UF panel to discuss alternative funding sources for startups

March 11, 2014

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Alternative sources of funding for early-stage startup companies will be the topic of conversation for a panel discussion at the University of Florida’s eighth annual technology showcase, “A Celebration of Innovation,” March 13.

The event at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center will feature presentations from 14 of UF’s most promising startups and updates from university officials. Later in the day, a poster session at the Inventors Reception will exhibit nearly a dozen more technologies that are well-positioned for company formation by entrepreneurs interested in future opportunities.

“We are an early-stage investing destination,” said David Day, director of UF’s Office of Technology Licensing. “As a seed capital event this one is hard to beat.”

Experienced entrepreneur Sharon Amezcua, co-founder of ESE Partners, will moderate the panel on alternative sources of funding. The panel includes Richard Allen, CEO of Xhale, an expert on private placement, and James Talton, President and CEO of Nanotherapeutics, who is an authority on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding and other government contracts.

Startup companies competed for the opportunity to present at the showcase. The winners represent the most promising early-stage companies from the many startups that license technology developed at UF and those that have located in UF business incubators.

The showcase will have two simultaneous tracks featuring biomedical startups and technology startups that create amazing new products, including virus-destroying nanobots to treat disease, a device to help patients with swallowing/coughing difficulties, and a technology to enable better tracking of shipped packages. A full list of companies is available here: http://www.research.ufl.edu/otl/showcase-agenda.html

The 2014 Technology Showcase, A Celebration of Innovation, lasts from 12:30 pm to 5 p.m. and is immediately followed by an Inventors Reception with a poster session that will exhibit eight to 10 UF technologies that can serve of the basis for future companies. Read a detailed agenda and register here: http://www.research.ufl.edu/otl/showcase.html