LCCC FOUNDATION INNOVATION FUND ANNOUNCES INVESTMENTS IN FOUR TECHNOLOGY START-UP COMPANIES IN SECOND ROUND OF AWARDS

The Lorain County Community College Foundation Innovation Fund will invest $325,000 in four technology start-up companies in its second round of awards. The awards were announced Thursday, April 24 at LCCC’s Entrepreneurship Innovation Center (EIC).

The awards help to fill the funding need for businesses that are at the earliest stage of development, the difficult point in a business’s growth before they are mature enough to attract angel investors and venture capitalists. The Innovation Fund utilizes funds from Ohio's Third Frontier Program combined with matching local support to make the awards.

The four companies receiving the awards are:

• Axiom, a $25,000 award. Axiom, a Cleveland Heights company, is a medical education software company that uses cutting edge 3D animation to teach difficult yet vital concepts. 
    
• Collabotive, Inc., a $100,000 award.  Collabotive, an Elyria company, has a patent pending system, www.ReviewView.com, that incorporates a number of innovative collaboration technologies for managing consumer reviews and ratings from multiple independent websites that do not have the expertise or web traffic to offer this revenue generating, traffic-increasing feature.
     
• CutterCroix, LLC, a $100,000 award. CutterCroix, an Elyria company, engineers software for small to mid-size contractors that is simple, economical, mobile, scalable, and delivered as a subscription-based web application
    
• Segmint, Inc., a $100.000 award. Segment, a Tallmadge company, developed software which will enable analysis of every aspect of a consumer’s spending habits, from a wide variety of data sources. Segmint will be capable of accessing consumer data down to line item detail with the ability to target groups of consumers ahead of their purchase decisions. 

Two of the companies, Collabotive and CutterCroix have moved to LCCC’s Entrepreneurship Innovation Center where they will incubate with the assistance of the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise (GLIDE). GLIDE is a partnership between the Lorain County Commissioners, the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce and LCCC. GLIDE is an Edison Technology Incubator.

“The Innovation Fund Award has had a significant impact on our ability to more quickly bring to market CutterCroix’s innovative software and services for helping contractors improve profitability.  This award provides the runway to further refine key product features and complete the necessary marketing materials of our initial web-based software solution.  In addition, it helps position our company for early stage investment capital,” said Mark Slavik of CutterCroix.

"The Innovation Fund award gives Collabotive tremendous credibility and at the same the opportunity to grow as a result of the additional financial support. The Innovation Fund's experienced leaders and meticulous evaluation process validated and refocused Collabotive on its core business value.  This award compels others to consider Collabotive's market potential while contributing to the revitalization of Northeast Ohio," said Junaid Ali, CEO of Collabotive.

Contributions to the Innovation Fund are fully tax-deductible as a result of a landmark ruling by the IRS.  Realizing the potential risks to a foundation’s tax exempt status for supporting incubator activities, the LCCC Foundation submitted a special request to the IRS seeking permission to accept charitable contributions that would be used for the purposes of the Innovation Fund. In January of 2006, the LCCC Foundation received the positive ruling, a groundbreaking decision applicable only to the LCCC Foundation and is the only one of its kind in the nation.

“The idea is to create a fund where individuals, organizations and corporations can make tax deductible contributions to help early stage entrepreneurs be successful, while providing an educational experience for students in entrepreneurship.  The Innovation Fund supports a “grow our own” strategy for business and job creation,” said LCCC President Dr. Roy A. Church.

To date the Innovation Fund has received generous support from organizations like the Community Foundation of Lorain County and the Nord Family Foundation.  The State of Ohio has also made a major investment through the Ohio Third Frontier Entrepreneurial Support Program with $400,000.  The Third Frontier Project is the state's largest-ever commitment to expanding Ohio's high-tech research capabilities and promoting innovation and company formation that will create high-paying jobs for generations to come.

The Innovation Fund focuses on technology opportunities in Ohio's five high growth industries. It is a regional fund, providing support across Northeast Ohio's 21 counties to help great technology ideas develop into viable businesses and thus create jobs in the region.

There are two types of support: the first is grant support up to $25,000 to help validate the technology; and the second is a pre-seed investment of up to $100,000 to help validate the business concept.

Recipients of Innovation Fund awards agree to provide an educational experience in entrepreneurship for a student – allowing the student to walk side by side with the entrepreneur without taking on the risk.  Recipients are also required to help replenish the fund should the business become successful.

The application process for the Innovation Fund is completely web-based.  Applicants are able to submit an application through the fund’s website. Upon submission, GLIDE and its regional partners representing a network of industry experts, entrepreneurs and investors employ a thorough due diligence process to assess both the technology and the business potential.  In tandem, the LCCC Entrepreneurship Innovation Institute works with applicants to form a potential educational opportunity.

Nineteen applications for funding were received for award cycle ending December 31, 2007. Following a thorough evaluation, six of the applications were brought before an Evaluation Team comprised of GLIDE and College leadership, members of the LCCC Foundation Innovation Fund Committee and all five of the TechLift Entrepreneurs in Residence, funded by the Third Frontier Program.

Following the Evaluation session, the field was narrowed to four final recommendations, which were brought before the Innovation Fund Committee of the LCCC Foundation Board.

The next cycle of the Innovation Fund awards is currently active with a closing date of June 30, 2008.  

For more information about the LCCC Foundation Innovation or to apply, please visit www.lorainccc.edu/if.

April 24, 2008