wilson)

LICA, in collaboration with CSHL, will host the Biotech Technology Transfer Capital Forum on June 14, 2013 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at 68 South Service Road, Melville, NY.  The capital forum provides an opportunity to meet CSHL scientists, industry executives, capital providers, entrepreneurs, and businesses seeking capital, as well as to hear a panel of industry experts discuss financing alternatives for biotech technology transfer-based businesses.

 For more information about the event, please contact LICA today or register online.

About the Long Island Capital Alliance:

Since 1984, the Long Island Capital Alliance (www.licapital.org), formerly known as Long Island Venture Group, has been promoting business growth on Long Island. LICA seeks to create a productive and business-friendly environment that will afford area businesses access to the resources necessary to compete successfully in today's markets. LICA serves as a focal point for the exchange of ideas among new and existing business enterprises, successful entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. Through quarterly capital forums and special meetings, LICA brings together members of the region's business community, and has been recognized as the place to turn to when small businesses need equity, debt, or other financing, or for investors to find an attractive investment opportunity.

LICA's mission is to encourage economic development on Long Island by facilitating capital formation for a broad range of companies in various industries, from early stage to mature middle market closely held and publicly-traded businesses. LICA accomplishes this primarily through education, networking, quarterly capital forums, periodic special educational meetings, and alliances with other regional organizations. LICA brings together members of the region's business community and serves as the finance arm for significant local business and organizations.

For more information on LICA and its next event, please contact LICA today or register online.

About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Founded in 1890, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. CSHL is ranked number one in the world by Thomson Reuters for impact of its research in molecular biology and genetics. The Laboratory has been home to eight Nobel Prize winners. Today, CSHL's multidisciplinary scientific community is more than 600 researchers and technicians strong and its Meetings & Courses program hosts more than 12,000 scientists from around the world each year to its Long Island campus and its China center. Tens of thousands more benefit from the research, reviews, and ideas published in journals and books distributed internationally by CSHL Press. The Laboratory's education arm also includes a graduate school and programs for undergraduates as well as middle and high school students and teachers. CSHL is a private, not-for-profit institution on the north shore of Long Island. For more information, visit www.cshl.edu.

* * *

Contact:

Jordan Darrow


(631) 367-1866

jdarrow@darrowir.com

Friday, May 3, 2013

Long Island Capital Alliance Launches New Website


Feature-rich Website www.licapital.org Utilizes Social Media Technologies to Bring Emerging Companies Together with the Investment Community


Melville, NY – May 1, 2013The Long Island Capital Alliance (“LICA”), the leading non-profit capital formation and business development organization serving regional companies, today announced the launch of its newly formulated website complete with the latest in social media capabilities.  LICA invites all interested parties to visit the new website at www.licapital.org.

In order to better serve a broader segment of the investment community and regional companies seeking capital, the revamped website provides a feature-rich platform designed for non-profit organizations such as LICA, with enhanced information sharing and search engine optimization technologies, as well as streamlined membership, sponsorship, event registration and presenting company application procedures.  In addition, LICA has made other improvements to its website to stay ahead of capital formation trends and ongoing regulatory changes.

To further expand the use of LICA’s redesigned website, all significant forms of social media have been incorporated.  LICA believes it is the first regional capital formation services organization to have its own YouTube channel.  Other social media capabilities include Twitter, Linked In, Facebook, and a link to LICA’s blog, all provided in an effort to expand the reach of capital providers and local emerging businesses.

Neil Kaufman, chairman of LICA and chairman of the corporate department at Abrams Fensterman, stated that, “One of the exciting enhancements to our new website is a section that provides online videos of our capital forum presentations and investor panels, which will be easily accessible by prospective investors and entrepreneurs. In this way, we are looking forward to taking full advantage of the impending SEC rule change permitting general advertising of Rule 506 private placements to accredited investors, in order to bring maximum benefit to our presenting companies and investors.”

LICA recognizes that the competition for capital is intense – even with the best investment ideas, strongest management teams and sophisticated strategic partners.  LICA continues to do its part to facilitate access to investment for the local business community.

LICA’s new website provides improved access and registration for the organization’s events.  Online registration is now available for the next event -- the Biotech Technology Transfer Capital Forum with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scheduled for June 14, 2013.  At this event, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists will present some of the exciting new technologies developed there to biotech investors, and investors will have an opportunity to meet and establish relationships with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory officials and scientists.

About the Long Island Capital Alliance:

Since 1984, the Long Island Capital Alliance (www.licapital.org), formerly known as Long Island Venture Group, has been promoting business growth on Long Island. LICA seeks to create a productive and business-friendly environment that will afford area businesses access to the resources necessary to compete successfully in today's markets. LICA serves as a focal point for the exchange of ideas among new and existing business enterprises, successful entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. Through quarterly capital forums and special meetings, LICA brings together members of the region's business community, and has been recognized as the place to turn to when small businesses need equity, debt, or other financing, or for investors to find an attractive investment opportunity.

LICA's mission is to encourage economic development on Long Island by facilitating capital formation for a broad range of companies in various industries, from early stage to mature middle market closely held and publicly-traded businesses. LICA accomplishes this primarily through education, networking, quarterly capital forums, periodic special educational meetings, and alliances with other regional organizations. LICA brings together members of the region's business community and serves as the finance arm for significant local business and organizations.

For more information on LICA and its next event, please contact LICA today or register online.


* * *
Contact:
Jordan Darrow
(631) 367-1866
jdarrow@darrowir.com

Monday, April 8, 2013

Long Island Capital Alliance Holds Successful Health Care Capital Forum


Long Island Capital Alliance Holds Successful Health Care Capital Forum

Save the Date: Bio/Pharma Capital Forum with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to be Held on June 14  

Melville, NY – March 18, 2013The Long Island Capital Alliance (“LICA”), the leading non-profit capital formation and business development organization serving regional companies, today announced the successful completion of its Health Care Capital Forum held on March 8, 2013.  The capital forum, held in collaboration with The Center for Advanced Sensor Technologies at Stony Brook University, showcased six companies selected by LICA from a wide selection of developing medical technology, life sciences and health care information technology companies on Long Island and the nearby region. 

A panel of health care investors also participated in the event.  The panel provided insights on presenting companies’ business plans and investment potential, as well as a review of the current investment climate for health care companies.

Neil Kaufman, chairman of LICA, stated that, “Despite a heavy snow storm, we are pleased to have had strong participation with over 50 attendees at our Health Care Capital Forum.  This demonstrates the increasing role of LICA as a pivotal player in capital formation leading to economic development in the region.  We are very excited to build on this momentum, as we plan our next event in partnership with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, one of the nation’s leading research facilities for molecular biology and genetics, that focuses on the bio/pharma sector of the health care industry.”

“Even with the weather impact, we made a couple of good contacts. At events like this it is not about the number of people who attend but the quality and mutual fit of the participants.  The event was very well done,” said David Crane, Chief Executive Officer of Mobile Health One, a presenting company at the event.

“The Capital Forum was a terrific event and provided a really unique opportunity for emerging companies to interact with investors and advisors in an open forum,” said Rusty Ray, a panelist at the event and a New York-based health care investment banker at 11T Partners.

Health Care Capital Forum Industry Experts

The following industry investors participated in the panel discussion at the Capital Forum:

·         Larry Chaityn, Managing Director and Head of Global Health Care Banking at Kaminski Partners, a global investment bank. 

·         Rusty Ray, partner with 11T Partners, a health care-focused investment bank.

·         Paul Smolevitz, Managing Director and founding partner of TM Capital Corp.
 

Health Care Capital Forum Presenting Companies

The following companies presented their business plans at the Capital Forum:

Mobile Health One

Mobile Health One, Inc. develops mobile, on-demand HIPAA-compliant systems that unify healthcare professionals within and between organizations by simplifying communications to accelerate, consolidate, and control information sharing.
Adhere Tech
AdhereTech has created patented smart pill bottles that increase medication adherence. These bottles measure the exact number of pills or liquid in the bottle in real-time, wirelessly send this HIPAA-compliant data into the cloud, and remind patients to take their medication via phone call or text.   

First Wave Technologies

First Wave Technologies Inc. is a medical device facilitation business, with two initial products, the First Crush automated pill crusher in order to make them digestible due to the high demand by the growing population of senior citizens; and a respiratory device conversion and amplification technology that turns a ventilator into the equivalent of a $150,000 anesthesia machine.

Raland Therapeutics

Raland Therapeutics, Inc. has developed diagnostic and therapeutic devices that use implantable biosensors to provide real time, in-vivo monitoring of biological signaling and cellular responses while minimizing animal handling, labor requirements, cell culture/pathologic processing and capital costs.

Venus Pharmaceuticals International

Venus Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., a well-established pharmaceuticals manufacturer, has developed a proprietary photo-bioreactor technology to grow, harvest, and dry/extract micro-algae indoors, contaminant free. 

Cytosorbents

CytoSorbents Corporation is a critical care-focused therapeutics company using blood purification filters to control excessive, potentially deadly inflammation that could otherwise cause the failure of vital organs.  

About the Long Island Capital Alliance:

Since 1984, the Long Island Capital Alliance (www.licapital.org), formerly known as Long Island Venture Group, has been promoting business growth on Long Island. LICA seeks to create a productive and business-friendly environment that will afford area businesses access to the resources necessary to compete successfully in today's markets. LICA serves as a focal point for the exchange of ideas among new and existing business enterprises, successful entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. Through quarterly capital forums and special meetings, LICA brings together members of the region's business community, and has been recognized as the place to turn to when small businesses need equity, debt, or other financing, or for investors to find an attractive investment opportunity.

LICA's mission is to encourage economic development on Long Island by facilitating capital formation for a broad range of companies in various industries, from early stage to mature middle market closely held and publicly-traded businesses. LICA accomplishes this primarily through education, networking, quarterly capital forums, periodic special educational meetings, and alliances with other regional organizations. LICA brings together members of the region's business community and serves as the finance arm for significant local business and organizations.

For more information on LICA and its next event, please contact LICA today or register online.

* * *

Contact:

Jordan Darrow


(631) 367-1866

jdarrow@darrowir.com

Long Island Capital Alliance Announces Participants for Health Care Capital Forum


Long Island Capital Alliance Announces Participants for

Health Care Capital Forum

Event Held on March 8 in Collaboration with The Center for Advanced Sensor Technologies at Stony Brook University  

Melville, NY – March 4, 2013The Long Island Capital Alliance (“LICA”), the leading non-profit capital formation and business development organization serving regional companies, today announced the presenting companies and panelists for its Health Care Capital Forum to be held on March 8, 2013.  The capital forum will be held in collaboration with The Center for Advanced Sensor Technologies at Stony Brook University.

The presenting companies to be showcased at LICA’s Health Care Capital Forum were selected by LICA for this event from a wide selection of developing medical technology, life sciences and health care information technology companies on Long Island and the nearby region.  Several of the presenting companies provide best-in-class solutions to enhance medical related diagnostics and therapies as well as health care administration and productivity advancements.  These exciting health care companies are in need of private investment and other business development assistance.  Each of the companies selected for presentation will provide a discussion of their technology, product or service, a financial overview and catalysts for significant growth.  A panel of health care investors will also participate in the event.  The panel will provide insights on presenting companies’ business plans and investment potential, as well as a review of the current investment climate for health care companies.

Health Care Capital Forum on March 8, 2013 – Participants

Panel of Investors

Larry Chaityn:  Larry Chaityn is a Managing Director and Head of Global Health care Banking at Kaminski Partners, a global investment bank. He is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the bank including deal sourcing, deal review, due diligence investigation and client-facing operations. He has 14 years of health care/life sciences advisory experience, is an active member in the venture capital and angel investment communities and in the National Association of Health Services Executives.

Rusty Ray:  Rusty Ray is a partner with 11T Partners, a health care-focused investment bank. He has worked with a wide variety of clients in the health care industry ranging from large pharmaceutical companies to early-stage drug development companies to medical device and service-based companies. Prior to forming 11T Partners, Mr. Ray was a Partner with Brocair Partners, a health care investment banking boutique.

Paul Smolevitz:  Paul Smolevitz is a Managing Director and was a founding partner of TM Capital Corp in 1989. Since then, he has led TM Capital’s execution of many complex transactions, including financings, strategic acquisitions, restructurings and fairness opinions. Previously, Paul served as a Vice President at Thomson McKinnon Securities Inc. and as a Senior Accountant at Deloitte & Touche.  He is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Steve Winick:  Steve Winick is a principal of Topspin Partners, one of Long Island's leading venture capital firms. Steve previously served as CIO of Honeywell International's $2B security group. He had been with Honeywell (and the Ademco division of Pittway Corp., before its acquisition by Honeywell in 2000) for over 21 years as CTO of the security business, as well as founder and president of its wireless communications services business.


Presenting Companies

AdhereTech:  The company has patented smart pill bottles that increase medication adherence.  These bottles measure the exact amount of pills or liquid in the bottle in real-time, wirelessly send this HIPAA-compliant data into the cloud, and remind patients to take their medication via automated phone call or text message.  This process increases adherence, leads to reductions in expensive patient procedures and hospital readmissions, and requires zero setup for patients.  The open architecture of AdhereTech’s technology can integrate with all existing apps, programs, and adherence solutions.  Its servers record anonymized, HIPAA-compliant adherence data for patients based on drug, disease state, and demographic.

Wow Factor: AdhereTech has created patented smart pill bottles that increase medication adherence. These bottles measure the exact number of pills or liquid in the bottle in real-time, wirelessly send this HIPAA-compliant data into the cloud, and remind patients to take their medication via phone call or text

Venus Pharmaceuticals International:  Venus Pharmaceuticals is a FDA registered and cGMP compliant nutraceutical manufacturing facility.  Based in Hauppauge, NY, the Company specializes in the formulation and production of all major forms of functional foods, and is now expanding into micro-algae based biopharmaceuticals.

Wow Factor: Venus Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., a well-established pharmaceuticals manufacturer, has developed a proprietary photo-bioreactor technology to grow, harvest, and dry/extract micro-algae indoors, which is extremely useful for its medicinal properties.

Mobile Health One: Mobile Health One is a national health care communications technology company founded by respected neurosurgeon and successful entrepreneur John Abrahams, M.D.  The Company has developed MDChat, a cloud-based mobile communication system that lets health care providers communicate instantly with one another in a secure environment.   MDChat is positioned to provide a new model for workflow productivity in the health care industry. It unifies professionals within and between organizations into a collective communications environment that will ultimately lead to better patient care."

Wow Factor: Mobile Health One, Inc. develops mobile, on-demand HIPAA-compliant systems that unify health care professionals within and between organizations by simplifying communications to accelerate, consolidate, and control information sharing.

First Wave Technologies Inc.:  First Wave Technologies is a newly formed technology firm established to assist researchers and corporations advance their technologies to market. However, more importantly than providing "just money", First Wave's model is to provide a complete management team that can partner with researchers to accelerate introduction of ideas into the hands of customers.
Wow Factor: First Wave Technologies is a medical device facilitation business, with two initial products, the First Crush automated pill crusher in order to make them digestible due to the high demand by the growing population of senior citizens; and a respiratory device conversion and amplification technology that turns a ventilator into the equivalent of a $150,000 anesthesia machine.
 
Raland Therapeutics:  Raland Therapeutics transforms novel ideas into innovative devices to provide researchers with powerful tools to translate cellular data to the preclinical phase. Its experience and passion drive the Company to solve complex biomedical problems that ultimately improve patient care. Advancing innovation from the bench to the bedside, Raland understands the science, compliance, and the business of biomedical devices.

Wow Factor: Raland Therapeutics, Inc. has developed diagnostic and therapeutic devices that use implantable biosensors to provide real time, in-vivo monitoring of biological signaling and cellular responses while minimizing animal handling, labor requirements, cell culture/pathologic processing and capital costs.

CytoSorbents Corporation:  CytoSorbents Corporation (OTCQB: CTSO) is a critical care focused company using blood purification to treat life-threatening illnesses and to control excessive, potentially deadly inflammation that could otherwise cause the failure of vital organs.

Wow Factor: CytoSorbents has been awarded contracts from both DARPA and the US Army, and continues to invest significantly in its research and development pipeline. One of its most advanced products under development is HemoDefend, a blood purification technology platform for the blood transfusion industry intended to reduce transfusion reactions and improve the safety of "old" blood by removing many substances, such as antibodies, free hemoglobin and inflammatory mediators that can cause potentially serious and sometimes fatal transfusion reactions.

LICA, in collaboration with The Center for Advanced Sensor Technologies at Stony Brook University, will host the Health Care Capital Forum on March 8, 2013 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at 68 South Service Road, Melville, NY.  At the capital forum, the selected health care presenting companies will showcase their technologies, products and services. A panel of investors and industry experts will observe these presentations and provide their insights on the development of the health care industry and its investments prospects.  For more information about the event, please contact LICA today or register online.

About the Long Island Capital Alliance:

Since 1984, the Long Island Capital Alliance (www.licapital.org), formerly known as Long Island Venture Group, has been promoting business growth on Long Island. LICA seeks to create a productive and business-friendly environment that will afford area businesses access to the resources necessary to compete successfully in today's markets. LICA serves as a focal point for the exchange of ideas among new and existing business enterprises, successful entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. Through quarterly capital forums and special meetings, LICA brings together members of the region's business community, and has been recognized as the place to turn to when small businesses need equity, debt, or other financing, or for investors to find an attractive investment opportunity.

LICA's mission is to encourage economic development on Long Island by facilitating capital formation for a broad range of companies in various industries, from early stage to mature middle market closely held and publicly-traded businesses. LICA accomplishes this primarily through education, networking, quarterly capital forums, periodic special educational meetings, and alliances with other regional organizations. LICA brings together members of the region's business community and serves as the finance arm for significant local business and organizations.

For more information on LICA and its next event, please contact LICA today or register online.

About The Center for Advanced Sensor Technologies at Stony Brook University:

The New York State Center for Advanced Sensor Technology at Stony Brook University provides intellectual, logistical, and material resources for the development of new product technologies by facilitating R&D partnerships between New York companies with an in-state footprint and university researchers. The important outcomes are new jobs, new patents, training of students in company product matters, and improved competitiveness for New York State businesses.


* * *

Contact:

Jordan Darrow


(631) 367-1866

jdarrow@darrowir.com

Monday, January 7, 2013

Long Island Capital Alliance Announces Participants for Social Media Capital Forum



Long Island Capital Alliance Announces Participants for 
Social Media Capital Forum 

Event Held on December 14 in Partnership with Accelerate Long Island and Social Media Association, Inc.

Melville, NY – December 7, 2012 – The Long Island Capital Alliance (“LICA”), the leading non-profit capital formation and business development organization serving regional companies, today announced the presenting companies and panelists for its Social Media Capital Forum to be held on December 14, 2012.  The capital forum will be held in partnership with Accelerate Long Island and Social Media Association, Inc.

The presenting companies to be showcased at LICA’s Social Media Capital Forum were selected by LICA for this event from a wide selection of developing social media companies on Long Island.  Several of the presenting companies provide best-in-class solutions to enhance social and business practice via the Internet or a through a cloud-based format.  These exciting social media companies are in need of private investment and other business development assistance.  Each of the companies selected for presentation will provided a comprehensive discussion of their technology, application or service, a financial overview and catalysts for significant growth.  A panel of social media investors will also participate in the event.  The panel will provide insights on presenting companies’ business plans and investment potential.

Social Media Capital Forum on December 14, 2012 – Participants

Panel of Investors

Theodore B. Smith III:  Co-founder and Managing Partners of Canrock Ventures, one of Long Island's leading Internet software investment funds. He also is President and CEO of one of the largest privately held manufacturers of metal parts and fasteners, a company headquartered in Westbury, NY, where he has been employed since 1989 following several years on Wall Street.

John Ason:  An investor in over 40 companies over 16 years, specializing in early stage pre-revenue companies in e-commerce, technology, advertising, digital social media and entertainment. He is a guest lecturer at Wharton, NYU, Rutgers, NJIT and, Fairleigh Dickinson.  He is a visiting executive at the Iaccoca Institute, a founding investor in Digital Entertainment Ventures VC, and a mentor at the ERA, DreamIt, TechLaunch and WIN accelerators.

Alan Berkson:  Investor and the founder and principal of Intelligist Group, a team of innovative strategists that help businesses move past blockages, leverages unidentified or underutilized assets and identify opportunities for growth.

Presenting Companies

CollectorZoo™:  CollectorZoo is an Internet-based Social Commerce company designed by collectors for collectors.  The CollectorZoo website will be the ultimate destination where enthusiasts, serious collectors, or anyone with an inventory of collectibles will organize, value, analyze and, sell collectibles, and connect with fellow collectors.  CollectorZoo brings the collector community tools to instantly create value for their collectibles - effectively creating wealth that wasn’t there before (Value My Collection™).

CollectorZoo Wow Factor:  The core of CollectorZoo is a one-of-a-kind Inventory Management System.  Utilizing collector data, CollectorZoo utilizes Social Media technology to connect collectors in similar categories anywhere in the world.

EventNow:  Since 2010, EventNow has been making party and event planning easier and has sourced more than $24 Million in event and party budgets to its vendors; the free, easy-to-use service helps those looking to throw the perfect soiree hire the best vendors for their event.

EventNow Wow Factor:  Unlike other online services that merely serve as a directory of qualified vendors by industry and proximity, EventNow provides consumers a one-stop-shop of options and immediate proposals and bids.

General Sentiment:  General Sentiment’s social media analytics deliver insights that change the way brands make product and marketing decisions. General Sentiment provides a dashboard, an API and a custom reporting service, all of which allow corporate executives to comprehensively understand brand perception, identify trending topics in specific industries and optimize the effectiveness of marketing campaigns based in large part on sentiment expressed in social media.

General Sentiment Wow Factor: Fueled by large-scale natural language processing, General Sentiment offers real-time social intelligence to assist clients in interpreting online conversations and discovering actionable social insights.

GroupGifting.com:  GroupGifting.com’s innovative social and mobile technology helps retailers unlock the potential of social and mobile commerce to acquire new customers and deliver loyalty. Their eGifter web and mobile app is a fun and social service that enables consumers to chip-in and purchase gifts for their friends.

GroupGifting.com Wow Factor:  Social gifting is a growing phenomenon thanks to the rapid expansion of social and mobile markets, and GroupGifting.com is poised to help retailers capitalize on these growing trends with its flagship application, eGifter.  Groupgifting.com helps retailers who are experimenting with various ways to realize the promise of social commerce and leverage the invaluable information available in the Facebook Social Graph.

Karma 411:  Karma 411 provides online social fundraising solutions for nonprofits by facilitating crowd funding, energizing and monetizing events online, and customizing fundraising activities.

Karma411 Wow Factor:  Karma411's social networking platform serves as a model for businesses looking to fully integrate traditional websites and application development with new social tools for the web 2.0 world.

Student Launcher:  An online fundraising platform for schools that leverages social media and crowdfunding to increase a school's total donor pool and number of donations with fewer resources needed.

Student Launcher Wow Factor:  A project of Swift Kick, the three-time award winning training/consulting company that has worked with over 250 colleges & universities to increase student engagement and retention, Student Launcher uses social media and web-based solutions to provide schools with free micro-fundraising platforms while collecting fees for ongoing services and credit card processing for each donation.

BoomerPPL:  A social networking website focused on providing Baby Boomers with many value-added benefits.  Information on the site includes highly-relevant content on retirement issues and interests, discount member benefits including travel and leisure benefits and, insurance products complementary to offerings currently found on over-50-year-old websites.

BoomerPPL Wow Factor: This new social networking platform provides an opportunity for people of similar age and interests with better networking and information sharing opportunities.

LICA, Accelerate Long Island and Social Media Association will host the Social Media Capital Forum on December 14, 2012 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at 68 South Service Road, Melville, NY.  At the capital forum, the seven selected social media companies will showcase their technologies, applications and services. A panel of investors and industry experts will observe these presentations and provide their insights on the development of the social media industry and its investments prospects.  For more information about the event, please contact LICA today or register online.

About the Long Island Capital Alliance:

Since 1984, the Long Island Capital Alliance (www.licapital.org), formerly known as Long Island Venture Group, has been promoting business growth on Long Island. LICA seeks to create a productive and business-friendly environment that will afford area businesses access to the resources necessary to compete successfully in today's markets. LICA serves as a focal point for the exchange of ideas among new and existing business enterprises, successful entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. Through quarterly capital forums and special meetings, LICA brings together members of the region's business community, and has been recognized as the place to turn to when small businesses need equity, debt, or other financing, or for investors to find an attractive investment opportunity.

LICA's mission is to encourage economic development on Long Island by facilitating capital formation for a broad range of companies in various industries, from early stage to mature middle market closely held and publicly-traded businesses. LICA accomplishes this primarily through education, networking, quarterly capital forums, periodic special educational meetings, and alliances with other regional organizations. LICA brings together members of the region's business community and serves as the finance arm for significant local business and organizations.

About Accelerate Long Island:

Accelerate Long Island (www.accelerateli.org) was created in 2011 to foster the development of an innovation-based economy on Long Island. Long Island’s world class academic and research institutions have approximately $1.2 billion in annual research funding. It is the goal of Accelerate Long Island to commercialize that research into start-up companies in three industry clusters: Information Technology, Biotech/life sciences, and Energy. Accelerate Long Island received a $500,000 grant to start a seed fund for early stage companies, which is matched by $750,000 from the Long Island Emerging Technologies Fund, a partnership of venture capitalists. Accelerate Long Island will provide mentoring to start-ups and is working to attract more venture capital investment to Long Island.

About Social Media Association, Inc.

Social Media Association, Inc. is an independent social media group that provides a platform for teaching, sharing, and learning together in pursuit of empowering, informing and inspiring professionals and social media enthusiasts.  The organization is a think tank that shines a light on social media for leveraging opportunities and inspiring possibilities to increase brand visibility and enhance business opportunities.

For more information on LICA and its next event, please contact LICA today or register online.

Quarterly Capital Forums

Learn about the business plans and the investment opportunities of regional emerging companies at our next Capital Forum.

Register or learn more about our next Capital Forum