Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/110509
Incubators Foster Commercial Success eill -M areci Pasteuria Bioscience���s Petri incubator environment D ebra N eill -M areci Like Dumas, any entrepreneur will tell you that they want to see their product in every home in the world (or wherever their creation fits in the marketplace). For some, their vision of global saturation can���t be accomplished without the resources of a larger firm, ebra N Larger Company, Bigger Reach D With the level of support incubators provide to help jumpstart commercialization efforts, it���s no surprise to hear about major deals and contracts awarded to incubator clients and graduates���some even in the eight-figure range. In 2010, Banyan Biomarkers landed a $26.3 million DoD contract to develop a point-of-care blood test to diagnose traumatic brain injury in soldiers. Banyan looks to commercialize the technology in 2014 and has estimated a billion dollar a year market potential. Fellow Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator client, AxoGen, secured $20.8 million in financing in 2012 with Nevada-based PDL BioPharma, while in the following month another graduate, Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC), announced an agreement worth $37.5 million in venture capital funding. AGTC���s work in developing genetic therapies for respiratory and degenerative eye diseases attracted three new backers for this investment that was estimated to be the Gainesville-area���s biggest private venture deal. But perhaps no other incubator company in the Corridor had a more public investing round than UniKey Technologies, a graduate of UCF���s Business Incubation Program. Last May, the startup was selected to appear on ABC���s prime time show ���Shark Tank,��� which depicts the real-life negotiations of entrepreneurs who pitch their business ideas to five successful investors (the sharks) for possible financing offers. After demonstrating his technology for a hands-free residential door lock operated by a smartphone, in your pocket, acting as your key, UniKey president and founder Phil Dumas lured offers from all five sharks, and eventually struck a deal with sharks Mark Cuban and Kevin O���Leary for $500,000 up-front cash in exchange for 40 percent equity in UniKey. ���It was unbelievable to get an offer from all the sharks and get them fighting,��� Dumas said at the end of the show. ���But I feel like I got the best; I���ve got the two billionaires backing me.��� Determined to ���Revolutionize the Key,��� UniKey Technologies will soon have its door lock available for retail sales following its launch announcement at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in January. making company acquisitions appear as both a validation of an entrepreneur���s work and also a targeted milestone in the life of a startup. One incubator client, Sid Martin���s Pasteuria Bioscience, reached this milestone when one of its European partners offered to buy the company in an agreement worth up to $113 million. Through its technology, the company utilizes naturally occurring soil bacteria to control plantparasitic nematodes and had already established a partnership with Switzerland-based Syngenta earlier in 2011. Now through the acquisition, Pasteuria leaders will see an extended reach for their technology through the new international parent corporation. ���Syngenta recognizes the potential with the Pasteuria platform and can commercialize it in a broad range of products for the global marketplace,��� Pasteuria President Al Kern said in a news release in late 2012. Earlier in 2012, the 3-D Printing and Additive Manufacturing company, Mydea Technologies from the UCF Business Incubation Program was acquired by Innovative Medical Device Solutions (IMDS) to add to its portfolio florida.HIGH.TECH 2013 fht_incubation_2013.indd 37 37 2/12/13 5:01 PM