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SG Biofuels Completes $17 Million Series B Financing with Contribution from Larta Advisory Board Member
SG Biofuels, a presenting company at the 2010 Ag Innovation Showcase,
an innovation event organized by the Larta Institute and BRDG Park at
the Danforth Plant Science Center, recently completed a $17 million
Series B financing round
with participation from Finistere Ventures (Managing Director Arama Kukutai is Chair of the Ag Showcase Advisory Committee and a member of Larta's Industry Advisory Board).
Since
their participation at the Ag Showcase, SG Biofuels has also launched
operations in Brazil and India and has confirmed customer orders for
more than 250,000 acres of their hybrid Jatropha seed. Kirk Haney,
President & CEO of SG Biofuels, says "The Ag Showcase has been one
of the most valuable events we've been associated with, and we continue
to reap the benefits. The intimate setting and quality of participants
makes it easy to have conversations with individuals who are sincerely
interested in exploring opportunities with entrepreneurial companies in
the Ag-bio sector."
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Wave 80 Biosciences Awarded $7.5 Million NIH Contract for HIV Rapid Virus Testing
Wave 80 Biosciences, a 2009-2010 Larta NIH-CAP participant, was awarded a $75M contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The award will contribute to the development of rapid HIV/ADIS nucleic acid testing systems. "Wave 80 Biosciences benefited greatly through its work with Larta,” CEO Daniel Laser said, “Our Principal Advisor provided highly valuable feedback on our corporate strategy, presentation, and fundraising program.” While still working with Larta, Wave 80 secured a $1 million angel financing round and since completing the program, the company continues to work closely with their Principal Advisor.
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Bloomberg Business Week Recognizes Azavea as one of America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs
Electronics/IT company and 2010 NSF-CAP graduate, Azavea, was recently honored as one of “America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs” for 2011 by Bloomberg Business Week. Azavea specializes in geographic web and mobile software, as well as geospatial analysis services. With a strong commitment to social values, the company works on projects that promote sustainable communities. CEO Robert Cheetham commends Larta for its assistance: “Our Principal Advisor was simply outstanding,” Cheetham said, “she had a particularly appropriate background for our project and had very meaningful and helpful advice in terms of the strategic business decisions we needed to make around this project.”
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View More Success Stories!
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"Our Larta advisor has been flexible, well informed and highly creative
in his approach to adapting his experience to our particular project and
company capabilities- I never feel like we are getting a cookie-cutter
or canned series of responses during interactions."
Steve Lynch, Director of Learning Solutions,
Toolwire
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"The Larta Institute Global Bridge™ program was an excellent experience. We were able to discuss with investors and business advisers who provided us with knowledge of the business. Some of the points that we discussed were very important for my new international venture FKx Inc."
Fernando Kreutz,
FK-Biotecnologia
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"We've benefited immensely through Larta's mentoring as well as participating in the Ag Innovation Showcase 2011 where we had the opportunity to meet key opinion leaders of the AgBio ecosystem. As a direct result of this, we are now discussing a key strategic project with Life Technologies, a US company that’s a world leader in gene sequencing technologies."
Huan Ung, CEO,
GS Biotech S/B
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"The NIH-CAP program was instrumental in the success of our company. Our advisor was a great resource and his advice was instrumental in our lead product Bio-SEAL being successfully acquired while we were in the CAP program. Larta and their entire team did a fantastic job organizing and running the program and I am still involved years after giving lectures and as a panelist."
John Fisher, CEO,
Biopsy Sciences
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"No
matter where you are in the commercialization process – there is more to
learn from the experts assembled that support the CAP program. This time
around we will use the commercialization resources and expertise to assess
the viability of another product for the product pipeline."
Richard West, President & CEO,
Advanced Liquid Logic
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"Our Principal Advisor’s feedback was really helpful. Our PA brought to us with a combination of detailed expertise and practical business approach. The Larta program forced us to hone our message and develop presentations we have relied on since we graduated. The program was worth while and we are glad that we were able to participate."
R.J. Sims Preston, CEO,
Polyglot Systems
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"Larta’s
commercialization assistance program has been immensely valuable to us. The
documents we developed as part of our
commercialization strategy report, most importantly our Commercialization
Road Map and Barriers to Market Entry, have already been put to good use in
our efforts to secure commercialization financing. As a young business, when
we think about our key success factors, the Larta CATP and our mentor are at
the top of the list."
Edie Johnston, Founder,
Eldertide Farms
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"Wave 80
Biosciences benefited greatly through its work with Larta. Our principal
advisor provided highly valuable feedback on our corporate strategy,
presentation and fundraising
program. While still working with Larta, Wave 80 consummated a $1
million angel financing round. Since completing the program, we
continue to work closely with our advisor and look forward to the next phase
of work with Larta."
Daniel Laser, CEO,
Wave 80 Biosciences
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"The Larta consultants were essential in our success at securing phase II NSF funding on our commercialization plan. Since my colleagues and I had never gone through this process before, we learned a great deal for the next time we may submit a phase II proposal to NSF or any other government agency."
Cary Supalo, CEO,
Independence Science
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"Our
Larta PA was instrumental in providing timely, actionable, and deeply
insightful guidance that has helped our company to navigate through the
wilderness that is startup life. The PA program has been one of the best
components, and privileges , of the NSF SBIR program. For the purposes
of this startup, I have found the Larta mentorship as valuable as my time on
Wall Street as an M&A investment banker, as a consultant at McKinsey
& Co, and as a student at Wharton earning my MBA."
David Kim, CEO,
Theophilus
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"We were consistently pleased with the quality of instruction and consultation from Larta. We were also pleased to participate in the past forums presented by Larta. Because of the excellent guidance of the principal advisors and the Larta personnel, we have been able to successfully present VRMC to investors."
Mark Wiederhold, CEO,
Virtual Reality Medical Center
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"During
the Larta sessions, we got the chance to review the challenges facing us as
well as opportunities for our growth… Larta mentors have helped us focus and
define methods to meet our goals."
Nimrod Lev, CEO,
Sleepup
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"This program has been very helpful for me. A company has licensed our technology and invested in conducting clinical trials and a new testing facility for EMAN. If Larta was not there, this definitely would not have been achievable."
Amin Malik Shah Abdul Majid ,
EMAN Testing and Research Laboratory
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"We would like to thank Larta Institute for guiding us to commercialize our veterinary diagnostic test kits. The “Commercialization Assistance Program” has been a great success and we managed to make some key contacts that may help the company to grow internationally."
Do Yew Tan,
Asia-Pacific Special Nutrients
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"The NIH-CAP provided us with high-caliber consulting work. Our Principal Advisor helped refine our roadshow presentation during our participating in the CAP program. With Larta’s assistance we were able to clearly communicate our vision and commercialization strategy to potential investors. Most significantly, the NIH-CAP has allowed us to commercialize on a global scale."
Mitchell Sanders, CEO,
ECI Biotech
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"Larta
was integral in aiding in the development of our NSF commercialization plan.
Often times I wonder if Advantageous Systems would have been as successful as
we are now if it weren't for the help of Larta and our principal advisor."
Adam Stein, CEO,
Advantageous Systems
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"Larta
has been a beneficial platform for our strategic plan to be a renowned
vertically integrated Agbiotech firm. To Orchid Life, Larta Institute is
not just a trainer or mentor but is an important, long term, partner within
our ongoing vision, mission and goals."
Abdul Razak Mohd Isa,
Orchid Life
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"The
(Larta) seminar had a profound impact on the fundraising strategy and
methodology of our company. As a result, we were able to close a $1.2M series
A investment round. Positive momentum seems to build on itself, and several
more angels, and industry sources have expressed interest in our company."
Daniel Billing, CEO,
Innovent Medical Solutions
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"Larta has assembled one of the best commercialization assistance advisor teams in the world and has made substantial contributions to assisting small technology firms in bringing their advanced technologies from the laboratory to commercialization."
Ben Wen,
United Environment & Energy
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