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**greencat** · #1 12-05-2008, 12:04 PM

NC-based Parion Sciences gets $5M milestone pay
December 5, 2008
DURHAM, NC - Parion Sciences, a startup developing a drug to treat patients suffering from pulmonary diseases such as cystic firbrosis, has received a $5 million milestone payment from Gilead.

Parion and Gilead inked a licensing deal in 2007.

Parion's drug platform focues on epithelial sodium channel blockers that aid hydration of mucosal surfaces in the lungs, mouth, throat, and eyes, among other areas of the body.

Parion's lead drug, a treatment for dry mouth, is in Phase II clinical trials.

On the Web: Parion

**greencat** · #2 12-05-2008, 12:06 PM

Sencera International beams in $5.2M for solar tech
December 5, 2008
CHARLOTTE, NC - Sencera International Corp. says that by meeting a single junction silicon solar cell efficiency of 7 percent sunlight to electricity, it triggered a $5.2 million equity investment by the Quercus Trust and Michael Draper of Equinox Securitys.

“The combination of 7% efficient thin-film single-junction silicon cells and Sencera’s low capital cost Viper™ PECVD platform positions the company well from an economic perspective.

"The efficiency target was a critical milestone that demonstrates the viability of the Viper manufacturing platform for low cost solar panel production,“ said CEO Dr. Rusty Jewett.

Britt Weaver, Sencera's CFO added, “Proceeds will be utilized to further accelerate the development of second generation tandem amorphous- microcrystalline solar cells with expected conversion efficiencies greater than 10 percent.

"Sencera is also in the process of raising additional capital in order to fully fund its first 35-Megawatt module factory in Charlotte, NC.”

Sencera was founded in 2003 as a plasma hardware company focused on the thin film transistor and integrated circuit industries.

In 2006, The company shifted focus to the emerging thin film solar energy industry. The following year, Sencera introduced The Viper PECVD manufacturing platform.

On the Web: Sencera - Developing and Manufacturing the Next Generation of Thin Film Solar Modules

**greencat** · #3 12-05-2008, 12:07 PM

Future of Wireless" examined at Atlanta Enterprise Forum
December 4, 2008
ATLANTA - The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg & AT&T’s Ralph de La Vega Opine about the “Future of Wireless” in New MITEF-Atlanta Broadcast

In a new online broadcast available through the MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta, you can learn about the future of wireless while laughing at some of the off-the-cuff remarks exchanged between the technology media’s most infamous pundit and the leader of the company that helped revolutionize the industry with its distribution of the iPhone.

During the show, Walt Mossberg, Personal Technology Columnist for the Wall Street Journal, questioned Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, about everything from dropped calls to AT&T's partnership with Apple on the iPhone, to the future of the performance of wireless networks. The two were later joined by two entrepreneurs in the space who added color and additional perspective.
A Computer that Happens to Be a Phone Needs Simpler Solutions
Much of the discussion between Mossberg and de la Vega centered around AT&T's exclusive partnership with Apple on the iPhone. Asked how the release of the iPhone has changed their business over the last 18 - 24 months, AT&T's de la Vega responded that the iPhone has set the bar for the industry.

"We were not just talking about a phone. It's really a computer that just so happens to also be a phone…It really changed the game."

De la Vega explained that the iPhone helped AT&T realize that they needed to offer faster, better and also simpler solutions to consumers. Another surprise was discovering how people use these wireless devices.

While screen size and storage may not be as optimal as a PC, that doesn’t stop consumers from using their wireless devices to download applications, surf the Internet, download videos and perform other bandwidth-demanding tasks.

AT&T has invested in and continues to expand capacity and speed on the network in anticipation of consumers' growing demands.

Asked about the exclusivity of their agreement, which forces iPhone users to select AT&T as their wireless carrier, de la Vega responded that the partnership has been a win-win for both companies and the consumers.

He said the partnership allowed Apple and AT&T to work together to focus on maximizing performance.

He also noted that AT&T was able to subsidize the iPhone in order to allow customers to access it at the $199 price point.

Mobile TV – US Still at Less Than 1.5 percent Adoption Rate
Following the one-on-one interview, Mossberg welcomed Philip Alvelda, founder of Mobi.tv and Joy Laskar, the Schlumberger Chair in Microelectronics in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. After some tough love, the discussion turned to the experts' predictions about the future of wireless and the factors driving wireless device usage here in the US.

Mossberg pressed Alvelda as to why Mobi.tv only has 4 million subscribers while there are 290 million wireless devices in the US.

"The phone companies started off as phone companies,” Alvelda said. “AT&T is blazing new paths with Apple in making the phone a device that does other things…That was a new thing when we began."

Industry Future: Beam, Project, Game – Wirelessly
All panelists agreed that that the old mentality of using wireless devices exclusively for voice is changing and that consumers are greatly expanding their usage. Mossberg noted, "People are using these things like laptops." And usage is expected to grow exponentially over the coming months and years.

Asked to paint a picture of the future of wireless, the panel described a myriad of futuristic functions. Laskar pointed out that mobile Internet usage will be driven by consumer demand for high-bandwidth and rich media.

"UTube today drives as much Internet traffic as the whole Internet did in 2000," noted Laskar. He sees a day when smart phones will have seamless interconnectivity with other technologies in the home.

Wireless-HD technology will enable mobile devices with gigabits or terabits of storage capacity to stream video to a television screen in the home. Laskar’s new company, for example, will allow for the beaming of content and games wirelessly, from device-to-device at close range, projecting screens from applications on the phone onto TV screens at home.

Discussion then revolved around the transformation of the phone into a single source for identification and banking capabilities.

Loud applause emerged from the audience as Alvelda described that the thing he most missed using his iPhone was "cut and paste" functionality.

MITEF Atlanta hosted the panel with partners Atlanta Telecommunication Professionals and the Wireless Technology Forum.

The MIT Forum will host its next exciting event on February 12, 2009, featuring Charles Phillips, President of Oracle, as the keynote speaker. For more information, visit the MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta website at MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta.

**greencat** · #4 12-05-2008, 12:08 PM

Reston-based Koofers chalks up $500K of $2M round
December 4, 2008
RESTON, VA - Koofers Inc., an online community that lets students share former quizzes, tests and other information, has raised $500,000 of a $2 million A round.

Thomson Financial's PEHub reported the funding based on a regulatory filing.

Koofers began as a way for students to share old tests and quizzes as study aides, starting with files from fraternities and sororities at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

The word "koofers" is Virginia tech slang for such old tests and quizzes.

Students can also view grade breakdowns for classes and professors, rate professors or ask questions to get help from other students via the service.

The company plans to expand its services to other campuses nationally, according to online reports.

On the Web: Koofers - Past Tests/Exams, Study Guides, Teacher Ratings/Grades, Notes, & Online Help For College

**greencat** · #5 12-05-2008, 12:09 PM

Zanett acquires Florida-based PS GoLive for up to $1.2M
December 4, 2008
NORTH PALM BEACH, FL - Consulting firm Zanett, which sells business process outsourcing and IT services, has acquired PS GoLive.

Zanett is paying $70,000 initially and up to an additional $1.2 million.

PS GoLive sells services for Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise products.

On the Web: www.psgolive.com; www,zanett.com

**greencat** · #6 12-05-2008, 12:11 PM

$110 million goes to help unsnarl Atlanta traffic
December 3, 2008
By Kate Brumback

ATLANTA - Georgia will receive a $110 million federal grant to help ease Atlanta's notoriously snarled traffic, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters announced.

The money will go toward converting existing high occupancy vehicle lanes into high occupancy toll lanes along part of Interstate 85, to buy more commuter buses and to build and expand park-and-ride facilities.

Officials hope that by pegging the toll price to congestion _ drivers will pay a higher fee when traffic is heaviest _ it will guarantee at least one free-flowing lane in Atlanta's traffic-choked interstate system.

``The goal is simple: make commutes reliable, not ridiculous, not unpredictable,'' Peters said at a suburban Atlanta park-and-ride lot. ``This grant does just that by making sure that commuters won't have to guess how long it's going to take them to get from downtown to Dunwoody or to the airport from Avondale.''

The grant is part of a federal traffic-fighting project which challenges cities to come up with solutions to ease traffic using new technology. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Gena Evans joined Peters at the announcement.

Under Georgia's proposal, federal funds will be matched by state and local funds over two years to develop the high occupancy toll, or HOT, lanes.

The plan's first phase, which focuses on a corridor in suburban Gwinnett County, should be completed by the end of January 2011, Perdue said. That stretch of I-85, from I-285 to Old Peachtree Road, now has lanes restricted to cars with two or more riders, who can drive the lanes for free.

The plan is for HOT lanes to allow larger carpools to ride in the lanes for free while other vehicles pay a fee to enter that's based on the time of day and the amount of traffic.

The converted lanes are not meant to generate a profit, Evans said, but she declined to speculate on how much the fees to use them will be. She said traffic and revenue studies would help determine appropriate rates.

Drivers who want to use the HOT lanes will need to buy an electronic transponder that would register where a vehicle enters and exits the HOT lane, and drivers who enter without a transponder will be fined, said State Road and Tollway authority spokeswoman Cherie Gibson.

Peters dismissed arguments that HOT lanes allow wealthier drivers to pay to shorten their commute while drivers of more modest means languish in endless traffic. She said similar projects in Minneapolis and California have attracted drivers from across the economic spectrum.

The plan would also include two new park-and-ride facilities that will create new parking spaces for transit riders and provide reliable transit connections for an additional 1,900 commuters.

It also calls for the purchase of 36 new buses and more emergency responders to deal with accidents and breakdowns along that stretch of I-85.

Perdue stressed that the proposal is part of a larger, long-term strategy to improve traffic flow in the Atlanta metro area and beyond.

``This is not a silver bullet,'' he said. ``It's part of a solution, and it will be one part of the solution to conquer congestion in Atlanta.''

**greencat** · #7 12-05-2008, 12:12 PM

Point Lookout Capital Partners acquires NC-based Tri-Tech
December 3, 2008
SOUTHPORT, NC - New York-based Point Lookout Capital Partners has acquried DNA collection and forensic crime investigation company Tri-Tech.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Tri-Tech will keep its name and product line and existing management team.

The company designs, makes and markets kits used by crime labs, law enforcement agencies and militaries worldwide

**greencat** · #8 12-05-2008, 12:14 PM

Atlanta's Gideon Tech doubles HQ size in new quarters
December 3, 2008
ATLANTA - Gideon Technologies, an agentless, SCAP-compliant, automated network scanning, measurement and reporting solution, says it has moved to new headquarters double the size of its previous HQ.

The company attributes its growth to a steady stream of implementations, such as the recent, significant win of a federal, department-wide contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide software for automated compliance with the Federal Desktop Core Configuration guidelines, established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

"Gideon Technologies is experiencing unprecedented growth in its IT risk, compliance and policy measurement customer base," said Ken Halley, CEO of Gideon Technologies, Inc.

"The new facility is designed to enable continued growth and leverage our technology expertise for the benefit of our clients."

On the Web: Gideon Technologies

**greencat** · #9 12-05-2008, 12:15 PM

DC-based RepEquity gets "significant investment"
December 3, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - -Enhanced Capital Partners, a national investment firm specializing in state-specific investments, has made a significant and strategic investment in Washington, D.C.-based RepEquity, an online reputation and brand management services company.

The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

The company says it will expand its team on the heels of the funding.

"We believe RepEquity is well-positioned to seize on an enormous market opportunity, and are reassured by their growth in the last year,” said Mark Slusar, director of Enhanced Capital Partners’ DC Fund.

“In their short history, RepEquity has already signed several key strategic partners and clients from a myriad of industries -- entertainment, consumer retail, finance, and politics -- demonstrating that their services have broad application, demand and appeal.”

Sluser joins the company's board.

The company says that because search engines are now the filter through which the world gathers information, it is imperative to understand and interact with the complicated algorithms that drive search results. This is the specialty that RepEquity provides.

RepEquity leverages its search algorithm expertise to provide Online Reputation Management (ORM).

ORM is the practice of employing tactics on behalf of companies - and increasingly for individuals - to proactively showcase positive content across search engines, while protecting brands and reputations from damaging content or social media brought to light through search queries.

On the Web: RepEquity - A Leader in Online Reputation Management ? Protecting Reputation Equity

**greencat** · #10 12-05-2008, 12:16 PM

Florida-based Bulova Technologies Group to acquire BT Acquisition
December 3, 2008
TAMPA, FL - Bulova Technologies Group Inc. (Pink Sheets:TSIH) has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the stock of BT Acquisition Corp.

BT has an agreement to acquire certain assets of Bulova Technologies:

Bulova Technologies manufactures and assembles a wide range of printed circuit boards.

Bulova Technologies Ordnance Systems produces a variety of pyrotechnic devices, ammunition and related materials for the U.S. Government and allied governments throughout the world.

Bulova Technologies Combat Systems is a Systems Integrator, providing our Armed Services and Allied Forces with materials that provide our soldiers an overwhelming edge against enemy forces.

The agreement contemplates a closing in December.