TiECon Midwest 2009 Unveils List of Elite Entrepreneurs: TiE20 Winners

Farmington Hills, MI, October 22, 2009 --(PR.com)-- TiECon Midwest 2009, Michigan's largest conference on entrepreneurship, today announced the winners of the TiE20 Industry Awards. Selected from more than 1000 nominated companies, the winners represent the hottest emerging startups in five focus segments: Software, Wireless, Cleantech, Media and Life Sciences. A full list of the TiE20 winners is available at http://www.tieconmidwest.org/tie20_winners.html

While the TiE20 winners are diverse in terms of size, progress, maturity and location, they share a common thread of innovation, ingenuity, strong management teams and overall quality of ideas. "TiECon Midwest Industry Awards made its debut this year with an objective to identify the most promising startup companies in Midwest. The winners embraced quality of ideas across each vertical segment and helped to revive the entrepreneurial spirit in the region", said Luxmi Dutt Sharma, TiE20 Chair.

"TiE20 winners represent the finest in entrepreneurship and serve as role models for all entrepreneurs aspiring to become tomorrow's stars," said Tel K Ganesan, President, TiE Detroit. "To be nominated to the TiE20 and voted upon is a great honor. Congratulations to all the top nominees and Special Thanks to the management team, volunteers, nominators and expert judges who confidentially handled this monumental task."

The TiE20 judging process was designed with meticulous planning, screening and judging by a list of over forty prominent entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporate executives and other domain experts. TiE Detroit is also pleased to acknowledge the nominee companies and those who publicly voted from around the world who contributed to the TiE20 selection process. Over 1200 votes were cast in a little over two weeks. TiE20 winners will present their companies in a live showcase over the two days of TiECon Midwest2009, on October 23rd and 24th at Ritz-Carlton Dearborn. In addition to being featured at TiECon Midwest 2009, the TiE20 will also receive ongoing support and increased visibility throughout the year.

The TiE20 Winners for 2009 in the five categories are as follows:

Software
· Samplesaint, Inc., Chicago, IL
· Anagha Group LLC, Troy, MI
· Scate Technologies, Inc., Orion Township, MI
· iknowvate Technologies Inc., Chicago, IL

Wireless
· Mojiva, NYC, NY
· Savari Networks, San Jose, CA
· Zebra Enterprise Solutions, Chicago, IL
· Myxer, Deerfield Beach, FL

Cleantech
· KDF Fluid Products, Inc., Three Rivers, MI
· EnTechUSB, Chicago, IL
· UNI-SOLAR, Auburn Hills, MI
· The Alliance for Environmental Sustainability, Grand Rapids, MI

Media
· ePrize, Pleasant Ridge, MI
· miindia TV, Ann Arbor, MI
· S3 Entertainment Group LLC, Ferndale, MI
· Centro, CHICAGO, IL

Life Sciences
· Vestaron Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI
· Metabolic Solutions Development Co, Kalamazoo, MI
· NephRx Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI
· Aastrom, Ann Arbor, MI

About TiE20
The TiE20 award is presented by TiE, a global, not-for-profit, non-political, and non-religious organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurs across its international network sponsored by top venture capital firms and Fortune 500 corporations. TiE is spread across 53 chapters in 12 countries comprising of 1,800 experienced entrepreneurs and business executives as charter members, 12,000 aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals as members.

About TiECon Midwest 2009
TiECon Midwest is Michigan's Largest Conference on entrepreneurship, designed for the Innovative Entrepreneur who thinks creatively, innovatively and resourcefully to create their own future regardless of economic conditions and uncertainties. TiECon Midwest 2009 provides a unique opportunity to exchange ideas, explore new businesses, discuss emerging technologies, share growth strategies and obtain insight from global business leaders, community leaders and worldwide experts. For more information, visit http://www.tieconmidwest.org/

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