Council For Entrepreneurial Development Announces Venture 2009 Conference Presenting Companies

Research Triangle Park, NC, March 27, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Joan Siefert Rose, president of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) (www.cednc.org), a private, nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurial efforts in the Triangle region of North Carolina, has announced the presenting companies for the 26th annual Venture 2009 conference, scheduled for Wednesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 23 at the Pinehurst Resort, located at 1 Carolina Vista Drive in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C. CED’s Venture 2009 conference is the nation’s longest running financing event, bringing together investment opportunities in the life sciences, cleantech and technology arenas with investors.

CED’s Venture 2009 will feature the most promising early and late stage companies in North Carolina and across the Southeast. Investors in four committees pre-screened more than 120 applications to select presenting companies. The top criterion for selection was “most promising investment opportunity,” and representatives of all of the major funds in North Carolina and the Southeast will attend, including Intersouth Partners, Pappas Ventures, HIG Venture, Noro-Moseley, Canaan Partners, Grotech Ventures and Wakefield Group. Venture 2009 marks the first public presentation ithis year for 30 of the companies presenting.

Keynote speakers for the event include John Denniston, partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; John Stumpf, president and CEO of Wells Fargo & Company; the Honorable Erskine Bowles, president of the University of North Carolina; and the Honorable Janet Cowell, N.C. State Treasurer. Most recently, Venture 2009’s speaker lineup was expanded to include Chris Hughes, Facebook co-founder and coordinator of online organizing within Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign on my.barackobama.com, the campaign’s social networking Web site. Currently a consultant to Facebook, Hughes recently was named entrepreneur-in-residence at General Catalyst Partners in Cambridge, Mass.

CED has released a podcast featuring David Jones, president and CEO of Peak 10, Inc., and one of the showcase presenters at Venture 2009. In the podcast, Jones provides a brief overview of Peak 10, touches on its technical strength and strategic growth, as well as Venture 2009’s appeal to the company. The podcast is available for download at www.mmimarketing.com/podcast/ced-releases-podcast-on-venture-2009-presenting-companies.

Showcase Presenters:

Tranzyme Pharma, Inc. – Durham, N.C.
Peak 10, Inc. – Charlotte, N.C.

Late Stage Presenters, Technology Track (IT, Telecom and Alternative Energy):

BlueStripe Software, Inc. – Morrisville, N.C.
Global Value Commerce, Inc. – Raleigh, N.C.
MegaWatt Solar, Inc. – Hillsborough, N.C.
PocketGear, Inc. – Durham N.C.
rPath, Inc. – Raleigh, N.C.
Ryla, Inc. – Kennesaw, Ga.
WorldMate, Inc. – Alpharetta, Ga.

Late Stage Presenters, Life Science Track (Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices):

Aldagen, Inc. – Durham, N.C.
Athenix Corp – RTP, N.C.
BIolex Therapeutics – Pittsboro, N.C.
Cempra Pharmaceuticals – Chapel Hill, N.C.
Liquidia Technologies, Inc. – RTP, N.C.
nContact Surgical, Inc. – Morrisville, N.C.
Pathfinder Therapeutics, Inc. – Nashville, Tenn.
PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Morrisville, N.C.

Early Stage Presenters, Technology Track (IT, Telecom and Alternative Energy):

InfoStrength, Inc. – Durham, N.C.
Miilos – RTP, N.C.
Petrobeam, Inc. – Raleigh, N.C.
PowerPad – Gainesville, Fla.
RadarFind Corporation – Morrisville, N.C.
Republic of Fun, Inc. – Durham, N.C.
siXis, Inc. – RTP, N.C.
PlayON Sports – Atlanta, Ga.

Early Stage Presenters: Life Science Track (Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices):

ARBOVAX, Inc. – Raleigh, N.C.
Catena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Durham, N.C.
Contego Medical, Inc. – Raleigh, N.C.
Clinipace, Inc. – Morrisville, N.C.
NeurOp Corporation – Atlanta, Ga.
ParagonDX, LLC – Morrisville, N.C.
Oncoscope, Inc. – Durham, N.C.
Viament Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Morrisville, N.C.

For a full list of presenters and speakers, visit www.cednc.org/content/ced%27s+venture+conference/321.

“We look forward to having these outstanding companies present at CED’s Venture 2009,” said Rose. “They are sure to provide a great deal of insight into their success and how their companies are dealing with the economic downturn.”

About the Council for Entrepreneurial Development:
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1984 to identify, enable and promote high-growth, high-impact companies and accelerate the region’s entrepreneurial culture. Headquartered in the Research Triangle Park, CED is the oldest and largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 5,500 active members. CED provides know-how, networking, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, programs and web-based resources. CED has helped entrepreneurs, investors, service partners, researchers and public policy makers in diverse emerging industries and at all stages of development – from high-tech, production-based organizations to service companies, from one-person start-ups to 1000-person businesses. For more information, visit www.cednc.org.

Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC

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