Innovation + Job News

CoverMyMeds, a web-based prior authorization (PA) service for pharmacies and physician offices, is reporting record growth since receiving a $250,000 investment from JumpStart in 2010.
 
Co-founder Matt Scantland says the company “had around 10 employees and under a million in revenue” three years prior. “Today we are at about 50 employees and 20 million in gross revenue.
 
Scantland launched CoverMyMeds in 2008 with Sam Rajan who had previously headed MemberHealth’s clinical operations. The two met through a business collaboration with Scantland’s then-health care technology company, Innova Partners. “At the time, we were building a Medicare Part D plan,” he recalls. “We learned that patients were having trouble getting the medications they needed due to problems associated with the prior authorization process.” Scantland describes a PA as a permission slip the doctor has to send to your insurance company before they will cover the drug.
 
Scantland credits the company’s success and introduction to JumpStart to their two homes – Northeast Ohio and Columbus. “When we started the business, the environment for the startup community in Northeast Ohio was perfect,” he boasts. “So we started introducing ourselves around the area and learned about Jumpstart. They helped us by not only awarding us for the grant monies, but also with connections and building relationships for expeditious growth to our business.”
 
Now, CoverMyMeds' service is used by “well over half of all the pharmacies in the country, and is used by more than 100,000 physicians,” helping more than two million patients receive the drugs they need. Scantland estimates reaching more than four million patients this year alone.
 
“It’s a really important time in healthcare, and I think we’ll see more change in the next decade than we saw in the last 30-years,” he predicts. “The challenge facing this country is really how we continue to create great clinical innovations while stopping the rapid expansion of expenses.”
 
 
Source: Matt Scantland
Writer: Joe Baur

Bizdom and the Shaker LaunchHouse Accelerator (LHX) program each received $200,000 from the Third Frontier Ohio’s New Entrepreneurs (ONE) Fund to invest in a total of 20 startups. The two are the only business accelerators in Ohio to receive the funding.

While Bizdom’s program focuses on software and web opportunities in healthcare, consumer finance, real estate, entertainment, sports, online marketing and gaming, the LHX program centers on technology, internet, mobile and hardware/robotics industries.
 
However, Bizdom leader Paul Allen says they welcome all types of businesses to apply for their accelerator. “Every company today uses technology in some way, so the definition of technology companies is evolving,” he says. “We do like software, web and apps companies because they are less capital intensive, but we want to see everything. We’ll look at any technology business.”

LaunchHouse will accept applications for the August 12-week accelerator program starting tomorrow. Bizdom's application deadline for the summer program is March 17 and July 7 for the fall program.
 
The two organizations are looking forward to running their fall programs simultaneously. “We’re looking to collaborate and build jobs and the best businesses in Northeast Ohio,” says LaunchHouse CEO Todd Goldstein.
 
Allen says the two programs will be of historical importance in the region. “As far as I know, we’ve never had 20 companies at the same time,” he says. “We collaborate whenever we can, wherever it makes sense. The goal is to create lots of successful new businesses, create jobs and replace jobs that have been lost.”
 
Since January 2012, Bizdom has launched 18 new tech businesses in Cleveland, nine of which received follow-on funding and are profitable. LaunchHouse, which was recently named one of the best incubators in the North and Midwest by Elite Daily, has launched 10 companies in its inaugural accelerator program last summer, and has invested in 40 companies and raised $9 million in follow-on funding since 2008.

 
Sources: Paul Allen, Todd Goldstein
Writer: Karin Connelly

Wearable tech is emerging as the "next big thing" in consumer technology. And a trio of Cincinnati entrepreneurs are developing Nugg-it, a wristband that will easily record snippets of everyday conversation, and investors are taking notice.

Nugg-it has raised a total of $250,000 raised from CincyTech and Design 2 Matter, a Silicon Valley-based industrial design firm. That's part of an ongoing $600,000 investment seed round. Design 2 Matter is also designing and building the device.

"[Design 2 Matter] has a very successful track record of bringing products from concept to shelf," says Nugg-it's co-founder and social media entrepreneur Matthew Dooley.

Nugg-it is meant to be worn 24 hours a day. It records live conversations on a 60-second loop, continuously saving them in one-minute "nuggets." To save a memorable part of a conversation, the user touches the device to save the last minute of buffered memory. That recording can be sent to a smartphone, and through an app can be edited, saved and shared.

"It's a smaller, lighter weight band," says Dooley. "Right now, we are trying to focus a lot of attention on design. It has to be something that is stylish and comfortable to wear. A lot of the functionality is off the shelf, but we're putting it together in a new way."

Dooley is working with former Procter & Gamble brand marketer and engineer Mike Sarow to develop the device. Plans are to deliver the final concept in March, and introduce it to the market by December, Dooley says.

"It occurred to us that there are a lot of circumstances in life where we want to remember and share something that was just said—a clever phrase in a meeting, something adorable from our 3-year-old, words of wisdom from a mentor—but we can't 'capture' it," Sarow says. "Now you can."

Nugg-it is CincyTech's first consumer electronics device investment.

"With the rise of the Nike FuelBand and smartwatches such as Pebble, wearable technology is projected to be a $7 billion market by 2017," says CincyTech's Executive-in-Residence Doug Groh. "We expect Nugg-it to help drive that growth and to do for short audio files what Twitter has done for 140-character content."

By Feoshia H. Davis
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Mark Fischbach of Milford, Ohio, launched a successful career playing video games and yelling at his computer as a YouTube partner. His channel, Markiplier, features videos of Fischbach playing video games while providing—well, let's call it lively—commentary. The distinctive thing about Fischbach, though, is his strikingly deep and commanding voice.

His YouTube channel gains subscribers at a steady rate. With nearly 150,000 subscribers, Fischbach has garnered more than 23 million views on his hundreds of videos. "Random Horror Reaction Compilation #2," for example, which consists of a little more than four minutes of Fischbach commentating as his video game characters witness scary scenes from games like Death of the Dream 2, Fibrillation and Creepy Zone, has been watched more than a quarter of a million times.

This local gamer with “an ego the size of the moon” (according to his YouTube’s homepage) has also raised more than $21,000 for various charities that mainly focus on cancer research. He does this in memory of his father.

Though Fischbach started his YouTube venture less than a year ago, his girly screams and unexpected jokes attract a large demographic of video game enthusiasts with a sense of humor. In this day and age, nearly everyone can find at least one kind of video game they enjoy, which makes Fischbach’s territory an ever-expanding kingdom of nerdiness.

By Sean Peters

A team of Cleveland Clinic researchers have found that regular screening for Lynch Syndrome, the top genetic cause of adult colon cancer, can significantly reduce the occurrence of subsequent cancers. Researchers screened all colorectal cancers surgically removed at the Clinic for Lynch Syndrome and referred those who tested positive to genetic counselors.

Lynch Syndrome affects patients at an early age and often leads to multiple colorectal cancers. Women are additionally more susceptible to uterine and ovarian cancers. By identifying the disease early, people with Lynch and their families can work with their doctors and counselors to keep an eye on signs of early cancers.
 
The research was led by Charis Eng, Hardis Chair and founding director of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute’s Genomic Medicine Institute. The findings were published in the online Journal of Clinical Oncology.

“This paper shows successful implementation of a rapid, cost-effective system-wide screening to detect potential Lynch syndrome,” says Eng. “Because of this research, we know how to catch these things early and how to prevent them. If you are positive for Lynch, cancer can occur as young as age 25 and you should get a colon screening every year, and women should also get uterine screenings.”
 
Eng says patients with Lynch Syndrome can then weigh the surgical options when they are diagnosed with colon cancer. Patients may opt to have the entire colon removed, and women may opt to have the uterus and ovaries removed as well, to prevent future cancers.
 
“Instituting high risk surveillance early routinely saves lives,” Eng says. "It is an extreme challenge to bring genomics research to successful implementation in genomic medicine practices,” says Eng. “Here, we have achieved 100 percent successful implementation of universal Lynch syndrome screening.”

 
Source: Charis Eng
Writer: Karin Connelly

The Hamilton County Business Center is Cincinnati's oldest incubator, and has evolved over the decades as the economy has changed.

Startups are leaner and meaner now than ever before, and HCBC is piloting the region's latest coworking space, where small businesses can get many of the benefits of being in an incubator without the higher overhead.

HCBC's CoWorks had a very quiet launch late last fall. With three businesses in the space, which is located in Norwood, Executive Director Pat Longo is now getting the word out about HCBC.

"This has grown out of our affiliate program," Longo says. "There were companies that weren't yet ready to apply for the incubator but they wanted to be around it."

HCBC has recently upgraded its conference room space, which has been attractive to small companies like SCORE, SBDC and Meetups that want to present themselves more professionally, says Longo.

HCBC has 45 companies that last year generated over $18 million in revenues, accessed over $8 million in capital and created nearly 50 jobs.

Renting CoWorks space on a month-to-month basis starts at $75 per month, and includes:

• 24-hour, 7-day-a-week access
• WiFi
• Concierge and receptionist services
• Free parking
• Fax, scanner and copier services
• Kitchen
• Up to four hours per month of conference room use
• A mailing address

"We talk about having an entrepreneurial ecosystem, but I like to think of (HCBC) as a coral reef," Longo says. "We have a lot of life, people can grow, there is lots of nourishment and places to go and hide if you need a quiet place to work."

CoWorkers will have access to the incubator entrepreneurial atmosphere, programming and resources. Some are free, while others have a fee attached.

"They'll get the benefits of being a client," Long says. "And we hope when they are ready, they'll move into the incubator."

Currently, there is space for about 12 companies, with potential room to grow. Interested businesses can find out more on the CoWorks website, where interpreters can fill out an application.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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Public schooling is multi-faceted, and each state legislature has a particular way of governing its districts.

Public schools are a large part of state budgets and efforts, and most years, there are new regulations for administrators and teachers to comply with. Many new rules—implementing an anti-bullying program, for instance—comprise of educational and professional development and reporting and tracking.

Taken together, each mandate can take up a lot of time, which leaves teachers struggling to do what they to best: educate children.

One Cincinnati company is growing by making it easier for K-12 schools to manage those mandates. PublicSchoolWORKS offers schools a suite of web-based software and ongoing support in the areas of staff and student health, safety compliance and behavior programs.

Founded in 1999, the O'Bryonville-based company has two software suites: EmployeeSafe and StudentWatch. PublicSchoolWORKS has clients in the Cincinnati area, but it also serves schools across North America. Its resources include written plans, forms, training courses and other content that school districts need in order to succeed.

PublicSchoolWORKS was developed by a team of actively employed school administrators. It's CEO, Steve Temming, has more than 22 years of experience working in public schools, including administration.

"We create complete programs that address the needs of a district, not from a strategy standpoint but from an implementation standpoint," says PublicSchoolWORKS' Vice President Tom Strasburger.

The company is constantly monitoring state legislatures to assure its custom-content software continues to meet school districts' needs. PublicSchoolWORKS also offers ongoing service support to help districts get the most out of the software, Strasburger says.

"We provide a signature product that completely addresses school issues," Strasburger says. "By knowing legislation and meeting that legislation, the system is built to manage what is expected of the school. It's virtually hands off, so (teachers and administrators) can do their jobs."

It's because of the system's automation and completeness that the company rarely loses a customer. Public School Works is growing with its own sales, support and research groups, in addition to IT. Not only are its services growing, but PublicSchoolWORKS is also physically outgrowing its current office space, and could soon move into a new, larger facility.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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Akron-based Insight Market Data (IMD) has partnered with a family-run grocery store in Lorain County to create a more convenient, efficient and sustainable method of distributing coupons through a new smartphone app, Ringside Shopper.
 
Jim Wilson, formerly the B2B technical architect of Avon Lake-based PolyOne and senior application developer for Schwab and Key Corp., says the idea was borne out of his wife’s frustration with not being able to find diaper coupons on the internet following the birth of their daughter. The frustration led to serendipity.
 
“All of my varied programming experiences allowed me to see the whole system in a moment of inspiration,” Wilson says, recalling the moment from 1999 when pagers were common and smartphones weren’t on the radar yet. “Having played with early handheld computers, it was obvious to me what was coming and how it would make this system possible.” The long-brewing idea became a patent a decade later and is now a reality.
 
“The Ringside Shopper app itself is incredibly simple,” Wilson explains, adding user information is protected. “While in the store aisle, a shopper just scans the UPC barcode of a product they’re interested in, and the app will display a discount coupon for that product and a few others from competing brands.” The entire process takes no more than a few seconds, allowing the shopper to continue as normal until checkout. “Then at the checkout register, the shopper simply scans the ‘Point of Sale ID’ barcode stuck to the register [Ringside’s logo is on it], and like magic, their coupons will be applied and deducted from their bill as the items are scanned in,” says Wilson. A demo of the process is available at their website.
 
Wilson is proud to note that development has been an “all-Ohio” effort. “In addition to friends and family, the Lorain County Community Innovation Fund supported IMD early on with grant money and helped conduct a successful trial of the prototype system on the Lorain County Community College campus,” he says. Now Wilson is looking for more partners and investors as he continues developing relationships with Kent State University, Lean Dog in Cleveland, and LaGrange IGA to complete a variety of company tasks, including data mining, analytics support and programming.
 
Meantime, curious shoppers are invited by Wilson to download the free app and try it themselves at the LaGrange IGA. “With a little luck, the money saving system you see there will soon be coming to every store near you.”
 
 
Source: Jim Wilson
Writer: Joe Baur

The Dayton Development Coalition (DDC), which serves 14 counties in west central Ohio, is the region’s economic development and advocacy organization supporting job creation.
 
When deciding where to locate, businesses consider a host of different factors, including a skilled workforce, transportation, logistics, taxes, incentives and educational institutions, when deciding where to locate. DDC relies on its internal data team to research and provide information on these and other important factors to help attract regional economic development.
 
The data team was recently tapped to present some of its best practices and strategies at the Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) national conference.  According to its website, EMSI provides “high-quality employment data and economic analysis through web tools and custom reports.”
 
The team shared how it uses EMSI data to target economic development efforts, explains Kristy Rochon, director of DCC’s institutional research and strategic planning. Impressed by the team’s presentation, EMSI is featuring some highlights on its website.

“One of our best practices is how we use data to recruit businesses to the Dayton region,” Rochon says. “When businesses contact us about what they need for their business decision, we put together the most competitive and comprehensive package possible, using data from a host of different sources. Instead of just feeding them data, however, we try to gain as much insight into their company as possible, comparing the Dayton region to where they’re currently located. We consistently go beyond the parameters to give them what they need.”
 
A second best practice, Rochon explains, reflects how DDC’s data team uses EMSI data to analyze regional competitive strengths and opportunities. “We look at what we call ‘driver industries.’ These are high-skilled industries that carry high job multipliers,” she says. “High job multipliers mean that for every job in that ‘driver industry,’ it’s going to produce additional jobs in that industry.”
 
She cites aerospace systems, advanced materials manufacturing, biosciences and advanced data management as examples of “driver industries.”
 
“What we’re looking for here is projected growth or projected decline and trying to understand the factors behind it. The goal is to find ways to strengthen the industry or capitalize on that growth.”

Source:  Kristy Rochon, Dayton Development Coalition
Writer:  Lynne Meyer

 

More and more, Cincinnati is recognized as an ideal city for startups, filled with resources for those interested in establishing their new ideas in the professional world. But what about independent artists intent on making and distributing their wares? For them, there’s CNCY MADE.

“The core idea is that we want to be able to start making connections in the local community to assist people who might be making their own physical products, but need help in figuring out what is needed to step up in scale,” says Matt Anthony, who is spearheading CNCY MADE. Anthony is one of the founders of Losantiville, an Over-the-Rhine based design collective filled with UC DAAP graduates.

Right now, CNCY MADE is only collecting information. Interested to see what the turnout will be, CNCY MADE is gauging the community’s interest and compiling intelligence on what supplies are widely available within the I-275 loop.

Whether you’re a creative designer with an idea for a product line, a manufacturer or have access to bulk raw materials, CNCY MADE wants to hear from you—if the project picks up momentum, it could be an invaluable resource for the city.

“We have great support for people who understand branding and consumer packaged goods,” Anthony says. He adds there is “a steady stream of creatives and students coming up with solid product line ideas and even prototypes who just can’t figure out the next step to scaling production to make a functioning business.”

CNCY MADE will not only connect makers with necessary contacts, it will provide a heads-up on what expenses to expect.
“The website could be a tool for actually connecting or just getting the details necessary to attain capital,” Anthony says.

“What we find in these early stages will determine some of the outputs for CNCY MADE.”
 
To get involved with CNCY MADE, visit their website and fill in the details.

By Sean Peters

The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, which supports entrepreneurship education and programming in Northeast Ohio, awarded a $1 million grant to JumpStart last week for an entrepreneurial mentoring program over the next three years.

“Our goal is to reach aspiring entrepreneurs by using the talent and time of the mentors to help these businesses move along with their plans,” explains Deborah D. Hoover, Burton D. Morgan Foundation CEO and president.
 
The mentoring program has been operating as a pilot program for about a year at JumpStart, with 24 mentor teams participating. The goal is to provide mentoring and support services to 1,500 early stage businesses in the region through 2015.
 
“This is an amazing investment the Burton D. Morgan Foundation made in JumpStart and the work we’re doing in the region,” says JumpStart COO Cathy Belk. “This is an incredible opportunity for entrepreneurs to access the wisdom and insight of people who have been through the same things they’re going through, people who know how to grow a business in tough positions.”
 
The grant will allow for the creation of a mentorship council, which will help form the most effective mentoring program. “The council will learn about best practices, understand other programs in the region and the differences between them,” says Belk.
 
Mentoring was one of Morgan’s core values as an entrepreneur himself. This program fits exactly with the foundation’s mission. “Mr. Morgan helped mentor hundreds of businesses,” says Hoover. “He loved to talk to people and had an open door policy.” Belk adds that JumpStart CEO Ray Leach once received mentoring from Morgan.
 
Source: Deborah Hoover and Cathy Belk
Writer: Karin Connelly

The discovery of a great local act or a hot new bar should be shared, says Impulcity founder Hunter Hammonds. Immediately.

And it is. Thousands of smartphone users have downloaded the mobile application of the Brandery-trained startup since it launched on iTunes early last week.

An update to the app could drop as early as Wednesday, which would bring significant improvements to the mobile aggregator of entertainment venues. And the new company is hiring, too. They're looking for an Android app developer and an "artist content intern"—someone to write content about venues and events.

Hammond’s team, which includes co-founder Austin Cameron and iOS developer Eric Ziegler, is fine-tuning a VIP program, which will Impulcity users to check-in at a venue and avoid cover charges or receive other VIP benefits. They’re working on more robust context for events, including the ability to play the music released by a new band and produce background on an entertainer or a venue. The app will offer rankings and suggestions based on users’ past choices and an interactive calendar for entertainment-seekers who plan ahead.

Hammonds and his team maintain strong partnerships with venues—they're always asking how they can make the app more useful. “People are tired of the traditional ways of finding stuff to do,” he says. Impulcity will evolve until it captures each city’s unique culture.

Impulcity's short history is one of long-into-the-night planning. Hammond’s team scrapped the first version of the app in September, and rewrote it in a four-day marathon coding session. Their retooled version received Brandery approval in October, and they continued to tweak it until their Feb. 12 launch in the iTunes App Store.

They've raised a reported $400,000 and are seeking new office space. “Our goal is to build, and to last,” Hammonds says. “We have no plans to be absorbed into anything else.” He’s still not sharing his revenue model, but said Impulcity will approach profit-making differently than other social media products.

“We’d love to hire fresh college kids, but universities are teaching them outdated stuff,” Hammonds says. Advice from Hammonds: Learn to make use of Objective-C,  Java and jQuery. And hurry. He really wants to find an Android developer to help them expand their reach.

By Gayle Brown

Miami University junior Samuel Frith was on vacation three years ago, and spent a little too much time in the sun. Today, when the rays get a little too intense, he relives a painful part of that vacation.

"My lips are very sensitive when I'm out in the sun," he says. "I get really bad sun poisoning and blisters when I go out in the sun."

Frith went through all of the cosmetically available lip balms around, especially those with high SPF levels, but they just didn't work.

"I wasn't getting any relief," he says. "I even tried the brands that were SPF 30 or 40."

Last summer, he decided to take things into his own hands, and create The Ultimate Lip Balm. It's a balm that would help sun-sensitive people like Frith. Active outdoor types could also use it, and it even has medical applications—chemotherapy patients often get severely dry lips during cancer treatment, and they could benefit from Frith's balm as well.

Frith, a finance and entrepreneurship student, was one of the top winners during this month's Innov8 for Health business pitch event. He was one of four $1,000 prize winners in the student track.

Frith's past experience includes working on a cosmetic lotion project for GA Communications in Chicago, which helped him learn about the process of getting a facial care product to market.

"I did a lot of reading and research about the FDA and regulation of product claims," he says. "While I was there, I learned about SPF, sun care products and the facial care industry."

After doing further Internet research, Frith decided to work with a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, company—Raining Rose—to develop the lip balm. Raining Rose is a small, custom lip balm manufacturer known for using organic and natural ingredients. The company and Frith are working to develop a formula aimed at making the lip balm last longer, and therefore, be more effective, Frith says.

"After SPF 30, [sun protection quality] plateaus," Frith says. "You have to come up with other ingredients that will stick better on lips, or attributes other than SPF to make a higher quality lip balm."

Currently, he's working to raise $15,000 for product testing. He hopes to get The Ultimate Lip Balm onto lips by late fall.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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Startup Weekend is returning to Cleveland March 8-10 at the 5^th Street Arcades. An event that originated in Seattle, Startup Weekends occur all over the world and are designed to get people with the entrepreneurial bug together to pitch ideas, form teams to hash the ideas out and potentially form companies.

 
The event has not been held in Cleveland since 2009, but thanks to the efforts of Hyland Software employees Ryan Marimon and Brian Adams, it’s back and promises to be a jam-packed weekend of ideas. Anyone with a business idea, or just the desire to help build on an idea, is welcome to attend.
 
“There are no restrictions,” says Marimon. “The interesting thing about Startup Weekend is that many people have the notion, ‘I’m not ready to pack up and quite my job to start a new business.’ The reality is this is about community building, networking with people who have like-minded skills. You can really learn so much, no matter what you are doing.”
 
Participants give their pitches and the audience votes on the best ideas. Teams are then formed around the best ideas. The rest of the weekend is spent flushing out the businesses before final presentations are made to judges Kendall Wouters, CEO of Reach Ventures; Morris Wheeler of Drummond Road Capital; and Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of ColorJar.
 
Teams will have access to coaches from successful local businesses for advice. Teams can work around the clock throughout the weekend if they choose.
 
“Come prepared to not get a lot of sleep,” says Marimon. “It’s an awesome, exciting and intense weekend.” The event begins at 5:30pm Friday and run through 9pm Sunday.
 
Marimon says 2013 seemed like the perfect time to bring Startup Weekend back to Cleveland. “When you look at what’s happening downtown, it’s definitely a renaissance,” explains Marimon. “We wanted to use this as a springboard for that.”
 
Registration is $99 for the weekend and includes meals and coffee – all locally sourced. Fresh Water readers however can receive a $25 discount using the code “freshwater” in the promotional code section during registration.
 
Source: Ryan Marimon
Writer: Karin Connelly

Expedient and Fast Switch are bringing their Tech Strategy event to Northeast Ohio. Started in 2007 in Columbus by Fast Switch, the Tech Strategy events are relaxed invitation-only networking events between senior level IT executives and promising technology startup companies.

Expedient got on board as a co-sponsor soon after the group’s inception, and now the two companies brought the concept to 70 attendees at  Lockkeepers in Independence on Tuesday, Feb. 26 for its inaugural Tech Strategy NEO. “I think it’s a great, unique concept for this area,” says Michael DeAloia, Expedient’s regional vice president. “It’s invitation-only to senior IT executives so they can meet with their peers while at the same time meeting with a select group of startups.”
 
The goal is to help the startups generate local customers, find advisory board candidates, access capital, gather employee referrals and receive business plan and strategy critiques. While the structure is casual, startup founders are given a short time to give their elevator pitches to the executives.

Eight startups pitched their companies, including Widdle, DragonID and J-Lynn Entertainment. Additionally, Fast Switch New Ventures and North Coast Angel Fund pitched to the group. “When was the last time a venture group pitched a room full of entrepreneurs,” asked DeAloia.
 
“It was a fascinating mix of people, creeds and generations in the room and I am always jazzed to be in the company of entrepreneurs and the energy and enthusiasm they possess,” says DeAloia. “I dig hanging out with the experienced executive and enjoy the opportunity to explore their experiences.”

No selling is a firm rule at these meetings, which will occur every two months, although DeAloia admits that occasionally the meetings have led to client relationships. The objective is to provide a casual yet controlled forum for executives to learn about technology start-ups in the region and explore ways to help them succeed. 
 
For information about future Tech Strategy events, contact DeAloia.
 
Source: Michael DeAloia
Writer: Karin Connelly