AUSTIN, Texas—The University of Texas at Austin’s IC2 Institute is holding a graduation ceremony for seven companies participating in its Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) program. The ceremony will take place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 2) at MCC Auditorium at 3925 West Braker Lane. The event is by invitation only.
ATI, a program of UT Austin’s IC2 Institute, provides its companies strategic business advice, assistance in locating funding sources and basic infrastructure and acts as a learning laboratory for entrepreneurial students. Since 1989, ATI has assisted the development and launching of more than 80 technology-based companies that have generated more than $720 million in revenue. The companies have created more than 2,000 high-value jobs in the Austin region.
“This year’s graduating class is the most successful in ATI’s history,” says ATI’s director, Dr. Norman Kaderlan. “Already, these seven companies employ over 250 individuals in Austin and have raised more than $53 million in capital. Several of these companies are leaders in their market segments.” The graduate companies at this year’s event include:
- AIM Technologies, Inc., an information management organization that provides turnkey consumer loyalty programs and consumer research;
- Exterprise, Inc., a provider of e-market management software and services;
- InfoGlide Corp., developing and marketing software applications that enhance XML and database searching;
- Infoplex, developing networks and digital libraries to allow people without home computers to set up e-mail accounts, purchase items from remote locations and use the web through broadband wireless connections;
- PremiseNet, Inc., offering MAXX communications technology, bringing PBX call processing and voice mail to residences;
- Silicon Metrics Corp., a company that enables reuse of intellectual property by providing modeling solutions that predict electrical behavior of integrated circuits; and
- TManage, Inc., a company that helps business and government organizations set up and manage large-scale telecommuting programs.
This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. W. Neal Kocurek, who founded Radian International in 1969 and served as executive vice president until 1997. Radian is one of the world’s top 10 environmental engineering service firms. Kocurek became the president and CEO of St. David’s Health Care System in 1997.
Also participating in the ceremony will be Kaderlan, Dr. George Kozmetsky, founding director of the IC2 Institute and Dr. Robert Ronstadt, IC2 institute director.
ATI is a leading provider of innovative incubator programs and received the Incubator of the Year award by the National Business Incubation Association in 1994 and the Justin Morrill award for technology transfer by the Technology Transfer Society in 1996. ATI has developed incubators in California, Texas and South Carolina and its staff have consulted for incubator projects around the globe including Russia, China, Brazil, Malaysia and Australia.
The Global Business Accelerator of the IC2 Institute was established this year to foster international company development. ATI is also partnering with the city of Austin to develop a multimedia incubator as an attempt to spur the growth of that emerging industry in the Austin region.
For more information, contact Joel Wiggins, Austin Technology Incubator operations director (512) 305-0000. Reporters only, please call 305-0035, Extension 2 and selection 2 to reserve seating in press section. For more information on the IC2 Institute, contact Marie Warden, director of marketing, (512) 475-8934 or visit the web site at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/ic2
