STAGES OF
SUCCESS Three companies advance toward commercialization ere's a quick look at three Georgia Tech-affiliated startups in various stages of advancing toward commercial success — Orthonics, a current VentureLab member, Qcept Technologies Inc., VentureLab's first graduate, and EG Technology, an ATDC graduate.
H
Launching Orthonics Formed in December 2003 through VentureLab, Orthonics is developing novel biomaterials for spinal disc repair and regeneration that incorporate several Georgia Tech technologies including research from the lab of Barbara Boyan, a professor and Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar. "Orthonics would not exist if weren't for VentureLab — at least not in its present form," says Steve Kennedy, a VentureLab fellow who now serves as Orthonics' chief executive. Launching any new company is difficult, but biotech startups have particular challenges. "It takes a long time to get to market and a lot of money," Kennedy says. Commercializing a medical device — the classification that Orthonics falls under — typically takes three to five years and $25 million in funding. For drugs, the time frame and investment requirements are even greater. That means traditional bootstrapping isn't a possibility and investors are a must. Before a startup can even hope to attract investors, it must have proof of concept. "One of the biggest services Venture! <ab performs is providing pre-seed capital that allows you to prove your technology and be taken seriously by investors," Kennedy says. Orthonics has received two VentureLab grants totaling $150,000, which led to funding from Viscogliosi Brothers LLC, a New York-based venture capital and merchant banking firm that focuses on the musculoskeletal and orthopedics industry. Boyan, who was involved in faculty commercialization at other universities, says VentureLab was a key factor in her decision to join Tech in 2002. "The whole technology transfer phenomenon here is refreshing." Boyan's office is in the Barker Betit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, next door to Orthonics' location in the ATDC Biosciences Center. Boyan also counts VentureLab fellows as a big plus. "I had to be the person that ran my company before," she
says. "And no one can do it all. Something has to give and usually that means your research program. VentureLab allows me to do what I do best — be the scientist and professor. I didn't have to change my lifestyle."
Qcept Technologies Qcept Technologies Inc., VentureLab's first graduate, is developing surface measurement solutions for semiconductor manufacturers. The company's technology, which rapidly inspects and measures uniformity and chemical variation on semiconductor wafers, was developed by Steven Danyluk, a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Manufacturing Research Center. "VentureLab helped validate our legitimacy as a hightech startup," says Bret Bergman, Qcept's president and CEO. Although Danyluk was highly respected in academic circles, this was the first time he had commercialized technology, Bergman says. In the last six months Qcept has closed on $4 million in second-round funding, expanded its board of directors, recruited semiconductor industry veteran George Deltoro as senior vice president of engineering and shipped its first commercial product. Revenue will be under $500,000 this year, but Bergman expects that figure to triple in 2005. Qcept's initial product is a tabletop wafer inspection system for lab and preproduction inspection.
Fall 2004 • GEORGIA TECH 2 1