Kyiv, Ukraine, November 29, 2006 -- US-Ukrainian Company APowercap Technologies (APCT), established on the basis of the Ukrainian technology of novel power sources, was announced to be the winner of the second annual “Silicon Valley Open Doors“ (SVOD-2006) technology investment conference, which took place in Silicon Valley (California, USA) on November 16-17, 2006. APCT was recognized as the Most Promising Technology Company of 2006 and received the “Golden Lock Award”.
Technology projects from Russia - UltraMotors (invested by “Russian technologies” venture fund, Alfa Group) and Musigy (developed in Moscow at the Institute of Physics and Technology) - were named first and second runners-up.
The Panel of Judges comprised representatives of leading international venture capital firms and technology companies, such as Alloy Ventures, Asset Management Company, Canaan Partners, DFJ, Doll Capital Management, Google, Institutional Venture Partners, Intel Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Pitango Venture Capital, Rembrandt Venture Partners, 3i, Vivo Ventures, Worldview Technology Partners.
Sixteen projects were selected from more than 60 candidates from Ukraine, Russia and other former Soviet Union countries. More than 300 executives, venture capitalists, tech entrepreneurs and other technology professionals from USA and the former Soviet Union countries took part in SVOD-2006. The following six startup companies, established on the basis of Ukrainian technologies, made presentations to venture investors at the Conference:
1. APowerCap Technologies (novel power sources), invested by VC firm TECHINVEST
2. Eyestride (virtualized geo-map), ShiftLabs
3. InvisibleCRM (CRM integrated with office applications), MTVP
4. Semetrics (contextual information search), TECHINVEST
5. SiteHeart (electronic payment system), PrivatBank
6. Viewdle (video files search), Semanetics.
Two of these projects – APCT and Semetrics - are the finalists of the Ukrainian High Tech Competition. Thanks to the support from Science and Technology Centre in Ukraine (STCU), one more finalist of this Competition – Lileya project (piezoelectric micromanipulators) – was represented at the technology exhibition, which was held during SVOD-2006.
ApowerCap Technologies, which received seed investments from TECHINVEST, was established in March 2006 by a team of Ukrainian scientists. TECHINVEST has provided funding for the Company’s R&D, market research, IP protection and legal support, as well as establishment of pilot production in Ukraine. Apart from that, TECHINVEST helped APCT with the development of business strategy, preparation of a business plan, building of partner network, search for clients and professional management.
Reference: Silicon Valley Open Doors (www.svod.org)
Silicon Valley Open Doors is an annual technology investment conference, bringing together high-tech innovators from the former Soviet Union and U.S. venture capitalists and technology professionals. The Conference is organized by American Business Association of Russian Professionals (AmBAR) in partnership with Center for Innovations Development of TECHINVEST Group (Ukraine) and Russian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. Draper Fisher Jurvetson (USA) and Asset Management Company (USA) are the General Partners of the Conference.
The second annual “Silicon Valley Open Doors (SVOD-2006) technology investment conference took place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California on November 16-17, 2006. Besides presentations of technology companies, the program of the Conference included seminars on how to build successful technology ventures.
AmBAR (www.ambarclub.org)
American Business Association of Russian Professionals is a non-profit network of business professionals. It includes entrepreneurs, engineers, marketers, lawyers, finance specialists, venture capitalists and angel investors. Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, AmBAR has more than 1,800 members. AmBAR hosts regular educational and business workshops at Stanford University.
Ukrainian High-Tech Competition (www.vc-ukraine.biz)
Ukrainian High-Tech Competition is aimed at identifying innovative technology business projects for venture investments and to support development of competitive technology companies on the basis of Ukrainian scientific and engineering potential. The Organizer of Ukrainian High-Tech Competition is venture capital firm TECHINVEST. The General Manager of the Competition is Сеnter For Innovations Development (CID). Technology Areas of the Competition: Information and communication technologies, Energy, Nanotechnologies and new materials, life sciences and biotechnologies.
All projects submitted for the Competition are subject to comprehensive evaluation by TECHINVEST’s International Experts Panel which comprises experts from leading international technology companies and venture capital firms. The finalists of the Competition take part in the annual Silicon Valley Open Doors technology investment conference.
Center for Innovation Development (www.cid.kiev.ua)
CID is the most experienced technology business incubator in Ukraine. It was established in 1998 by the oldest Ukrainian Business School - International Management Institute. Since 2005, CID has been part of TECHINVEST VC Group. CID is the General Manager of the Ukrainian High-Tech Competition and organizes annual Road Shows of Ukrainian Technologies in the USA. CID also provides TECHINVEST portfolio companies and other technology startups with a package of incubation services and helps foreign VCs to build their presence in Ukraine.
TECHINVEST (www.techinvest.com.ua)
VC firm TECHINVEST is a pioneer of VC business in Ukraine. The Company specializes in seed and early-stage investments and building competitive global technology companies on the basis of Ukrainian innovations and engineering talent. TECHINVEST has managed to provide its investment partners with a 2.5x return on their invested capital within two years. TECHINVEST has been recognized by representatives of leading international technology companies and funds. Draper Fisher Jurvetson and TECHINVEST are working on establishing the first Ukrainian high-tech venture fund DFJ Techinvest.
