ARCTIC CAT DELIVERS DOCUMOTOâ„¢ TO DEALERS

Advanced system fulfills new requirements for expanding technology
Denver, CO – Arctic Cat Inc., based in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, designs, engineers, manufactures and markets snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles as one of the most widely recognized companies in the industry. Arctic Cat products are available through a network of independent dealers located throughout the contiguous United States and Canada, and also distributed internationally.

Recently, Arctic Cat announced that they will be offering a new, cutting-edge, cloud based portal through which their dealers can not only order parts, but also access Arctic Cat technical documentation.

Arctic Cat has partnered with Denver based Digabit, Inc. to deliver Documoto, Digabit’s next-generation platform that provides a modern web-based technical documentation library, including electronic parts catalogs, service manuals, service bulletins, and tribal knowledge to replace their existing legacy system.

Documoto is modern, intuitive, visual, simple to use, and is optimized for mobile devices.

For a number of years, Arctic Cat has provided its dealers with a system for ordering parts. However, technology has advanced and requirements have expanded. Arctic Cat recognized that Documoto better supports their dealers with a comprehensive web and mobile solution that supports multiple technical documentation formats (including 3D media), provides easy access to decades of Arctic Cat content, and offers seamless integration with their Cat Tracker system.

“We believe that our dealers will benefit from the features and capabilities of Documoto in support of their sales and services activities. Perhaps most importantly, our dealers will no longer have to wait months for updates. Documoto handles new and modified content in near real time,” said Rod Larson, eCommerce Manager Arctic Cat.

“Updates will be available in days and weeks, rather than calendar quarters. And, the enhanced search and visual references that Documoto offers will make it faster and easier to find the right part,” Larson continued.

Arctic Cat will demonstrate Documoto at their dealer show held in February in Las Vegas, followed by a highly anticipated go-live in April.

ABOUT DIGABIT, INC.

Digabit, Inc. (www.digabit.com) is a SaaS provider of Documoto, a modern Web library for technical documentation, including electronic parts catalogs. Digabit also provides a suite of supporting products: Docustudioâ„¢, Docuviewâ„¢, and most recently, Documobileâ„¢. Digabit provides solutions for aftermarket sales, ERP integration, and 3D parts catalogs for OEMs and asset-intensive industries. More information, including product demonstrations, is available at www.digabit.com.

BouMatic Develops New Dairy Equipment Incorporating MIOX Technology

MIOX chemistry and BouMatic additives replace iodine as primary disinfectant in farm applications

Albuquerque, NM - November 19, 2013 - MIOX Corporation, the industry leader in on-site chemical generation technology, announces a strategic global partnership with HydroClean, a newly formed dairy hygiene and sanitation supplier.  HydroClean joins sister-companies BouMatic and BouMatic Robotics.

BouMatic approached MIOX in early 2012 to explore the application of Mixed Oxidant Solution (MOS) in dairy farms.  Results from 15 months of ongoing lab and farm testing conducted by BouMatic show that MIOX’s flagship chemistry, MOS, is more effective than the traditional disinfectants for controlling Mastitis-causing pathogens.  They determined MOS could replace iodine as the primary disinfecting agent in many disinfection products applied at dairy farms ranging from pre- and post- teat dip and udder wash to facility wash and livestock drinking water treatment.  HydroClean is the company and product line of new dairy hygiene and sanitation equipment for farm sanitation that incorporates MIOX on-site chemical generators.

“HydroClean ensures the farmer comes first and foremost by providing them with hygiene and sanitation products that keep cows happy.  Anything that touches the cow – from liners to chemicals – are carefully designed to make sure the cow is kept safe and healthy,” says Dennie Plomedahl, HydroClean Global Product Manager. “We have carried over the Boumatic ideology of ‘it’s all about the cow’.”

The need to explore disinfection alternatives arose when the price of iodine skyrocketed after the 2011 tsunami in Japan destroyed many of the world’s largest iodine supply chains.

“On-site generated disinfectants give farmers peace of mind that their operations are utilizing a cost-effective and high performance solution,” says Tom Muilenberg, MIOX Director of Commercial Operations.  “The HydroClean blend of additives combined with MIOX’s MOS disinfectant enables a set of products that can be utilized by the dairy owner across multiple applications for farm disinfection.”

HydroClean brings a new business philosophy by employing a dedicated distributor network.  Field representatives for HydroClean perform the installation of the HydroClean system, routine maintenance and all service required.  Putting the service and maintenance of this farm innovation in the hands of experts allows farmers to focus on providing healthy dairy products to consumers while maintaining confidence in the health of their cows.

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX Corporation is the innovator and industry leader in on-site chemical generators for water disinfection. Our expertly designed chemical generators combine salt, water and power to generate cost-effective disinfectant chemistries on site.  MIOX gives customers the freedom to produce their own disinfectants in the amount they need, when they need it. 

About HydroClean
HydroClean is the complete dairy hygiene and sanitation solution.  An economical service program customized to meet the needs of today’s progressive farmer, HydroClean is the proven alternative to iodine.  Powerful and effective against microorganisms found on the dairy farm, HydroClean’s environmentally friendly chemistry allows farmers to meet their dairy sanitation and hygiene needs at a considerable savings over traditional chemicals. HydroClean is a privately held company located in Madison, WI.
Visit: www.hydrocleanfarm.com

MIOX On-Site Chemical Generators Deployed to Philippines by Operation Blessing International

Safe drinking water technology to aid disaster relief efforts

Albuquerque, NM - November 15, 2013 - MIOX Corporation, the industry leader in on-site chemical generation technology, has partnered with Operation Blessing International (OBI), one of the largest charities in America, for disaster relief efforts in the Philippines following Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Six (6) MIOX BPS portable sodium hypochlorite generators and one (1) SANILEC 6 sodium hypochlorite generator have been deployed to the Philippines by Operation Blessing International.  The seven (7) clean water treatment technologies have the combined capacity to treat approximately 500,000 gallons of water each day, providing safe drinking water in life-threatening conditions.

Operation Blessing International President, Bill Horan, confirms lack of safe drinking water is one of the biggest problems facing the relief efforts.  With raw sewage overflowing as a result of the typhoon, water supplies are contaminated.

”One of the most pressing challenges in a major disaster such as this is providing clean water,” says Horan. “These state-of-the-art MIOX units will be of immeasurable help in our efforts to provide clean drinking water for tens of thousands of people each day.”

MIOX President & CEO, Craig Beckman, said, “We are honored to partner with Operation Blessing in its efforts on the ground in the Philippines.  At our core, MIOX is about safe water disinfection and clean drinking water.  Everyone wants to help in times of great suffering, and we are glad to be a central part of Operation Blessing’s strategy in Tacloban.”

Operation Blessing VP of International Operations, David Darg, is on the ground in Tacloban, Philippines preparing for the arrival of the portable sodium hypochlorite water treatment systems. David, who has been a first responder to over 100 natural disasters globally, says the level of suffering in the Philippines is among the worst he has ever witnessed.

“There’s a tremendous amount of aid that is ready to pour into the country, but the port was destroyed and the local infrastructure severely damaged,” said Darg. “This is making the transportation of aid to the hardest hit areas near impossible.”

According to Darg, the most important thing right now is to provide clean water.

VIDEO Typhoon Haiyan Relief: Operation Blessing On The Ground In Tacloban
VIDEO Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) Response from OBI President
PHOTOS Super Typhoon Haiyan Devastates the Philippines
NEWS RELEASES Operation Blessing International

For more information or to donate to the relief efforts, please visit http://www.ob.org/

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX Corporation is the innovator and industry leader in on-site chemical generators for water disinfection. Our expertly designed chemical generators combine salt, water and power to generate cost-effective disinfectant chemistries on site; giving customers the freedom to produce disinfectants in the amount they need, when they need it. 

About Operation Blessing International
Operation Blessing International (OBI) is one of the largest charities in America, providing strategic disaster relief, medical aid, hunger relief, clean water and community development in 23 countries around the world on a daily basis. Currently, Forbes ranks OBI as one of its “100 Largest Charities” with an efficiency rating of 99%, and Consumers Digest also named OBI as one of “America’s Top Charities” in 2012. Founded in 1978, Operation Blessing International has touched the lives of more than 255 million people in more than 105 countries and 50 states, providing goods and services valued at over $3.3 billion to date.

Operation Blessing International began working in the Philippines in the early 1980s by pioneering fresh water programs to the residents of the trash dump known as “Smokey Mountain.”  In 1996, Operation Blessing Foundation Philippines was created and has worked to fight hunger, disease, unemployment, illiteracy, abuse, and to respond to major disasters ever since. Under the direction of Dr. Kim April C. Pascual, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, more than a million Filipinos have been helped through various humanitarian outreaches spearheaded by OB or in collaboration with OB partner agencies such as non-profit organizations, local government units, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In recognition of OB’s efforts, it was awarded as NGO of the Year for Peace Efforts by the Philippines government in 2002 and 2003, and as NGO of the Year in 2006 and 2007.

To see an electronic press kit of OBI’s work please visit: http://ob.org/learnmore/

ByteLight Secures $3 Million in Series A Funding

ByteLight Secures $3 Million in Series A Funding from Flywheel Ventures, eCoast Angels, SandHill Angels and Google’s Don Dodge

Retail Indoor Location Company Closes New Round to Accelerate Growth and Platform Development

BOSTON– October 25, 2013 – ByteLight, the retail indoor location company, today announced that it has closed a $3 million Series A round of funding from institutional and individual investors including Flywheel Ventures, Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, Google’s Don Dodge, the eCoast Angel Network and Sand Hill Angels. The company will use the new investment to accelerate growth in the retail sector and platform development.

“Sub-meter accuracy has long been the holy-grail for retailers experimenting with indoor location,” said Dan Ryan, co-founder and CEO of ByteLight.  “With ByteLight, retailers finally have the opportunity to install a wall-to-wall solution that just works.  This investment round will allow us to accelerate deployment of our solutions to a growing list of retail partners.”

ByteLight is currently piloting its indoor location solutions with global retailers, including three of the top ten.  Benefiting from ByteLight’s market leading accuracy, low cost of infrastructure and universal device support, these retailers can deliver mobile coupons and redemptions to customers when they are at critical points in the buying cycle - directly in front of products or at checkout. Instead of blindly sending mobile promotions or loyalty offers to every customer, ByteLight tailors to each customer’s location and shopping history. This level of personalization creates a unique in-store shopping experience that drives sales and increases customer satisfaction.

“Brick-and-mortar retailers are demanding new solutions that can leverage digital assets within physical store locations to engage and retain customers,” said Don Dodge, Developer Advocate at Google and a leader in the indoor location space. “ByteLight’s indoor location solutions assist retailers with delivering hyper-targeted information and content to costumers on mobile devices within their stores based on the device’s precise location. More importantly, these solutions fully integrate physical commerce with eCommerce to give retailers an 0mnichannel offering.”

“We’re excited to bring on an elite group of institutional and strategic investors as we pursue the indoor location opportunity,” said Dan Ryan, ByteLight’s CEO. “Their investment and market experience, combined with our market-leading technology, will accelerate the adoption of our solution with retailers.”

About ByteLight
ByteLight is revolutionizing indoor location. ByteLight’s market-leading software solution leverages lighting infrastructure within retail outlets and large venues to deliver unprecedented indoor location accuracy and responsiveness. This enables venue owners with the ability to offer information, redemptions, maps and services to people at precise locations within their buildings. For more information, visit: http://www.bytelight.com

About Flywheel Ventures
Flywheel Ventures focuses on seed-stage and early-stage companies with solutions that address key global challenges in digital services, infrastructure technology, energy technology, and water technology. Flywheel works with each entrepreneur to grow their company in a capital-efficient manner by focusing on a “beachhead” market, often overseas, leveraging the firm’s formal Global Advisor network and informal network of worldwide experts. For more information, please visit http://www.flywheelventures.com/index.php

About eCoast Angels
eCoast Angels Network focuses on early-stage companies involved with advanced technology, e-commerce, healthcare, and industrial products and services, principally located in the northeast coastal region.  In addition to investing through the eCoast Angels Network, members of the group also co-invest with other Angel Groups or individually. For more information, please visit http://www.ecoastangels.com.

TEL Venture Capital Invests in MIOX Corporation

Patented Technology for Cost-Effective Water Recycle & Reuse in Microelectronics Industry
Albuquerque, NM – June 4, 2013 – MIOX Corporation today announced a strategic investment by TEL Venture Capital, Inc., the corporate investment arm of Japanese semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron Ltd.  This marks the first investment by an Asia-based investor in MIOX.

The TEL investment complements grants awarded to MIOX by the National Science Foundation (NSF) targeted toward the pursuit of coupling MIOX’s core on-site oxidant generation technology with ultraviolet photolysis in an effort to provide a powerful and cost-effective water remediation process.  MIOX is a venture capital-backed water technology company focused on on-site chemical generation whose current investors include DCM, Sierra Ventures, Flywheel Ventures, and Schlumberger Limited.

“We believe it will be beneficial to learn more about water treatment and the industry’s needs,” says Kay Enjoji, President of TEL Venture Capital.  “This is an exciting investment in a company that has the leading technology in their field.”

“We are honored by TEL Venture Capital’s commitment to our company and their dedication to solve capacity-limiting water issues,” says Craig Beckman, MIOX President and CEO.

While investment in cleantech as a whole has declined since 2011, investment in water technology by corporate venture capitalists continues to grow.  According to market research firm Cleantech Group, water and wastewater investments increased 34% between 2011 and 2012 to $355 million across 65 deals.  Analysts at Artemis Water Strategy have observed corporate strategic investors, family offices and private equity firms increasing their investment in water technologies over the last two years. Corporate VCs view new technologies for water management as a critical strategic advantage to improving their bottom line.

“MIOX is one of the ten companies that Artemis has identified for emerging growth investments,” commented Laura Shenkar, Principal at Artemis Water Strategy.  “Water companies are hitting a glass ceiling in scaling their operations beyond $10M a year.  Rapid growth requires strategic partnerships, a strong pipeline of new technology and a seasoned team.  MIOX stands apart as a company that has built strong partnerships in several industries, including oil & gas and food processing.”

# # #
About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 1.0 to 3,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, the applications range from large industrial cooling towers, water and wastewater treatment, and frac fluid disinfection to clean-in-place and dairy farm applications.

CONTACT:
Aileen Culling
505-224-1047
aileen.culling@miox.com

MIOX Partners With Simply Water

North America Aquatics Disinfection Using On-Site Generation

Albuquerque, NM – April 11, 2013 - MIOX Corporation, the industry leader in on-site chemical generation technology, announces it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Simply Water, LLC for North America aquatics.  Simply Water has represented a broad range of on-site generation technologies, and is an expert in aquatics water disinfection.

MIOX Corporation and Simply Water have worked together for many years prior to entering into an exclusive distributor agreement.  Simply Water has installed MIOX patented Mixed Oxidant Solution (MOS) on-site generation systems at indoor and outdoor pools ranging from 20,000 gallons to 1 million gallons of water at facilities such as YMCA’s, parks and recreation, school districts, and universities.

Rick Dempsey, CEO of Simply Water, reports customer success with MIOX on-site generators where the unique characteristics of the disinfection technology results in clearer and cleaner water, improved air quality, and higher levels of safety for pool operators.
“The mixed-oxidant system provides the industry with the most advanced technology for treating pool and spa water in the world,” said Dempsey.  “The MIOX and Simply Water partnership will prove invaluable to the Swimming Pool and Spa industry in the United States.”

Steve Garcia, MIOX Business Developer commented, “We are very excited to have Simply Water as our exclusive partner in this market. They are driven to provide the best equipment and processes available to the customer, and we are glad to be their exclusive supplier of on-site generation equipment.”

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 1.0 to 3,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, for potential use of MIOX systems ranges from large industrial cooling towers, water and wastewater treatment, and frack fluid disinfection to clean-in-place and dairy farm applications.

About Simply Water, LLC
Simply Water,  LLC is based in Houston, TX and has been serving the commercial swimming pool and spa industry throughout the United States since 1988.  The company specializes in chemical automation and water testing equipment, disinfection systems, and water chemistry education.

MIOX Corporation   5601 Balloon Fiesta Parkway, Albuquerque, NM 87113
505-343-0090   888-646-9420   Fax: 505-343-0093   info@miox.com   www.miox.com

MIOX Exhibits at SPE Oilfield Chemistry Symposium

New Technology for Safe & Chemical Free Produced and Flowback Water Recycling

Albuquerque, NM - April 3, 2013 - MIOX Corporation, the industry leader in on-site chemical generation technology, announces it will showcase a new technology for produced and flowback water disinfection at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry in The Woodlands, TX on April 8th and 9th, 2013.

The new process developed by MIOX provides drilling operators with an alternative to biocides.  Utilizing only salt, water and electricity, MIOX Mixed Oxidant Solution (MOS) technology creates a safe and chemical free disinfectant at the well-site.  This strong, yet environmentally benign disinfectant is effective at microorganism and SBR control, and can treat water in oil and gas operations at the lowest cost per barrel.

“MIOX systems are optimized for the oil and gas industry in order to keep pace with frac operations and varying water quality. Because mixed oxidant complies with established EPA drinking water standards, operators are utilizing a safe chemistry,” said Charles Mowrey, MIOX Oil & Gas Specialist.  “There are no potential air quality or surface spill safety issues associated with on-site electrochemical generation of mixed oxidants.”

# # #
About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 1.0 to 3,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, the applications for potential use of MIOX systems ranges from large industrial cooling towers, water and wastewater treatment, and frac fluid disinfection to clean-in-place and dairy farm applications.

About Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a not-for-profit professional association whose members are engaged in energy resources development and production.  SPE is a key resource for technical knowledge related to the oil and gas exploration and production industry and provides services through publications, events, training courses and online resources.  SPE’s mission is to collect, disseminate and exchange technical knowledge concerning the exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources, and related technologies for the public benefit; and to provide opportunities for professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence.

MIOX Corporation   5601 Balloon Fiesta Parkway, Albuquerque, NM 87113
505-343-0090   888-646-9420   Fax: 505-343-0093   info@miox.com   www.miox.com

MIOX Cooling Tower Disinfection Boosts Power Plant Production by 7% and Reduces Annual Operating Cos

A New Award-Winning Bio-Control Approach Cleans Cooling Tower of Biofouling
at a Fraction of the Cost of Bulk Hypochlorite
Albuquerque, NM – December 13, 2012 – MIOX Corporation, the technology leader in on-site chemical generation, announced today that a unique bio-control approach developed by exclusive distributor New Technology Systems, Inc. (NTS) has not only achieved significant savings compared to bulk hypochlorite usage, but also increased the production output by more than 7%, or 40 MW at one of Puerto Rico’s main suppliers of energy, the 590 MW Palo Seco Power Plant.  Since the 2010 installation of a MIOX system, the Plant has experienced significant improvements in water quality and energy efficiency resulting in dramatic savings in water, chemical and energy usage.

In 2010, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) encountered a biofouling emergency at the Palo Seco Power Plant. The heat exchangers were plugged and temperatures rose well above manufacturer specification due to serious biofouling in the plant’s cooling tower system.  Through collaboration with NTS, PREPA decided to seek an effective, less costly, greener and safer solution for cooling water disinfection. This led them to change their cooling water disinfection from bulk hypochlorite to using MIOX Mixed Oxidant Solution chemistry.

“Once MIOX was introduced into the system, results were seen immediately and the energy load of the plant increased,” said Carlos Eli Torres, Senior Chemist at Palo Seco Power Plant. “The efficiencies gained from increased load production, reduced chemical and water usage, and lower operations and maintenance costs added up to over $34 million per year in savings. The operation cost of the MIOX unit was roughly a quarter of the bulk hypochlorite price. The switch to MIOX was a no brainer.”

“Not only the cost advantage, but also the effectiveness of the MIOX unit was quite visible and it was another testament of how effective the Mixed Oxidant Solution was removing biofilm,” said Tom Muilenberg, MIOX Director of Commercial Operations. ”Cleaner condenser tubing resulted in increased heat transfer, allowing them to operate their turbines at a higher load at a fraction of bulk Hypochlorite cost.”

Palo Seco Power Plant was awarded the “Innovative Project of the Year,” recognizing the project for successes in Water Conservation and Energy Conservation by The 2012 Environmental Congress sponsored by the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association. MIOX is now treating all of the 9 PREPA power plants summing up to approximately 5,200 megawatts of output.

Read the full Case Study of efficiencies gained at PREPA’s Palo Seco Power Plant on the MIOX website.

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 1.0 to 2,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine), or up to 300 MGD water. With this flexibility, the applications range from large industrial cooling towers, water and wastewater treatment, swimming pools and clean-in-place applications to oil and gas water cleaning and dairy farm disinfection.

About New Technology Systems
New Technology Systems, Inc. (NTS) is a private corporation founded in Puerto Rico with a focus on green technologies in the area of water treatment, such as mixed oxidants on-site generation and magnetic water treatment with nano technology. NTS offers innovative solutions designed to enhance the efficiency, improve safety and reduce the environmental impact. NTS offers consulting, design, sales, installation, equipment maintenance, process control and training.

About Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) is a public corporation founded in 1941 who produces, transmits and distributes most of the electric power used in Puerto Rico.  The mission of PREPA is to provide electric energy services to customers in the most efficient, cost-effective and reliable manner in harmony with the environment.

MIOX Expands Market Application of Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) Technology

MIOX awarded $100,000 National Science Foundation SBIR research grant to commercialize on-site generated AOP chemistry in the Microelectronics & Aerospace industries

Albuquerque, NM – January 15, 2013 – MIOX Corporation, a leader in innovative electrochemical treatment technologies, announced it has received a Technology Enhancement for Commercial Partnerships (TECP) award from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the amount of $100,000. This research grant allows MIOX to leap forward in the commercialization of lower cost Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) technology for groundwater remediation and water reuse applications.

NSF’s TECP program is specifically designed to provide bridge funding when a technology developed under the SBIR program stirs commercial interest. Partnering with global leaders in the Microelectronics and Aerospace industries, MIOX has identified and started developing applications for an economical AOP technology.

“This award from the NSF allows our project team to move the technology developed under the SBIR program out to a larger commercial arena,” said Dr. Susan Rivera, MIOX Manager of Research and Development. “MIOX’s AOP technology will be able to solve numerous water treatment challenges at a lower cost per gallon and with less environmental impact.”

The new AOP technology combines MIOX’s core technology of on-site generation of chlorine in a controlled environment with ultraviolet light to produce highly reactive hydroxyl radicals. These radicals are then harnessed to destroy a wide variety of organic contaminants found in water, including hydrocarbon chains, trichloroethylene (TCE), endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), pesticides and pharmaceuticals.

“On site generated chlorine-based AOP can be as effective as a traditional AOP at removing organics chemicals but has substantially lower operating expenses for many treatment scenarios,” according to Dr. Andrew Boal, MIOX Senior Scientist and Project Leader for AOP technology development at MIOX.

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 1.0 to 2,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, the applications range from large industrial cooling towers, water and wastewater treatment, and frack fluid disinfection to clean-in-place and dairy farm applications.

About NSF
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards.

MIOX Receives ISO 9001:2008 Registration

MIOX’s commitment to product quality, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement
Albuquerque, NM - January 29, 2013 - MIOX Corporation, the industry leader in on-site chemical generation technology, announces it is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company. MIOX designs and manufactures equipment that generates oxidant based chemicals on demand. A core value of MIOX is the high quality manufacture of that equipment, a principle that permeates all aspects of MIOX business resulting in minimal maintenance and higher customer satisfaction. MIOX strives to provide the most reliable, cost effective, and easy to maintain on-site chemical generators within the water treatment industry.

“MIOX places the highest value on the voice of the customer, and that trust is only gained through delivering great products.  We are honored to have achieved our ISO certification based on our standard business practices. Our customers can buy with the security that they are receiving high quality standardized products continuously being evaluated for improvement,” said MIOX Chief Operating Officer, Kyle Lee.
MIOX’s ISO registrar, Orion Registrar, completed two rounds of audits in November and December of 2012 with no major findings. During both audits, MIOX’s dedication to quality throughout the organization was a highlight.

Over 3,000 units of MIOX equipment have been deployed in 39 countries, with applications ranging from U.S. Municipal drinking water, premier resorts and spas, power plant cooling towers and food and beverage facilities to humanitarian micro-enterprise ventures including FEMSA Foundation and Operation Blessing International.

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 1.0 to 2,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, the applications range from large industrial cooling towers, water and wastewater treatment, and frack fluid disinfection to clean-in-place and dairy farm applications.

About Orion Registrar
Orion Registrar is a quality and environmental systems registrar headquartered in the Denver, Colorado area. Through partners and associates located around the world, Orion specializes in providing audits for the following: ISO 9001, ISO 14001TL9000, AS9100, AS9110, AS9120, Recycling Programs (e-Stewards,R2, and RIOS)  ISO 13485,  and CE Marking for Medical Devices.  Orion is internationally accredited by the United States ANAB as well as the Dutch RvA.  This accreditation is recognized throughout the world for Quality and Environmental Programs. In addition, all Orion auditors are qualified to the International Registrar of Certified Auditors (IRCA) or the RABQSA requirements.

MIOX Presents at Cooling Tower Institute (CTI) Conference

Increasing Power Plant Output Using a New Methodology for Cooling Loop Maintenance
Albuquerque, NM – January 30, 2013 – MIOX Corporation, the industry leader in on-site chemical generation technology, announces Tom Muilenberg, MIOX Director of Commercial Operations and Cem Candir, MIOX VP of Sales & Marketing will present the technical paper “How Stripping Biofilm from the Cooling Water Loop Impacts Power Plant Production Output” at the Cooling Tower Institute (CTI) Conference in Corpus Christi, TX on Monday, February 4, 2013.

MIOX presents a cost effective and environmentally friendly methodology to biofilm control within the cooling water loop. This proven approach utilizes MIOX patented technology and Mixed Oxidant Solution (MOS) chemistry for improved heat exchange efficiency, resulting in a significant increase in power plant production output.

The new methodology is based on case studies and technical data showing that the presence of biofilm or other foulants in the condenser tubes, visible or not, eventually affects power plant production, especially if the plant is reaching peak capacity.  The performance differentiator over bulk hypochlorite is that MOS chemistry is effective at higher pH and TDS values typically found in cooling towers.

“The switch to MOS chemistry from bulk hypochlorite allowed one of our power plant customers to condense return steam more efficiently. Besides achieving operational cost less than the bulk hypochlorite, the power plant added $30 million worth of power annually in to the grid.” noted Mr. Candir.

In addition to superior biofilm removal, MIOX technology is safe and eliminates many of the hazards found in traditional chemical treatment regimens including the transportation, storage and handling of hazardous chemicals such as bulk hypochlorite and biocides.

# # #

About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 0.5 to 2,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, the applications range from large industrial cooling towers and water and wastewater treatment plants to smaller swimming pool and clean-inplace applications.

About Cooling Tower Institute
The Cooling Tower Institute (CTI) advocates and promotes the use of environmentally responsible Evaporative Heat Transfer Systems (EHTS), cooling towers, and cooling technology for the benefits of the public by encouraging education, research, standards development and verification, government regulations, and technical information exchange. 

MIOX Corporation Awarded Climate Change Leadership Institute’s 2012 Direct Action Award

MIOX Recognized for Sustainable Business Leadership &
Products That Enable Cleaner Oil and Gas Development
Albuquerque, NM – November 12, 2012 – MIOX Corporation, the technology leader in on-site chemical generation, announced that it will receive the 2012 Direct Action Award from the Climate Change Leadership Institute (CCLI).  The award ceremony will take place at the MIOX corporate headquarters in Albuquerque, NM on Tuesday, November 13th at 12:30PM MST.

CCLI selected MIOX for the 2012 Direct Action Award for providing economical solutions that enable cleaner oil and gas development. MIOX’s non-toxic disinfectant chemistry process treats and purifies drilling wastewater on-site and provides meaningful benefits including: eliminating the use of hazardous chemicals; significantly reducing truck traffic and greenhouse emissions; lowering operating costs; and increasing worker and community safety.

“MIOX is demonstrating integrity by providing economical solutions that help make oil and gas drilling cleaner by producing cost efficient water purification and treatment systems that make common sense,” said Robb Hirsch, Executive Director & Founder of CCLI. “Companies and products of this caliber are the way of the future as they are producing business friendly, sustainable development solutions which make it economically more cost effective to achieve a new era of responsible energy in America.”

“I am very proud to be part of an organization that provides greener technology to the oil and gas industry,” says Charles Mowrey, MIOX Director of Business Development. “It is an honor to be recognized by the CCLI for our efforts in driving a clean energy future.”

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 1.0 to 2,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, the applications range from large industrial cooling towers, water and wastewater treatment, swimming pools and clean-in-place applications to oil and gas water cleaning and dairy farm disinfection.

About Climate Change Leadership Institute
The Climate Change Leadership Institute (CCLI) is a civil society based non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the climate crisis and spearheading the clean energy revolution.  With these aims in mind, CCLI sponsors annual direct action projects, gives out seed grants and leadership awards, offers student internships and stewardship workshops, organizes the annual Climate Action Rise and provides ways for individuals to demonstrate personal responsibility. 

MIOX launches the new RIO Zuni for Mid-Size Cooling Towers at the Association of Water Technologies

Biofilm eradication and prevention of potential Legionella spread is achieved safely and economically while reducing chemical usage and operation costs

Albuquerque, NM – September 12, 2012 – MIOX Corporation, the technology leader in on-site chemical generation, announced it will launch the new RIO Zuni at the Association of Water Technologies (AWT) Conference on September 19, 2012 in Palm Springs, CA.  The newest addition to the MIOX product line, the RIO Zuni is a 1.0 to 2.0 lb/day Mixed Oxidant Solution (MOS) generator designed for smaller scale disinfection applications.  The RIO Zuni will be featured at AWT as a superior alternative to traditional cooling disinfection methods such as bulk hypochlorite, chlorine gas, chlorine dioxide and proprietary biocides.

“We listened to what customers were asking for. This is a revolutionary design from many aspects including ability to handle 10X harder water than anything else on the market, and self-cleaning to eliminate the need for acid washing,” said Justin Sanchez, MIOX Chief Technology Officer. “It is as easy as operating a residential water softener.”

MOS is generated on-site, on-demand with remarkable disinfectant capabilities even at higher 8-10 pH levels attributed to a synergy between sodium hypochlorite and trace hydrogen peroxide that coexist within 48 hours of generation.

New Technology Systems, Inc. (NTS) is using MIOX to treat 14 cooling tower units at the oil power plants of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA).  Significant savings in water, chemical and energy usage have been achieved. “Prior to installing the MIOX generators, the O&M costs at the Palo Seco plant were above $2.5 million a year. After switching to MIOX, the O&M costs fell to $1.1 million, nearly a 57 percent reduction. Furthermore, the electricity production capacity improved by 9% due to the cleaner condenser tubes, translating into millions of dollars saving for PREPA,” says Eugenio Vives, NTS President.

Fehr Solutions, LLC utilizes MIOX at multiple Thermal Chicago cooling towers in downtown Chicago. MOS chemistry eliminated algae and biofilm in the tower basins within 2 weeks; eliminated delivered chemicals of sodium hypochlorite and isothiazolin biocide every week in the middle of downtown Chicago; and decreased operating costs without any impact on steel or yellow corrosion.  Due to chemical cost savings, Thermal Chicago achieved a payback of less than 2 years.

To learn more about MIOX for Cooling Towers, read this publication from the Cooling Technology Institute.

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 0.5 to 2,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, the applications range from large industrial cooling towers and water and wastewater treatment plants to smaller swimming pool and clean-in-place applications.

About New Technology Systems, Inc.
New Technology Systems, Inc. is a private corporation founded in Puerto Rico with a focus on green technologies in the area of water treatment, such as mixed oxidants on-site generation and magnetic cathodic protection. NTS offers innovative solutions designed to enhance the efficiency, improve safety and reduce the environmental impact. NTS offers consulting, design, sales, installation, equipment maintenance, process control and training.

About Fehr Solutions, LLC
Fehr Solutions, LLC was founded in 2003 as an independent, unbiased water treatment service and consulting firm. Fehr Solutions’ philosophy is to develop objective performance metrics based on industry best practices, test to validate performance against these metrics and to let these data drive the water treatment program. Technical approaches range from low-priced commodity based chemicals, to in-situ chemical generation, to mechanical treatment methods. Focus on sustainability ensures systems are maintained to industry best practices while chemical, water and energy use are minimized.

FormFactor Agrees to Acquire MicroProbe

FormFactor Agrees to Acquire MicroProbe

Combination Will Create Industry’s Leading Advanced Probe Card Supplier

LIVERMORE, CA—(Marketwire)—09/03/12—FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) today announced that it has signed a merger agreement with Astria Semiconductor Holdings, Inc., the parent company of MicroProbe, Inc., a leading provider of advanced SOC wafer test solutions. Under the terms of the merger agreement, FormFactor will acquire MicroProbe for $100 million in cash and $16.8 million in stock, subject to customary adjustments. The merger is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close in the first half of FormFactor’s fiscal quarter ending December 29, 2012.

Headquartered in California, MicroProbe generated $87.3 million in revenue in its fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, growing 46% year-over-year and delivering a non-GAAP EBITDA margin of approximately 20%. MicroProbe and its affiliated companies have approximately 360 employees worldwide.

After the merger the combined company expects to realize the following significant benefits:
•FormFactor will be the industry leading supplier to the high growth advanced SOC probe card market;
•Improved and immediately accretive financial performance beginning in the first quarter of 2013;
•Technology leadership across the Memory and SOC advanced probe card markets.

“This merger is a transformational event for FormFactor and I look forward to working with Mike Slessor and the MicroProbe team to create the leading probe card company in the semiconductor industry,” said Tom St. Dennis, CEO of FormFactor. “FormFactor and MicroProbe customers will benefit since the combined company will have the technology and resources to address semiconductor test requirements across the entire advanced probe card space.”

“I’m very excited about the combination of MicroProbe and FormFactor,” said Mike Slessor, Chief Executive Officer of MicroProbe. “This merger enables our world-class teams to accelerate innovation in wafer test across our customer base and provides compelling opportunities for our combined employees.”

“I am delighted to welcome the MicroProbe team and their outstanding technology to FormFactor,” said Carl Everett, Chairman of the Board of FormFactor. “Together, we are in position to focus on delivering leading wafer probe solutions to meet the needs and roadmaps of logic and memory semiconductor device manufacturers.”

Post-closing, Mike Slessor will become a senior vice president and executive officer of the combined companies.

FormFactor, Inc. will conduct a conference call to discuss this transaction on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, at 6:00 am PDT. The public is invited to listen to a live web cast of FormFactor’s conference call on the Investors section of the company’s website at www.formfactor.com. An audio replay of the conference call will also be made available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call. The audio replay will remain available until September 06, 2012 at 9:00 p.m. PDT, and can be accessed by dialing (855) 859-2056 (domestic) or (404) 537-3406 (international) and entering confirmation code 26434718.

The company has also posted a presentation reflecting this transaction on the Investors section of its website at www.formfactor.com

About FormFactor:
Founded in 1993, FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) is a leader in advanced wafer probe cards, which are used by semiconductor manufacturers to electrically test integrated circuits, or ICs. The company’s wafer sort, burn-in and device performance testing products move IC testing upstream from post-packaging to the wafer level, enabling semiconductor manufacturers to lower their overall production costs, improve yields, and bring next-generation devices to market. FormFactor is headquartered in Livermore, California with operations in Europe, Asia and North America. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.formfactor.com.

About MicroProbe
MicroProbe provides advanced wafer test solutions to global semiconductor manufacturers. The company’s probe card technologies and products lower the overall cost of test by delivering higher yield and throughput, and better quality die. Headquartered in California, MicroProbe maintains a network of manufacturing, sales and support operations worldwide. The company is privately held with investors that include Flywheel Ventures, Intel Capital and Gemini Investors. For more information about MicroProbe, please visit the company website at www.microprobe.com.

FormFactor and the FormFactor logo are registered trademarks of FormFactor, Inc. All other product, trademark, company or service names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-looking Statements:
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding anticipated results, market conditions, expectations and operating plans. These forward-looking statements are based on current information and expectations that are inherently subject to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results might differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement due to various factors, including, but not limited to: our ability to consummate the acquisition of Astria Semiconductor Holdings; our ability to successfully integrate and realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition; risk relating to the company’s ability to successfully commercialize new products; risks around customers’ engagement with the newly combined entities; risks of the company’s ability to meet customers’ test roadmaps; risks of the company’s ability achieve and sustain higher levels of revenue, higher gross margins and reduced operating expenses; uncertainties relating to technological approaches; risks associated with manufacturing and product development; personnel retention; and changes in the market environment. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement is contained in the company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, as filed with the SEC, and subsequent SEC filings, including the company’s Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q. Copies of the company’s SEC filings are available at http://investors.formfactor.com/edgar.cfm. The company assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release, to revise any forward-looking statements or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements.

MIOX is Eliminating Water Contamination by Inorganic Disinfection Byproducts

MIOX awarded $150,000 Phase I National Science Foundation SBIR research grant to develop technologies that will impact municipal water treatment and groundwater remediation market verticals

Albuquerque, NM – MIOX Corporation, a leader in innovative electrochemical water treatment technologies, announced it has received a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the amount of $150,000. The MIOX Product Development team, in collaboration with Dr. Benjamin Stanford at Hazen and Sawyer, PC, will use the funding to develop electrochemical methods that eliminate inorganic disinfection by-products such as chlorate and perchlorate from water.

Chlorate and perchlorate, two compounds that are regulated in drinking water by some states and that will likely be regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, are related to the disinfection processes used by many utilities. These compounds arise from either natural degradation of concentrated hypochlorite or through chlorine on-site generation processes. While the degradation of concentrated hypochlorite is fairly well understood, the mechanisms responsible for chlorate and perchlorate production during brine electrolysis are much less clear.  According to Hazen and Sawyer’s Dr. Stanford “There is enormous variability in output of chlorate from on-site hypochlorite generators, and in many cases those levels would likely exceed the EPA’s health reference level of 210 parts per billion at normal chlorine use levels.  In light of EPA’s potential regulation of chlorate, a technology that can minimize its formation will be of utmost importance to the water industry.”

Additionally, compounds such as perchlorate are known contaminants at several industrial sites, and current remediation technologies are often extremely costly and difficult to operate. MIOX’s research program will develop novel electrolytic systems capable of providing economic, green alternatives to existing remediation technologies. According to MIOX’s CEO Craig Beckman, “The MIOX team is excited to begin work on this critical study by leveraging our history of innovation in electrolytic cell design and helping to solve a serious water treatment issue at the same time.” 

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 0.5 to 2,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, the applications range from large industrial cooling towers and water and wastewater treatment plants to smaller swimming pool and clean-in-place applications.

About Hazen and Sawyer
Since their founding in 1951, Hazen and Sawyer has focused on two things: providing safe drinking water and controlling water pollution. Their range of services encompasses the planning, design, and construction management of water and wastewater-related projects – from clean water treatment, storage, and distribution to wastewater and stormwater collection, treatment, and reuse.

Cinnafilm® Announces Investment to Accelerate Growth in Global Markets

Albuquerque, NM – July 24, 2012 – Cinnafilm, Inc, a leader in file-based based image processing technology, announced that Flywheel Ventures has recently completed an equity investment in Cinnafilm.
As broadcasters and media providers realize video quality and processing speed are paramount to next generation media workflows, Cinnafilm’s technology is at the forefront and in the early stages of wide-spread acceptance and deployment. With high profile clients ESPN, FOX, Viacom, PBS, and Turner Networks already on board, Cinnafilm expects their technology to become the gold standard for StandardsTranscodingTM. StandardsTranscodingTM is the process of performing a very complicated video standards conversion during the transcoding process – which has historically been a 3-step process that utilizes expensive proprietary hardware and takes video between disparate workflows – a time consuming process. Cinnafilm’s TachyonTM is the first software-only solution which delivers the quality and speed of the legacy 3-step hardware dependent process into a single step that is both faster and more flexible than the historical norm.
According to Cinnafilm CEO Lance Maurer, “The timing is perfect; with our growing reputation for unrivaled quality and speed, the list of video technology companies wanting to incorporate our technology has grown at an equally rapid rate. Combining our technology capacity with the capital investment from Flywheel Ventures, we will be able to deliver our product into more markets, more efficiently. It’s great to have found a partner who understands our vision and our global opportunity. We could not have found a better venture firm to lead this investment.”
Flywheel General Partner Kim Sanchez Rael added: “Flywheel is very excited to lead this investment in Cinnafilm. This planet has a seemingly insatiable appetite for video content. Cinnafilm is positioned for global leadership in next-generation video content management, enabling better, faster cheaper solutions for their customers. The team’s commitment to excellence in technology leadership, visionary thinking and customer service are unmatched.”
About Cinnafilm, Inc.
Cinnafilm, Inc. (www.cinnafilm.com) is a global leader in innovative video optimization solutions for television, film, and multi-media delivery. Harnessing the unmatched compute power of modern graphics cards, Cinnafilm’s patented, 100% file-based software solutions are true game changers in the field of high-quality image processing. Cinnafilm software is in use today at many of the world’s premier, forward-thinking studios and networks, solving a wide variety of very complex problems including, but not limited to: restoration and bitrate optimization of television and classic films for modern delivery requirements, noise removal and texture-matching for digital camera and film content of all grades; and automatic transcode workflows providing real time, fully optimized files for the “media now and everywhere” distribution model. Cinnafilm is a scientific-engineering company dedicated to ongoing research in the most complex areas of video optimization and workflow automation, and is based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
Cinnafilm Press Contact: Ernie Sanchez, 505-242-6626
About Flywheel Ventures
Flywheel Ventures (www.flywheelventures.com) is a venture capital firm that empowers entrepreneurs to build globally-competitive businesses based on innovations in information technology and the physical sciences. Flywheel typically makes the first institutional investments in companies with origins in the Mountain West region of the United States. The firm matches talented entrepreneurs and market opportunities with Flywheel’s capital, entrepreneurial experience, and industry relationships to accelerate innovations into profitable companies. Flywheel is based in New Mexico.
Flywheel Contact: Kim Sanchez Rael, 505-681-7962

Craig Beckman Named President of MIOX

Craig Beckman Named President of MIOX
Beckman’s promotion represents a commitment to customers and distribution partners

Albuquerque, NM – MIOX Corporation, a leader in disinfection technology, announced today that Craig Beckman has been promoted to president of MIOX. The appointment reflects Beckman’s key role in MIOX’s aggressive business growth strategy, driving new partner development and new product commercialization since he joined the company in August 2011.  He will be responsible for the daily operations of the company, enabling MIOX CEO Carlos Perea to focus on longer-term strategic initiatives including building international markets and partnerships. 

“Craig’s top priority will be to expand our existing markets by supporting our channel partners and customers,” said Carlos. “He brings a tremendous wealth of sales and marketing expertise and this new structure should enable us to grow our existing business and develop future opportunities more aggressively.”

Beckman brings 20 years of water industry experience and expertise, with a history of successfully driving growth through increased distribution and international markets. He joined MIOX in August as an EVP, and has been overseeing sales, marketing and business development. Previously, at GE Power & Water, Beckman had many executive roles in sales and marketing management. Prior to GE, Beckman led sales at Osmonics, where he contributed to a tenfold increase in revenue before its acquisition by GE in 2002. His extensive global market experience includes oil and gas, desalination, food and beverage, power, municipal and microelectronics. 

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About MIOX Corporation
MIOX designs and manufactures systems that provide on-demand disinfection chemistry, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals and reducing carbon footprint. MIOX systems are used in multiple applications through a wide range of products, cost-effectively producing disinfection chemistry from 0.5 to 2,000 pounds per day FAC (free available chlorine). With this flexibility, the applications range from large industrial cooling towers and water and wastewater treatment plants to smaller swimming pool and clean-in-place applications.

Flywheel Ventures Names David Jargiello as General Counsel & Venture Partner

April 12, 2011 (Albuquerque, NM) - Flywheel Ventures, a seed and early stage venture capital firm, announced today that David Jargiello, veteran Silicon Valley lawyer, joins the firm as General Counsel and Venture Partner. David is the sixth person to join Flywheel’s group of distinguished Venture Partners and “Entrepreneurs-in-Residence”.  David will be responsible for structuring and executing Flywheel’s global investment activities and helping guide the firm’s portfolio companies in various transactional and business matters.

“We are looking forward to working with David in this new role as we’ve been impressed over the years with his seasoned business and legal approach to working with our firm and engaging with our portfolio companies,” said Flywheel General Partner, Kim Sanchez Rael. “Bringing David on board helps us continue to execute our strategy of finding great entrepreneurs around the country by ‘fishing where everyone else isn’t’ and connecting them with top-tier people and resources around the world.”

Jargiello has over 20 years of legal experience, beginning in 1989 in Craig Johnson’s emerging companies group at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.  In 1993, he was one of the original 14 lawyers who founded Venture Law Group, a leading Silicon Valley law firm that grew to over 120 lawyers in four offices in major technology markets.  As a VLG shareholder (partner), he was also that firm’s General Counsel and part of the management team responsible for oversight and management of its business and professional matters.  After VLG merged with Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe in 2003, David became a shareholder in the combined firm’s Corporate/VLG Practice Group.  He was a member of Heller Ehrman’s management committee until re-joining Johnson in 2008 to create Virtual Law Partners - the first wholly “virtual” law office of national reach.  Among the most experienced law firm management experts in the country, he writes, speaks and consults frequently on the spectrum of professional and business matters that confront lawyers and law firms.  He holds a BA from Case Western Reserve University, an MS from Stanford University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley.

David Lam Joins Microprobe’s Board of Directors

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan., 31, 2011-MicroProbe, a leading supplier of wafer test technology to the global semiconductor industry, today welcomed Dr. David Lam to the Board of Directors of its parent company, Astria Semiconductor Holdings.  Best known for founding semiconductor capital equipment giant, Lam Research, Dr. Lam now heads a Silicon Valley-based investment and advisory firm for high-tech companies.  Lam rounds out a Board which also includes Trevor Loy of Flywheel Ventures, Gidu Shroff, formerly of Intel Corporation, David Millet of Gemini Investors, and MicroProbe CEO, Dr. Mike Slessor. 

“David brings a unique combination of experience and creativity to MicroProbe,” said CEO, Dr. Mike Slessor.  “A skilled technologist and business leader, he has delivered some of the industry’s most innovative products to market, and built great businesses around those products.  His contribution will be invaluable as we continue on our growth trajectory.” 

Lam said he was drawn to MicroProbe for its strong team and advanced System-on-Chip (SoC) probe card technology.  He noted, “As SoC devices become more complex, test vendors are being challenged daily to lower costs and bring higher value to customers’ test operations.  MicroProbe has remained consistently ahead of the curve, executing on a global strategy to provide products and support for the industry’s current and future test needs.  I’m delighted to join the team.”

A distinguished semiconductor industry veteran, Lam introduced the first fully automated plasma etching system for semiconductor manufacturing in 1981.  Under his guidance as CEO, the company in 1982 established a strong presence in Japan through a marketing partnership.  Lam Research went public in 1984 and remains a perennial leader in semiconductor process equipment.

Today, Lam uses his experience and expertise to provide guidance to emerging technology enterprises in sectors that include semiconductor and semiconductor equipment, micro- and nano-device manufacturing, computer hardware and software, medical devices, and energy infrastructure.  Among the companies he also serves as a Board member are Multibeam Corporation and Xradia Inc.

Flywheel Ventures Names New Venture Partner

December 7, 2010 (Albuquerque, NM) - Flywheel Ventures, a seed and early stage venture capital firm, announced today that Clyde Neu, veteran venture investor and founder of four start-up companies, joins the firm as a Montana-based Venture Partner. As part of the Flywheel investment strategy that includes “fishing where everyone else isn’t”, Montana has consistently proven to be a source of interesting innovation and opportunities for the firm over the past several years.  In November, Flywheel invested in Montana-based New West, a next-generation media company dedicated to the culture, economy, politics and lifestyle of the Rocky Mountain West.

Flywheel’s interest in Montana has been influenced by the work that Senator Max Baucus has done in developing Montana’s tech economy over the years. Most recently, Flywheel attended the Montana Economic Summit in September hosted by Senator Max Baucus, which highlighted the innovation and entrepreneurial talent in Montana. Speakers at the conference included: Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft; Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy; Karen Gordon Mills, Administrator of Small Business Administration and Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO - Berkshire Hathaway.

“We’ve been continuously impressed not only with the caliber of entrepreneurs that we’ve found in Montana but also with the dedication we’ve seen to the tech industry by Senator Baucus,” said Trevor Loy, General Partner at Flywheel Ventures. “Attending the Montana Economic Summit and other such events over the last several years has really provided us with a sense of the exciting things happening in Montana. Bringing Clyde on as a Venture Partner allows us to continue to develop the relationships we have with Montana’s R&D institutions and its entrepreneurs.”

“This is what the Montana Economic Development Summit was all about: bringing the right people together to create solutions to grow the economy and create good-paying jobs,” said Senator Max Baucus. “I am pleased to see Flywheel putting boots on the ground in Montana - especially someone of Clyde’s caliber. I look forward to working with Clyde and all of Flywheel’s partners to help build even more business and opportunities for Montanans.”

“The commitment that Flywheel is making to Montana is like a breath of fresh air for entrepreneurs in our state.  I am very excited about joining the Flywheel team to identify promising opportunities in the business sectors that Flywheel supports,” said Neu. “Given that Flywheel focuses on seed and early-stage companies in the areas of information technology and the physical sciences, I believe there are lots of companies in Montana that are a perfect fit for their strategy.”

Clyde Neu has over 34 years of venture investing experience as the founder of four start-up companies and a director of two others. He has successfully raised venture capital financing in the U.S. and in Europe. He currently serves as board Chairman of three existing Montana companies including New West, Inc. Clyde is also the President of Epic Management Group, a consulting firm on technology and business strategy. He was a professor of management at The University of Montana for nineteen years where he taught business and technology strategy, financial management, and entrepreneurship. He is a co-author of a college textbook on Small Business Management and holds a BS and MS from Montana State University, and a PhD from the University of Minnesota.


Press Contact: Yasine Armstrong
Flywheel Ventures, 505.850.8023

Flywheel Ventures Names Three Fellows for 2010

June 16, 2010, (Albuquerque, NM) - Flywheel Ventures welcomes three Flywheel Fellows for the 2010 Summer Fellows Program. Flywheel selects a small number of elite MBA students from the world’s premier universities to participate in the annual Flywheel Fellows Program. This year Flywheel welcomes Wen (Gordon) Wang from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Yossi Levi from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and Eric Reinhardt from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

“At Flywheel, we recognize that the best way to experience the VC business is through an apprenticeship.  The Flywheel Fellows program is designed to give students that first-hand experience - walking in the shoes of a VC,” said Flywheel Ventures General Partner Scott Caruso. “It’s an unique opportunity to genuinely experience the various aspects of this industry, from pitch sessions to board meetings.”

Working in both a Flywheel investment analysis and a portfolio company operations capacity, students gain an appreciation of and experience the partnership building, strategy and tactical execution required to build venture-backed technology start-ups. Students work directly with Flywheel General Partners and their responsibilities includes opportunity analysis, investment due diligence, market ecosystem mapping and portfolio governance.  Additionally, students can be dedicated operationally to one or more of Flywheel’s portfolio companies in areas such as strategy, finance, sales and marketing, product management, and business development. 

Wen (Gordon) Wang is completing his MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.  He received his bachelor’s degree in International Finance from Fudan University in China.  Gordon has 10 years of experience in business software industry and worked at IBM and SAP successively.  He was VP of SAP China and head of the Solution Engineering team.  He has published 4 books about accounting, finance, and integrated processes in business software.  His project experiences cover a variety of industries, including high tech, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, consumer product, and mining. Gordon enjoys traveling and camping.  He plans to visit all the 50 states in the U.S. within two years.

Yossi Levi is completing his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. At Kellogg, Yossi is leader in the GIM Middle East class and is currently a member of the finance conference leadership team.  He has diverse experience in the high tech industry in both R&D and other leadership roles. Prior to Kellogg he worked for Provigent, an Israeli VC-backed startup company, as the Asia Pacific Region System Engineering Manager. He also spent five years with Intel in their wireless department where he led the integration of Intel’s 802.11a/b/g/n MIMO modem. Yossi holds BSc and MSc in electrical engineering from Tel Aviv University in Israel with a focus in digital communications systems. He is an avid soccer fan and looks forward to the 2010 world cup games.
 
Eric Reinhardt is completing his MBA at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin concentrating in entrepreneurship and clean technology. Prior to pursuing his MBA, Eric co-founded Alliance Memory, a “fabless” semiconductor manufacturer of legacy SRAM. Eric was VP of Operations and Marketing for Alliance, managing all the back-end operations throughout Israel, Singapore, Taiwan, and China. Before Alliance, Eric started his own company called Surf Drops, which manufactured and marketed ear, nose, and eye drops specifically to surfers. Eric graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Mechanical Engineering and Economics and was captain of the Alpine Ski Team. At McCombs, he is president of the Graduate Adventure Team and is a member of the Entrepreneurship Society, Cleantech Group, Net Impact and Venture Fellows.

Press Contact: Yasine Armstrong
Flywheel Ventures, 505.850.8023

Flywheel Ventures Chairman Receives Top Engineering and Technology Education Honors

Albuquerque, NM (February 17, 2009) - Flywheel Ventures announced that Dr. Tom Byers, Chairman of Flywheel Ventures’ Strategic Advisory Board and LP Advisory Committee, was honored today as one of two winners of the Bernard M. Gordon Prize, one of the highest honors presented by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for his work developing unique entrepreneurial-themed curricula for scientists and engineers. Flywheel Ventures is a venture capital firm that typically makes the first institutional investments in innovations based in information technology and the physical sciences with origins in the Mountain West region of the United States. Flywheel has offices in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and San Francisco.

The Bernard M. Gordon Prize, issued annually, recognizes innovation in engineering and technology education—“for pioneering, continually developing, and tirelessly disseminating technology entrepreneurship education resources for engineering students and educators around the world.”

Dr. Byers and co-winner Dr. Tina Seelig were recognized for their work with the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) at Stanford University. Flywheel founder and General Partner Trevor Loy assisted Dr. Byers in the early stages of STVP’s development. STVP is an education center that provides students across the university with entrepreneurial skills needed to use innovations to solve major world problems, with an emphasis on the environment, human health, and information technology.

As Chairman of Flywheel’s Strategic Advisory Board and LP Advisory Committee, Dr. Byers provides Flywheel and its portfolio company entrepreneurs with critical insight and leadership regarding global market opportunities, trends, and challenges for innovation-based companies.

Loy said about the awarding of the Gordon Prize to Dr. Byers, “Entrepreneurship is so much more than just creating businesses – it is a way of thinking, managing and leading that plays a critical role in turning innovation into solutions to the world’s key global challenges and opportunities.  Tom is a true pioneer in evangelizing, developing and training these skills worldwide, and richly deserves this prestigious recognition.  Today’s award is proof of the growing recognition of entrepreneurship skills as key to a 21st-century engineering education.  Flywheel is honored to have Tom’s involvement and congratulates him on this great honor.”

Based in the School of Engineering at Stanford University, STVP now hosts 25 different courses on entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership, and reaches nearly 2,000 students each academic year.  One particularly noteworthy effort is the Roundtable on Entrepreneurship Education (REE) conference series, which facilitates a global dialogue with other educators about best practices in technology entrepreneurship education. The conferences are now held annually on four continents.  STVP also developed the Stanford Entrepreneurship Corner Web site, which is a free collection of video clips and podcasts for viewers around the world who wish to learn more about entrepreneurship and innovation.

In consideration of his award, Dr. Byers said,“Tina Seelig and I are deeply humbled by this recognition by the NAE. It has been a true team effort from the beginning. We are now more motivated than ever to seek solutions to the grand challenges of our time by stimulating both entrepreneurship and innovative technologies.”

Tom is co-author of a popular textbook called Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise published by McGraw-Hill. Tom also has a range of business experience including executive vice president of Symantec. For his efforts at Stanford, Tom holds two endowed chairs and received its Gores Award for excellence in teaching (the university’s highest award). 

For more information on STVP please visit http://stvp.stanford.edu and for more information about Flywheel Ventures please visit http://www.flywheelventures.com.

Dixon Doll of DCM Elected Chairman of NVCA Board of Directors, Six New Directors Also Named to NVCA

Santa Clara, CA (May 7, 2008) – The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) has named
Dixon R. Doll, co-founder and general partner of Menlo Park-based DCM, as its 2008-2009
chairman. Dr. Doll’s chairmanship was announced today at the 2008 NVCA Annual Meeting at
the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, CA.

He succeeds Ted Schlein, partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, who has completed his oneyear
tenure as NVCA chairman. Mr. Schlein’s leadership was instrumental during the past year
when public policy issues critical to the health of the venture capital industry, such as the carried
interest tax rate, were actively debated on Capitol Hill. Dr. Doll is looking forward to assuming
this important role.

“As the NVCA celebrates its 35th anniversary, we remain dedicated to our core mission – to
support and encourage policies which serve America’s entrepreneurs and innovators,” said Dixon
Doll, co-founder and general partner, DCM, and chairman of the NVCA Board of Directors. “In
the next year we will continue to focus on high impact areas such as clean technology policy,
patent reform, tax policy and regulations which support a healthy capital market system and
overall U.S. competitiveness,” Doll added.

“Dixon is a seasoned investor with vast experience in the global venture capital arena. His
perspective will add great value to the association and the constituents and audiences we serve,”
said Mark Heesen, president, National Venture Capital Association. “His vision, combined with
the expertise of our incoming board members, promises to move the venture capital industry
forward in a meaningful way,” Heesen added.

The six new NVCA Board Members are: James Fleming, Columbia Capital; Stephen Holmes,
InterWest Partners; Deepak Kamra, Canaan Partners; Jack Lasersohn, The Vertical Group;
Trevor Loy, Flywheel Ventures; and Ray Rothrock, Venrock Associates. Each will serve a four
year term.

Retiring from the NVCA Board of Directors after successfully completing their respective four
year terms are Peter Barris, New Enterprise Associates; Michael Cronin, Weston Presidio; Rob
Ketterson, Fidelity Ventures; Joanna Rees, VSP Capital; Ted Schlein, Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers; and Chad Waite, OVP Ventures.

About Dixon Doll
Dixon Doll joined the NVCA Board of Directors in 2005 and served as the 2007 annual meeting
chair. A telecom and Internet venture capital pioneer, Dr. Doll co-founded DCM, an early stage
technology venture capital firm which currently has more than $1.6 billion under management,
with offices in Beijing, China and Menlo Park, California. DCM has backed such well known
entrepreneurial companies as About.com, Clearwire(NASDAQ:CLWR),
51job(NASDAQ:JOBS), Foundry Networks(NASDAQ:FDRY), Internap(NASDAQ:INAP),
Neutral Tandem(NASDAQ:TNDM), Sling Media and VanceInfo(NYSE:VIT). The firm has
become widely recognized as one of the top Silicon Valley venture funds actively investing in
China and Japan. In the mid-1980’s, Dixon co-founded the venture capital industry’s first fund
focused exclusively on telecom.

Prior to becoming a venture capitalist, Dr. Doll founded and ran an internationally recognized
strategic consulting firm focused on telecommunications and computer networking. From 1972 to
1980, he also served as a faculty member of the IBM Systems Research Institute in New York
City, and then served on the IBM Networking Systems Organization’s External Advisory Board
from 1983 to 1991.

Dr. Doll received his B.S.E.E. degree (cum laude) from Kansas State University as well as M.S.
and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, where he was a
National Science Foundation scholar. He serves on numerous non-profit boards including the
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (where he is Chairman), the Stanford Institute for Economic
Policy Research (SIEPR), the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the San Francisco Symphony.

###

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) represents approximately 480 venture capital
and private equity firms. NVCA’s mission is to foster greater understanding of the importance of
venture capital to the U.S. economy, and support entrepreneurial activity and
innovation. According to a 2007 Global Insight study, venture-backed companies accounted for
10.4 million jobs and $2.3 trillion in revenue in the United States in 2006. The NVCA represents
the public policy interests of the venture capital community, strives to maintain high professional
standards, provides reliable industry data, sponsors professional development, and facilitates
interaction among its members. For more information about the NVCA, please visit
www.nvca.org.

Flywheel Ventures Announces Addition of Three Team Members

SANTA FE, NM (February 7, 2008) – Flywheel Ventures today announced three new additions to their venture capital firm. Lawrence Chavez joins the team as an Associate, Cassie Marez joins as the Operations Manager and Yasine Mogharreban joins as the Communication Manager.

“We are thrilled to have these three talented people on the growing Flywheel team. They allow us to strengthen our focus on helping entrepreneurs to grow globally-competitive businesses from innovations in information technology and the physical sciences” said Trevor Loy, managing partner of Flywheel Ventures. “Their skills and talents round out the overall company and we look forward to their contributions to the firm.”

As an Associate, Lawrence Chavez is responsible for managing Flywheel’s New Mexico “Gap” Fund, which provides seed funding of up to $100,000 to entrepreneurs at the most nascent stages of building their ventures.  In addition, he supports the Flywheel partners on sourcing, screening and structuring new investment opportunities; conducting due diligence and market research for prospective and current investments; and providing financial and operational assistance to existing portfolio companies in Flywheel’s larger funds. Lawrence joined Flywheel full-time in late 2007 after serving as a “Flywheel Fellow,” a unique summer program designed to expose talented mid-career executives and MBA students to the technology venture capital business.

Prior to Flywheel, Lawrence was an active angel investor and entrepreneur in a variety of successful New Mexico companies. He was a Founder and Principal of Infinity Business Development, a start-up consulting firm, and a Founder/CEO of Infinity Music, Inc. which he built and sold in 2006.  Prior to that he spent six years as Purchasing/Operations Manager for Our Secret Ltd., a growth consumer products company where he oversaw production, manufacturing and global supply chain logistics. Lawrence is an active member of the New Mexico Angels investment group and serves on its Screening Committee. He holds a Masters in Marketing from Texas A&M University and a Bachelors of Accountancy from New Mexico State University.

Cassie Marez joined Flywheel Ventures in late 2007 as the Operations Manager responsible for the Firm’s day-to-day operations.

Prior to joining Flywheel, Cassie worked for two venture capital-backed start-up biotechnology companies, Exagen Diagnostics and TCI Medical, where she was responsible for investor relations, database management, office management and quality systems. She has a Bachelors degree in Biology from the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology and is a member of VCOMA (Venture Capital Office Managers Association).

Yasine Mogharreban joined Flywheel in early 2008 and manages the firm’s public relations, communications, marketing and events. She has particular strengths in message development and fundraising. She most recently served as a Deputy National Finance Director for New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s Presidential campaign, where she was responsible for planning and implementing national fundraising events across the country. She was also the Special Assistant to Communication for Governor Bill Richardson where she served as a spokesperson for the Governor and First Lady, researched and composed talking points on a variety of state and local issues, and helped manage all communications related to state business. 

Yasine has a Masters in Political Communication from the University of New Mexico and a Bachelors degree in Communication from Truman State University.

ABOUT FLYWHEEL VENTURES

Flywheel Ventures is a venture capital firm that empowers entrepreneurs to build globally-competitive businesses based on innovations in information technology and the physical sciences.  Flywheel typically makes the first institutional investments in companies with origins in the Mountain West region of the United States. The firm matches talented entrepreneurs and market opportunities with Flywheel’s capital, entrepreneurial experience, and industry relationships to accelerate innovations into profitable companies. Flywheel is based in Santa Fe and also has offices in Albuquerque and San Francisco. For more information on Flywheel, please visit www.flywheelventures.com.

#30#

Groople Has Been Named One of Colorado’s Most Innovative Technology Companies

Groople to be honored at the CSIA DEMOgala 2007

Denver, CO (October 5, 2007) Groople is proud to be honored as one of only 40 companies from across Colorado to represent the state’s most innovative technology at the CSIA DEMOgala 2007 on October 11, 2007. 

Groople has developed online technology that makes the process of planning, coordinating and booking group travel efficient and easy.  “Planning and booking a group trip is quite different than planning and booking an individual trip, which is why we created and built our company, Groople.com.” says Mike Stacy, CEO.  “At Groople we give our customers the power to easily create and customize their own group page, which they can use to communicate and collaborate with members of their group during the planning process of their trip as well as after their trip. We also give our customers the ability to share their trip with the public and to search actual group trips that others have taken. What better informational source is there when you’re the one coordinating and planning that perfect group trip than looking at what other people have done for, say, their own family reunion or girlfriend getaway?”

When it comes time to book a trip, Groople customers not only have 60,000-plus hotels at their disposal, but they are also presented the results in a way that’s meaningful to their specific type of group. Also, customers are provided with negotiated group rates from the leading hotel brands in the world and, in some cases, these rates are exclusive to Groople.  In addition to hotels, Groople customers can take advantage of group car bookings through an exclusive relationship with Avis/Budget.  Customers can also make air reservations for their groups.

About Groople
Groople (www.groople.com) is a combination of the words GROups and peOPLE – GROOPLE…we understand groups and we provide the best planning and booking tools for any group! Headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, Groople was launched in 2004.  For more than two years Groople, the leading group travel Website, has worked with thousands of people from a wide variety of groups and has come to understand that planning, searching and booking group travel arrangements should be a fun part of group travel. At Groople, we’re working around the clock to negotiate the best rates for flights, hotels, cars and cruises and find the best locations to fit your group’s needs. We provide booking capability on more than 60,000 hotels located on four continents, twenty-five islands and one mountain top. Through our social networking environment we allow travelers to collaborate and compare travel options before any decisions are made. After reserving a block of rooms, group members are welcome to pay for their rooms individually online or in one payment made by the group leader.

Groople allows groups to shop online with confidence through our low price guarantee. We search far and wide to provide free rooms, upgrades and other special amenities wherever your group qualifies.

Groople…Group Travel Made Easy

About CSIA
CSIA is Colorado’s Technology Association.  With more than 700 technology companies involved, CSIA is the premiere IT association in the state.  Our mission is to foster innovation and a positive growth environment enabling the Colorado technology industry to compete on a global basis. We provide professional development, advocacy, industry reports, peer-to-peer connections, best practices and business opportunities for a wide-spectrum of technology companies.  CSIA’s activities are funded solely by members and sponsors, and any company is invited to join the organization.  For full details, including a list of all DEMOgala Innovation Showcase companies and information about tickets, please visit CSIA’s website at www.csiaonline.com

New Aravo Sustainâ„¢ Enables Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Solution Provides Supply Chain Visibility, Compliance and Reporting for Global Enterprises

San Francisco, CA, September 11, 2007 — Aravo Solutions, Inc., the leading provider of on demand Supplier Information Management (SIM) software and services, today announced the commercial release of Aravo Sustain, a new module for the Aravo SIM™ platform. Aravo SIM provides enterprises with a proven framework for enabling and managing supplier information within leading ERP and eProcurement applications such as Oracle, SAP and Ariba. Aravo Sustain enables global buying organizations to proactively obtain, analyze and manage crucial sustainability data, such as supplier and factory regulatory compliance, toxic substances monitoring, carbon footprinting and labor practices.

High profile product recalls and increased attention from regulators, financial analysts, media and the public have driven sustainability to the top of the corporate agenda, with virtually every industry now facing mounting pressure to improve their business practices. Given these clear trends, sustainability has become a key ingredient for ensuring an enterprise’s ongoing continuity and profitability. Aravo Sustain addresses this need and offers global enterprises a proven platform to address corporate sustainability by providing a framework to plan, implement and manage best-in-class sustainable supply chain programs.

Aravo Sustain is an easy-to-use, on demand platform that can be deployed in days rather than months, with near-zero impact on existing IT infrastructure. The software provides enterprises with a Web-based platform to obtain, analyze and manage data for sustainable supply chain initiatives, transforming compliance and regulatory data from a cumbersome liability to a strategic asset. Aravo Sustain provides actionable workflow and process management capabilities for companies implementing their first environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, as well as for market leaders looking for a more scalable and flexible platform.

Aravo Sustain delivers features and functionality to meet the needs of enterprises implementing a wide variety of sustainable supply chain programs, including supplier and factory audits, carbon footprinting, toxic substances monitoring and reporting, green procurement, codes of conduct, RoHS and REACH and security audits. Key benefits include the mitigation of risk and liability posed by environmental issues and labor practices, minimizing total cost of sustainability program management, maintaining business continuity and uninterrupted access to markets, protecting corporate brand and reputation and driving adherence to compliance and process standards throughout the supply chain.

“Companies are now setting up supplier guidelines that include social and environmental requirements and supplier codes of conduct,” said Mickey North Rizza, research director at AMR Research. “Preferred suppliers have traditionally been viewed as those with the best performance, total cost and quality. In leading-edge companies, CSR is now part of the preferred supplier equation ensuring social and environmental compliance as well. Aravo Sustain was built to address the burgeoning market evolving around CSR data management, and their solution is leading-edge.”

“Through deploying Aravo Sustain, enterprises will now be able to measure the impact of their whole ecosystem and adjust accordingly,” said Tim Albinson, Aravo’s CEO. “Sustainability not only makes sense in terms of environmental conservation, it also makes good business sense. Aravo Sustain was developed to serve both the needs of businesses as well as the planet, and our team takes great satisfaction in serving both of these needs simultaneously.”

About Aravo Solutions
Aravo helps companies quickly and accurately on-ramp and manage supplier master data, enabling them to create error-free transactions, provide actionable decision support and turn supplier information into a valuable asset that can be leveraged throughout the organization. Aravo SIM™ is an on-demand enablement platform providing enterprises with a proven framework for enabling and managing supplier information within leading ERP and e-procurement applications such as Oracle, SAP and Ariba. Aravo is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For information, visit Aravo’s Web site at www.aravo.com.

Public Relations Contact:
Chris Greenfield
Aravo Solutions
415-292-0840, extension 206
cgreenfield@aravo.com

Micromanipulator Introduces new Motorized Probing Station

Carson City, NV, July 13, 2007 – The Micromanipulator Company is pleased to introduce the new P300J motorized - joystick controlled probing station.

“The P300J represents the next generation of our 300 mm manual / motorized probe stations.” said Mike Jackson, Director of Sales and Marketing.  “The station features a completely new controller and also major redesigns of the system hardware to enhance stability and reliability.”
With motorized drives for inter-active manual control of the probe station stage, theta, platen, and microscope, the P300J provides unique precision and control with the ease of a manual system .  Control is provided by a system Joystick or Micromanipulator’s exclusive MicroTouchTM controls.  Motorized drive allows for convenient placement of the station stage and microscope controls, negating the requirement to reach across the station’s large platen and 300 mm stage drive.  In addition, the P300J features a carefully selected dynamic high / low speed range which provides the ability for high resolution precise positioning as well as quick scans across a 300 mm wafer.

Micromanipulator’s robust RMC-7 motorized control system drives the P300J.  It features an X-Y-Theta control mode for wafer alignment, a Z lockout setting to avoid accidental platen Z movements during X-Y moves, and a full X-Y-Z-Theta lock out mode to avoid movement due to inadvertent bumps during testing.

The P300J’s open design allows for ease of complex setups.  The station features a massive base, stage support and enhanced 4-point platen drive for stability and precision.  A massive microscope bridge provides 100 x 100 x 200mm (X-Y-Z) high resolution travel range to support multi-site probe cards.  The station is femto-amp level low current and high / low temperature (-55 to +300 deg C) ready.  It can be ordered with plumbing options to support all popular hot / cold thermal chucks.  The P300J supports all standard 200 and 300 mm probing accessories.

The 9020 is ideal for probing of 200 to 300mm semiconductor wafers as well as flat-panel substrates for Failure Analysis, Wafer Level Reliability, and Device and Process Characterization and Modeling.  It supports DC passive and active probes, RF and Microwave probes and manipulators, standard and multi-site probe cards and manipulator mounted Multi-site cards (like Celadon’s Versa-Tileâ„¢ cards) mounted on Micromanipulator’s WAVE (WLR and Microwave) manipulator system. 

About Micromanipulator:
The Micromanipulator Company is a leading provider of high-performance analytical probing equipment; programmable, semi-automatic and manual probe stations and accessories for the Semiconductor, Flat Panel, MEMs, Biotech and Printed Circuit Board industries.  Pioneering the technology of Analytical Probing, Micromanipulator has been providing innovative solutions since 1956. For more information, visit our website at: http://www.micromanipulator.com.

VC investment in NM running at record pace this year

The latest survey of venture capital activity in New Mexico shows investment in the first half of this year jumped nearly 500 percent compared to 2006.

Trackvia Introduces Online Database Application for Managing Business Critical Data

On-Demand Access Gives Organizations Flexibility to Manage Data and Collaborate Any Time, Anywhere

DENVER—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Trackvia, provider of an innovative online database application, today announced the launch of its web-based database platform to help organizations better track and collaborate on their business critical data. Trackvia’s application offers on-demand, online access any time, anywhere. It is an ideal solution for small- and medium-sized businesses as well as project teams of larger organizations who are looking for an online application to better manage their data.

“We founded Trackvia with the vision of offering businesses a one-stop shop for storing and managing data online,” said Matt McAdams, co-founder and chief technology officer of Trackvia. “Too many small businesses were struggling to use spreadsheets or desktop databases to manage their information, and then using several different services to do specific tasks, such as mass emails, mail merge, Web site forms, online backup, etc. As a result, their information was becoming fragmented across all of these different vendors. With Trackvia, all of these services and more are provided in one application, demonstrating the product’s flexibility in meeting the business needs of a variety of organizations.”

Millions of organizations today use traditional spreadsheet software or white boards to collect and manage their data, which can be very limiting and time-consuming. Trackvia provides an easy and flexible online database application that gives organizations greater control, visibility and accuracy of their data through features such as the ability to manage mailing lists, clients and contacts; organize assets, inventory, locations or partners; sort and filter information; create custom reports, share data in real-time and set up different levels of permission-based access.

“Trackvia has enabled us to not only more easily manage our data, but improve our overall business,” said Jon Baldwin, President of Circulation Service America, Inc. “It has replaced our old reporting process, which took days to compile and was subject to lots of room for data errors. Now, with Trackvia, we can offer real-time database access to our more than 1000 publishers to track the deliveries of their publications in 150 cities.”

Trackvia is a full-feature solution that combines the ability to automatically gather, manage and use information to communicate among key constituencies. It combines the power of a database with diverse web-based features in one solution. Key features include:

  * Quick Search: Find exactly what you’re looking for, using plain language searches.
  * Formatted & Filtered Views: Build filtered, customized, formatted views. Filter by one or more status criteria, and/or by time, i.e. show all deals closed this week.
  * Report Distribution: Automated, scheduled report distribution via email.
  * Multi-User Access: Share and edit information with multiple users simultaneously.
  * Permission-Based Access: Set appropriate view/edit/add/delete permissions to ensure users see and change only appropriate records and fields.
  * Web site Forms: Self-service Web site forms that create database records.
  * Display on a Web site: Publish a real-time database view to your own Web site.
  * Thumbnail Image Preview: Display database views that include thumbnail previews of images.
  * Distribute Data: Send records or views to one or more people via email, with one click.
  * Mass Personalized Email Campaigns: Send mass emails to contacts in your database, with automatic history of emails sent.
  * Automated Email Collection: Receive emails into a database, creating records.
  * Map View: Display and edit views, and individual records, in Googleâ„¢ Maps.
  * Mail Merge: Personalize your form letters and labels by merging database fields.
  * Excel Import/Export: Bring information in from Excel and send information out to Excel.

Trackvia is available on a monthly subscription basis at $9.95 per month per user. Advanced features are available for an additional fee. To sign up for a free trial of Trackvia, visit www.trackvia.com.

About Trackvia

Trackvia provides organizations with an easy and flexible way to manage data and improve their business. Trackvia provides an online database application that gives organizations greater flexibility, visibility and control over their data through features such as the ability to manage mailing lists, clients and contacts; organize assets, inventory, locations or partners; sort and filter information; create custom reports, share data in real-time and set up different levels of permission-based access. Trackvia is funded by Flywheel Ventures and other private investors. For more information, please visit www.trackvia.com.

Groople Partners With Eastern College Athletic Conference

Groople (www.groople.com), the leading online group travel planning and booking site, has been named the official hotel booking agency for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), the largest college athletics conference representing 320 institutions.  This partnership will provide several advantages for the ECAC including the ability for each tournament to have their own web page on Groople’s newest social networking feature, GroopVine.  Other advantages allow travelers the ability to book hotel, air and car arrangements for all tournaments and games for the teams, officials and fans. 
“Groople’s ability to handle hotel room bookings for all of our 98 championship teams while offering a booking solution to the ECAC membership that is both cost-effective and user-friendly is most important to us,” says Rudy Keeling, Commissioner of the ECAC.  “With long standing relationships within the industry, Groople is in the best position to handle the hotel booking needs of the ECAC, our membership, and everyone else associated with the conference.”
Teams can realize significant savings in both time and money through this new partnership.  “Our division II and III institutions that are very budget conscious, especially when it comes to team travel, will see the greatest impact. Also, booking hotel rooms through Groople for all ECAC championships will make traveling to ECAC events for participants and fans much easier,” says Keeling.
“This partnership has the potential to change the sports travel industry by leveraging the large volume of travelers to games with secure price-points not available to individual travelers,” says Mike Stacy, CEO of Groople.  “By providing the ECAC with more than the traditional travel services, and offering both online and offline agent support, we can meet the needs of the organization.”

About Groople:
Groople (www.groople.com) is a combination of the words GROups and peOPLE – GROOPLE…we understand groups and we provide the best planning and booking tools for any group! Headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, Groople was launched in 2004.  For more than two years Groople, the leading group travel Website, has worked with thousands of people from a wide variety of groups and has come to understand that planning, searching and booking group travel arrangements should be a fun part of group travel. At Groople, we’re working around the clock to negotiate the best rates for flights, hotels, cars and cruises and find the best locations to fit your group’s needs. We provide booking capability on more than 60,000 hotels located on four continents, twenty-five islands and one mountain top. Through our social networking environment we allow travelers to collaborate and compare travel options before any decisions are made. After reserving a block of rooms, group members are welcome to pay for their rooms individually online or in one payment made by the group leader.

Groople allows groups to shop online with confidence through our low price guarantee. We search far and wide to provide free rooms, upgrades and other special amenities wherever your group qualifies.

Groople…Group Travel Made Easy

About the ECAC®
The ECAC is the nation’s largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference with 320 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors 98 championships in 37 men’s and women’s sports, assigns more than 5,200 officials in 15 sports, administers 10 affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues and recognizes more than 4,000 student-athletes in 21 sports through the public relations arm of the conference. The ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s lacrosse, men’s gymnastics, wrestling, fencing and rowing.

Aravo Investors Supply $10M In Series C

Enterprise Software       San Francisco

Aravo Investors Supply $10M In Series C

By Staff Reporters         8/2/2007


Aravo Solutions Inc. plans to open more regional sales and delivery offices and launch new products after closing a $10 million venture capital round.

All prior lead investors returned in the Series C round, including Charles Schwab Family/Big Sky Partners, Art Samberg of Pequot Capital and Tony Mayer formerly of JP Morgan Capital. The company to date has raised $22 million.

Retired Goldman Sachs Chairman Stephen Friedman, LundKenner Managing Partner Soren Kenner and private equity executives were the new investors in the round. Other shareholders in the company include Chess Ventures, Wilson Sonsini Ventures and Angels Forum/Halo Fund LLC, according to Aravo’s Web site.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Aravo produces Supplier Information Management software and services. Among its clients: Oracle, Novartis and the states of Florida and North Carolina.

Avaro spokesman Chris Greenfield said the company does not discuss revenue, earnings, valuation or cash burn rate figures.

Lingotek Receives $1.6 Million In Second Round Of Funding

Canopy Ventures and Flywheel Ventures fund Lingotek’s drive to become leader in language translation technology

PROVO, Utah—March 1, 2007—Lingotek, provider of meaning-based translation solutions, today announced it has secured $1.6 million in Series A-2 financing. Lingotek has developed a Web 2.0 service called the Language Search Engine™ to dramatically improve the translation process.

The A-2 round was led by Canopy Ventures, of Lindon, Utah contributing $1 million. Previous investors including Flywheel Ventures also participated in the A-2 round. This financing follows a $1 million Series A-1 round of funding in 2006. Lingotek will use the funding to expand its sales and marketing efforts and further increase its presence in the language translation market.

One of every five business throughout the world must bridge the language barrier. Lingotek provides online language information technology that cuts costs in half, doubles the output of human translators and improves the quality of the translations.

“The world is becoming a smaller place where businesses and governments have a stronger need to achieve pin-point accuracy of language translation,” said Brandon Tidwell, managing director of Canopy Ventures. “Lingotek’s offerings are having a tremendous impact in world markets and are changing the way organizations manage their translation needs. We look forward to working with Lingotek’s management to bring compelling solutions to this very promising market.”

Lingotek’s CEO Tim Hunt said, “We are very pleased that Canopy Ventures has led this round of financing. We are fortunate to have such supportive venture capital investors to help our company move to the next level and into new markets. Lingotek’s technology is an essential element in producing stellar translation services for governments and businesses.”

Lingotek’s customers are quickly recognizing that traditional methods for translation are outmoded and outdated to meet the increasing demands of global communication. Language professionals today need a fast, easy and inexpensive method to access relevant multilingual knowledge. Lingotek’s Language Search Engine satisfies language professionals’ demands for translation knowledge.

Don Emerson, director of the southeast division of CACI International Inc, which provides IT and network solutions for defense, intelligence and e-government said, “Our partnership with Lingotek allows us to offer our customers significantly enhanced distributed language translation capability.”

About Lingotek
Lingotek is a software development company who has created the first Language Search Engine.  The Language Search Engine searches translated content for human translators like an Internet search engine searches the Internet.  It helps translators find the same words with the same meaning in the same context in any language in the world. Their software runs in a web browser and helps human translators translate faster, better and cheaper. More information may be found at http://www.lingotek.com.

About Canopy Ventures
Canopy Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm targeting information technology companies in the western United States. Its primary areas of focus include enterprise software, IP video technologies, networking and communications, security software, WI-FI broadcasting, IT hosting and software as a service. Its offices are in Lindon, Utah. More information may be found at http://www.canopy.com.

About Flywheel Ventures
Flywheel Ventures is a venture capital firm that makes investments of first institutional capital in the Mountain West. Flywheel targets companies based on innovations in information technology and the physical sciences. The firm matches talented entrepreneurs and market opportunities with Flywheel’s capital, entrepreneurial experience, and industry relationships to accelerate innovations into profitable companies. Flywheel is based in Santa Fe and also has offices in Albuquerque and San Francisco. For more information on Flywheel, please visit http://www.flywheelventures.com.

We Are Pleased To Announce That We Have Hired Daniel L. Follett As CFO For InteliSum.

Dan comes to us from American Express where he held the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and also Vice President of Finance positions at their various banking institutions. In his early career he spent time with Deloitte & Touche in Salt Lake City and Deloitte Haskins & Sells in Phoenix, AZ.

We are fortunate to find Dan at a time in his career when he’s ready for some ‘thrills’ which we’re certain we can provide. We’re very excited to have Dan with us to help in our forward growth.

MIOX Corporation Set To Expand With Investment From Sand Hill Road Venture Captial Firm

January 22, 2007
Sierra Ventures leads Series B round for MIOX Corp., a technology company focused on solving one of the world’s most pressing issues – clean, safe water
Albuquerque, NM – January 22, 2007 – MIOX Corporation announced today that it has raised $14.5 million in capital to accelerate its growth into emerging markets.  MIOX currently sells products to purify water for public water treatment systems.  It has also successfully developed products and technology for a variety of other applications, including personalized handheld water purification, industrial water, marine, military, and pool and spa applications.  MIOX products are cost effective, safe, and a more environmentally sound alternative to the dangerous and harsh chemicals typically used to treat water for these applications.
“Customers have pulled MIOX technology into a number of new applications and exciting opportunities,” said Carlos Perea, president and CEO of MIOX Corporation.  “With the financial backing of our investors, we can now properly address and develop these fast growing markets.  Moreover, we can continue to grow our international markets where there is a rapidly growing demand to treat water in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner.”
The round was led by Sierra Ventures with participation from Nick Pritzker via Tao Capital and New Mexico Community Capital.  Also participating were the major existing investors including Flywheel Ventures.  Sierra Ventures is a top tier venture capital firm with investments in the United States, China, Canada, and India. Sierra is known for its operational expertise and ability to work with entrepreneurs and management teams to build companies into large, profitable businesses.
“Sierra invests in world-changing ideas.  We’ve been interested in making an investment in the Clean Tech space for some time,” said Jeff Loomans, a partner at Sierra.  “One reason Water Technology is attractive is that water is one of the largest markets in the world with a significant growth rate.  It wasn’t until we found MIOX that we found a company that meets our investment criteria.”
“We are excited about the new investment in MIOX,” said Trevor Loy, managing partner at Flywheel. “MIOX is an excellent example of a company applying technology to address a major market opportunity and, at the same time, address a major social and environmental issue.  Today, one of five people in the world still do not have access to safe, clean water, resulting in major costs to society. MIOX is a distributed architecture and will allow end users to treat their water at the point of use.  This is a cost-effective approach that many parts of the developing world are embracing.”

About MIOX Corporation
MIOX applies patented technology to manufacture products that can provide clean, safe water, anywhere at any time.  The technology was originally developed under military and federal contracts with the goal of replacing traditional water treatment chemicals.  For over a decade MIOX products have been used by hundreds of municipalities across the United States to treat water to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) standards.  MIOX eliminates the need to store and transport dangerous chemicals such as chlorine gas, which is considered by the Department of Homeland Security to be one of the most significant threats to community safety.  MIOX is currently being sold in over 40 countries and can be used in a variety of water treatment applications.  More information is available at http://www.miox.com.

About Sierra Ventures
Sierra Ventures, founded in 1982, is a privately held venture capital firm focused on investments across all areas of the Information Technology sector from semiconductors to enterprise software.  Sierra Ventures has managed nine venture capital partnerships and currently has more than $1.5 billion of capital under management.  Some of the firm’s investments include 360Commerce (acquired by Oracle), Active Software (acquired by WebMethods), AmeriGroup (AGP), Centex (acquired by WorldCom), ConvergeNet (acquired by Dell), FatBrain (acquired by Barnes & Noble), Frontbridge (acquired by Microsoft), Healtheon (merged with WebMD),  Interact Commerce (acquired by Sage), Intuit (INTU), Micromuse (acquired by IBM), OnAssignment (ASGN), OnLink (acquired by Siebel), Quinta (acquired by Seagate), StrataCom (acquired by Cisco), Sychip (acquired by Murata Manufacturing) and Teradata (acquired by NCR).  More information is available at http://www.sierraventures.com. 

About Flywheel Ventures
Flywheel Ventures is a venture capital firm that makes investments of first institutional capital in the Mountain West. Flywheel targets companies based on innovations in information technology and the physical sciences. The firm matches talented entrepreneurs and market opportunities with Flywheel’s capital, entrepreneurial experience, and industry relationships to accelerate innovations into profitable companies. Flywheel is based in Santa Fe and also has offices in Albuquerque and San Francisco. For more information on Flywheel, please visit www.flywheelventures.com.

TruTouch Technologies, Albuquerque, NM announces new Vice President of Marketing

August, 2006
TruTouch announces that Jacquie Sheehey has joined the Company as Vice President of Marketing. She has more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing for drug and alcohol testing products in the workplace and government markets, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA).

Jacquie Sheehey, Vice President of Marketing

Jacquie Sheehey has more than 20 years of experience in marketing serving the private sector, federal government, and non-profit organizations. Her expertise focuses in the areas of substance abuse, criminal justice and the workplace. Prior to joining TruTouch, Jacquie was the Marketing Manager for Varian, Inc. drugs of abuse testing products. Jacquie was responsible for all product launches, market strategy, promotional and direct mail campaigns, and advertising. Prior to Varian, Jacquie was President of her own marketing communications company with a wide variety of customers including the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP), the New York Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals, the U.S. Department of Labor, and other private sector companies in the criminal justice field.

Jacquie is a graduate of The Ohio State University, is a member of the Association of Women Executives in Corrections, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA), chairs the Corporate Advisory Committee for the NADCP, and serves on various committees for the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA).

CoMeT Solutions Launches Breakthrough Product for Multi-Solver Mechanical Assembly Simulations

CoMeT/StructuralDynamics enables multiple rigid/flexible body dynamic simulations and
structural FEA with full CAD associativity in a single user environment.
Albuquerque— Sept. 25, 2006 —CoMeT Solutions, Inc. (CSI), a developer of software used to
enable simulation-driven engineering, will launch its first product, CoMeT/StructuralDynamicsâ„¢,
at the Collaborative Product Development Associates (CPDA) PLM Roadmapâ„¢ Strategic
Conference held September 27-28, 2006 in Dearborn, Mich.
CoMeT/StructuralDynamics enables users to simulate the performance of structures and
mechanisms (both static and dynamic) using codes such as ADAMS for rigid and flexible Multi-
Body Dynamic (MBD) simulations and ABAQUS, ANSYS and MSC.NASTRAN for Finite Element
Analysis (FEA). With CoMeT, it is now possible to develop mechanical assembly simulations that
are fully associative to the base CAD geometry – all within a single integrated simulation
environment.
“CoMeT/StructuralDynamics allows us to work with a single model from the initial design clear
through the end of analysis. It helps us keep track of design information and data files, which
prevents errors and saves time,” said Scott Anderson, principal engineer at Dana Corporation’s
commercial vehicle systems division.
“Our design process uses three models – one for Pro/ENGINEER, one for ANSYS, and one for
ADAMS. When we go from one system to another, we have to recreate geometry, which is not
only time-consuming, but also introduces the potential for errors,” Anderson said. “As a beta user
of CoMeT, we use Pro/ENGINEER as the starting point. We can then generate the ADAMS
model through CoMeT, and it also creates the flex bodies for analysis in ANSYS, all with
associativity to the Pro/ENGINEER model.”
According to Malcolm Panthaki, CoMeT Solutions’ chairman, founder, and chief technology
officer, CoMeT/StructuralDynamics is the first release in CSI’s line of products for dynamics
simulation work. A line of products for optronics assembly simulation and a full suite of adaptors
for both CAD and CAE systems are also forthcoming. “Our solutions enable companies to drive
CAD designs with analysis results, enabling true simulation-driven engineering,” Panthaki said.
“We believe the Abstract Modeling capabilities in CoMeT/StructuralDynamics are groundbreaking
by enabling engineers to capture simulation processes at a high level, before geometry is even
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created. This will enable them to easily reuse engineering data across large changes to the
design,” Panthaki added. “Abstract Modeling will be a key driver of our customers’ success as
we move forward, along with CoMeT’s common data model for CAE, the Universal Engineering
Model (UEMâ„¢). Our UEM provides engineers with the ability to work with any CAD and any CAE
code in a single integrated simulation environment.”
“CoMeT’s Abstract Modeling is a technology breakthrough that has tremendous potential,” said
Michel Vrinat, research director of Collaborative Product Development Associates, LLC.
“Analysts will be able to execute multi-discipline studies using multiple simulation tools without reentering
data, and to synchronize design changes with simulation through an automated process.
Simulation templates will be made available for non-experts, resulting in a wider use of simulation
in product development, leading to better quality with less physical tests.”
CoMeT/StructuralDynamics is available for immediate use by innovative companies seeking a
significant competitive advantage through engineering analysis. CoMeT Solutions offers
complementary services for product adoption and engineering process implementation to
accelerate time to benefits for customers.
About CoMeT Solutions, Inc.
CoMeT Solutions, Inc. provides software-based solutions that enable virtual product engineering,
a strategy increasingly employed by manufacturing companies to design better products rapidly
and to replace costly physical prototype testing. CoMeT software provides an integrated
simulation environment in which engineers can define and solve complex engineering problems
and manage all related models, processes, and resulting simulation data. No other commercial
CAE environment brings virtually any CAE and CAD application under a single user interface,
while integrating design and analysis data using a common data model, the CoMeT Universal
Engineering Model (UEM). CoMeT makes it possible for companies to achieve up-front analysis
and a simulation-driven engineering process.
CoMeT Solutions, Inc., UEM and CoMeT/StructuralDynamics are trademarks of CoMeT
Solutions, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Groople Secures $6 Million in Additional Financing

DENVER – August 10, 2006 – Groople, the leader in online group travel and industry pioneer, announced that it has secured $6 million in its latest round of financing. ArrowPath Venture Partners led the financing along with FA Technology Ventures (FATV).  Existing investors Vista Ventures, Fatty Tuna and Flywheel Ventures also participated in the round.

Groople provides online booking capabilities for group travelers and matches the needs of specific groups with appropriate products, prices and support. While facilitating bookings and generating new revenue, Groople allows travel suppliers to retain control of their inventory and rates. Groople provides the tools for non-managed group leaders to request a block of hotel rooms while permitting the individual group members to make changes to reservations and pay individually.

“There has been such strong demand for our product from both consumers and suppliers, as evidenced by our double-digit revenue growth, as well as triple-digit growth in profits,” said Groople Chief Executive Officer Mike Stacy. “We are pleased to have partners of the caliber of ArrowPath, Vista and FA Technology Ventures. These firms have tremendous experience in building young technology companies into market leaders. We were very selective in deciding which venture firms to work with and we are delighted by our choice.”

“Self-organized, small group travel is a growing, multibillion dollar segment of the travel industry. Group travelers have come to expect the same convenience and control of individual online travel coupled with a service that understands the unique needs of group travel,” said Jerry Gramaglia, a Partner with ArrowPath Venture Partners. “Groople, led by top executives from both the travel and technology industries, is filling that consumer need.”

This latest investment will be used to further accelerate the company’s growth plans including expansion of their website (www.groople.com) and improving the customer experience. The company will also use a portion of the proceeds to enhance agent and supplier technologies as well as increase its growing network of hotel properties, affiliates, partners and direct sales capabilities.

In addition to providing investment in the company, Jerry Gramaglia of ArrowPath Ventures and Giri Sekhar of FATV have been appointed to the Groople Board of Directors.

Explaining his reasons for backing Groople, FATV’s Giri Sekhar commented “Groople fills one of the last big holes in the online travel market.  There are numerous online booking solutions for individual travel, but groups still have to do things the old fashioned way – with telephones, faxes, voicemail, agents and snail mail.  Groople brings group travel into the Internet age.”

About Groople
Groople (www.groople.com) is the leader in online group travel, offering one-stop group booking on hotel, cruise, air, bus, and rail, and is backed by partnerships with the largest travel suppliers worldwide. Groople is group travel made easy, with more than 60,000 hotel choices worldwide and six top cruise lines brought together in an online group booking website. Groople offers discounted rates, individual payment options and creates a single point of contact for the group travel consumer. Groople’s customer sales center provides personal attention and offers group travel experts to advise on corporate travel and leisure group travel for weddings, family reunions, religious groups, sports teams, and more. Created by twenty travel industry veterans, Groople pioneered the online group travel space and continues to lead the group travel industry in technology, inventory and convenience.

About ArrowPath Ventures
ArrowPath is an early-stage venture capital firm with over $325 million under management. The firm focuses on early-stage companies developing highly differentiated enterprise and infrastructure technologies as well as consumer services that offer compelling value and have the prospect of achieving market leadership.  ArrowPath’s goal is to help entrepreneurs build companies of enduring value while generating superior returns for investors. For more information, go to www.arrowpathvc.com.

About FA Technology Ventures
FA Technology Ventures (FATV), based in Boston, MA and Albany, NY, is a leading early stage investor, providing venture capital, management and guidance for companies in the emerging growth sectors of Information Technology and Energy Technology. FA Technology Ventures is committed to helping build tomorrow’s great technology companies by backing experienced, passionate entrepreneurs who have innovative ideas and a new vision for the future. Recent notable FATV investments include iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT), Meta Group (Nasdaq: METG, acquired by Gartner Group) and Softricity (acquired by Microsoft).  To learn more about FA Technology Ventures, visit www.FAtechventures.com.

Micromanipulator Acquired By Flywheel Ventures

Receives $1 million cash infusion for future growth and acquisitions

Carson City, NV, 11 July, 2006 – The Micromanipulator Company, a leader in analytical probing equipment for the semiconductor industry, announced today that Flywheel Ventures, a New Mexico-based venture capital firm, has acquired a majority interest in the company for an undisclosed amount from its current owner, the California Institute of Technology (“Caltech”).  In addition to the transfer of interest, the company will also receive a direct $1 million cash infusion from Flywheel to support future growth and acquisitions.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

At the close of the transaction, Trevor Loy and Kim Sanchez Rael of Flywheel Ventures and Carlos Perea of MIOX Corporation (and a Strategic Advisor to Flywheel) will join Mike Slessor of Caltech and Bill Hartman of Micromanipulator on the company’s Board of Directors.  Slessor, Loy, Rael and Perea all have significant semiconductor industry experience.  Hartman most recently led MesoSystems Technology to a significant increase in valuation and sale.

Caltech acquired ownership of Micromanipulator via a gift from the estate of the company’s founder, Robert D. “Stan” Hancock, and will continue to maintain a minority interest in the company.  Caltech and Micromanipulator sought the involvement of Flywheel Ventures in order to bring in additional value-added investors with significant entrepreneurial and growth expertise in the semiconductor equipment sector.

President and CEO Bill Hartman commented, “With Flywheel Ventures’ investment, semiconductor industry expertise and management assistance, I see a tremendous opportunity to build on Micromanipulator’s 50 years of probing leadership.  Micromanipulator has long been known for outstanding product reliability and customer service.  This investment will accelerate our development of new products, processes and services while creating our base for additional semiconductor, nanotechnology and MEMS device test solutions.  We are already off to a very strong start to our 51st year in this industry.  The active involvement of both Caltech and Flywheel on our Board of Directors will have a tremendously positive impact on our future growth.”

Flywheel Managing Partner Trevor Loy said, “Flywheel Ventures was attracted to Micromanipulator’s strong technology and intellectual property position, top-tier customer base of leading semiconductor manufacturers, strong brand awareness, and potential for revenue growth as well as expansion into new markets.”

Bill Hartman concluded by saying, “I am looking forward to the partnership with Caltech and Flywheel.  Our employees, partners and customers are similarly excited by the investment and the exciting changes already ongoing at the company.” 

About Micromanipulator
The Micromanipulator Company is a leading manufacturer of analytical probing equipment for 150, 200 and 300 mm semiconductor wafers, solar cells, nanotechnology and MEMS devices.  Micromanipulator provides probe stations and accessories for applications including reliability testing, low current/low noise IV/CV testing, high frequency testing, and probing for flat panels and PCB’s.  Micromanipulator is located in Carson City, Nevada.  For more information on Micromanipulator, please visit www.micromanipulator.com.

About Flywheel Ventures
Flywheel Ventures is a venture capital firm that makes investments of first institutional capital in the Mountain West. Flywheel targets companies based on innovations in information technology and the physical sciences. The firm matches talented entrepreneurs and market opportunities with Flywheel’s capital, entrepreneurial experience, and industry relationships to accelerate innovations into profitable companies. Flywheel is based in Santa Fe and also has offices in Albuquerque and San Francisco. For more information on Flywheel, please visit www.flywheelventures.com.

About the California Institute of Technology
The mission of the California Institute of Technology is to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education.  Caltech investigates the most challenging, fundamental problems in science and technology in a singularly collegial, interdisciplinary atmosphere, while educating outstanding students to become creative members of society.  In the Institute’s 115-year history, Caltech faculty have been awarded 32 Nobel Prizes and 5 Crafoord Prizes, along with 47 National Medals of Science and 10 National Medals of Technology.  For more information on Caltech, please visit www.caltech.edu.

CoMeT Solutions to Preview New Product at PTC/User® World Event

CoMeT will preview its upcoming solution for multi-solver assembly simulations integrated with Pro/ENGINEER®

Albuquerque, NM,May 24, 2006 – CoMeT Solutions, Inc. (CSI or CoMeT), a developer of software used to enable simulation-driven engineering, will preview its new product as an exhibitor at the PTC/User® World Event 2006 held June 4-7, 2006 at the Gaylord Texan Resort near Dallas, Texas. A PTC Partner Advantage™ Gold member, CoMeT will demonstrate how Pro/ENGINEER users can get more work out of their analysis tools and significantly extend the value of Pro/ENGINEER in their multi-solver assembly simulations using CoMeT software. CoMeT ensures bi-directional associativity between Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire and CAE data from a variety of vendor tools.

CoMeT’s Pro/ENGINEER integrated application for multi-solver assembly simulations is in beta implementation with leading automotive, aerospace and consumer products manufacturers. It will be available for commercial release later this year.

“Moving Pro/ENGINEER assembly models and data to and from analysis systems is tedious, time-consuming, and fraught with errors. Automating engineering processes using those systems together has been just as difficult. CoMeT brings together Pro/ENGINEER along with all your CAE tools under a single roof. A normally complex, multi-vendor CAE process, such as rigid body analysis of an assembly or flexible body dynamics, is accomplished rapidly and easily within the CoMeT work environment,” said Malcolm Panthaki, founder and chairman of CoMeT Solutions.

The PTC/User World Event is an international technical conference serving users of software produced by PTC® of Needham, Massachusetts. Over 2,000 professionals from over 400 different companies are expected to be in attendance at this year’s event.

DOWNLOAD FLYER HERE (pdf - 1.35 MB)

————-

About CoMeT Solutions, Inc.
CoMeT Solutions, Inc. (www.cometsolutions.com) provides software-based solutions that accelerate innovation by enabling virtual product engineering. CoMeT software provides a single coherent work environment in which engineers can define and solve complex engineering problems – using virtually any CAE and CAD application – and manage all related models, processes and resulting simulation data. CoMeT integrates all CAE data using its innovative Universal Engineering Model (UEM™) that was developed and tested with partners including the Air Force Research Labs, Sandia National Labs, and NASA. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, CSI is a privately held company that was incorporated in 2001.

Contacts:
Daniel Meyer
President Chairman
CoMeT Solutions, Inc.
513.561.9666
dan.meyer@cometsolutions.com

Malcolm Panthaki
Founder & CTO
CoMeT Solutions, Inc.
505.323.5838
malcolm.panthaki@cometsolutions.com

Groople Appoints Michael Stacy as CEO

DENVER, CO – November 30, 2005 – Groople, the leading online group travel booking resource, announces the appointment of Michael Stacy as Chief Executive Officer.  David Loy will maintain his role as President and Founder of Groople, working alongside Stacy on day-to-day operations as they spearhead the company’s next phase of growth in the online group travel market.

Stacy brings fifteen years of executive level experience to his new post at Groople, including successfully growing some of the leading brands in online travel. He most recently served as President of Cendant’s CheapTickets, where he led the site to profitability for the first time, making it the fastest growing online travel site in 2004.  Also at Cendant, Stacy served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Development for the company’s Retail Travel Services group.  He led the successful integration of Cheap Tickets into the Orbitz organization following Cendant’s acquisition of Orbitz.  Stacy also spent five years at then-startup Travelocity, including four years as Senior Vice President of Consumer Marketing.  Having built the Travelocity brand in U.S. and led its European launch, along with managing numerous site improvements to enhance Travelocity’s customer experience, Travel Agent magazine twice named him a Rising Star.

“Mike Stacy’s broad experience and proven successes in the online travel industry make him an invaluable asset in leading Groople into our next stage of development,” said Groople President and Founder David Loy. “Mike has helped build some of the industry’s largest brands, including our partner Travelocity, and we are excited for him to bring his vision and knowledge to Groople’s team of travel executives.”

“Groople has impressed me with the caliber of their product as well as their team, and I look forward to applying my experience to enhance the company’s presence in the marketplace and to encourage further fruitful partnerships with additional travel providers,” said Groople CEO Michael Stacy.

In addition to more than 60,000 hotels and six top cruise lines, Groople offers group bookings for air, car, bus and rail.  In February, Groople partnered with Travelocity, allowing broader distribution of Groople’s group rates and inventory on Travelocity.com when users select more than 5 hotel rooms.  The past year has also brought partnerships with Choice Hotels International, Cendant Hotels, Best Western and La Quinta Hotels, increasing Groople’s inventory and thus providing even more hotel options for groups booking through the Groople website and call center.

About Groople
Groople is the leader in online group travel, offering one-stop group booking on hotel, cruise, air, bus, and rail, and is backed by partnerships with the largest travel suppliers worldwide. Groople is group travel made easy, with more than 60,000 hotel choices worldwide and six top cruise lines brought together in an online group booking website. Groople offers discounted rates, individual payment options and creates a single point of contact for the group travel consumer. Groople’s customer sales center provides personal attention and offers group travel experts to advise leisure group travelers on weddings, family reunions, religious groups, sports teams, and more. Created by twenty travel industry veterans, Groople pioneered the online group travel space and continues to lead the group travel industry in technology, inventory and convenience.

 

New West.Net Wins Two National Online Journalism Awards

Missoula, MT –NewWest.Net, the innovative online publication about the Rocky Mountain West, has been named the winner of two prestigious Online Journalism Awards. 

NewWest.Net was the winner in the General Excellence category for small publications – a rare honor for an enterprise that has only been in operation for eight months. New West.Net also won the Enterprise Journalism award for small publications for Hal Herring’s gripping six-part series Sex, Money and Meth Addiction: Inside the World of the ‘Dasen Girls.’

“We’re thrilled to be recognized in this way, especially at such an early stage in our development,” said Jonathan Weber, founder and editor in chief of New West. “We’ve got an amazing group of contributors, and it’s their great writing and community engagement – and the tireless efforts of our managing editor, Courtney Lowery - that made this happen.”

The Online Journalism awards are sponsored by the Online News Association and USC’s Annenberg School of Communications, and the winners were announced Saturday night at the ONA’s annual conference on in New York. The General Excellence award had categories for large, medium and small publications, and the Enterprise Journalism award had categories for large and small publications. The New York Times Online took home three awards, including General Excellence in the large category. Slate magazine also won multiple awards at Saturday’s ceremony, and the Spokane Spokesman-Review was recognized for General Excellence among medium-sized sites.

NewWest.Net, which focuses on the culture and economy of the Rocky Mountain West, is pioneering a new form of interactive community publishing that invites a wide range of contributions from journalists and non-journalists alike. Launched in late February, NewWest.Net now has local sites in nine communities, including Missoula, Bozeman, Boulder, Aspen, Durango, Salt Lake City, Boise, Northern Idaho, and Albuquerque/ Santa Fe. It is currently reaching 40,000 readers a month and growing rapidly.

Targeted at the educated, engaged citizens of the Rocky Mountain West, NewWest.Net offers news and information on a range of topics including growth and public policy, the environment, business and the new economy, books, film, and events. Service offerings include free classified advertising and a free interactive community events calendar.

New West recently launched its Bozeman, Mont. node, and has also added an affiliate site in Washington’s Columbia Gorge area. It has developed partnerships with a number of non-profit organizations including Headwaters News and the Colorado College “State of the Rockies” team.

Advertising continues to grow in step with increasing readership. Chico Hot Springs Resort, PrintingforLess.com, Liquid Planet, Barney Jette Jewelry and O’Berry Cavanaugh are among New West.Net’s site sponsors and advertisers.

New West Publishing LLC, the Missoula-based parent company of NewWest.Net, was founded by Jonathan Weber. He was previously the co-founder and editor in chief of The Industry Standard, an award-winning newsweekly that chronicled the emergence of the Internet economy, and before that was a writer and editor at the Los Angeles Times. The company’s node editors and writers have a passion for the West and have published extensively in local and national publications. New West Publishing received seed funding from a prestigious group of angel investors that includes Brad Feld, a Boulder-based venture capitalist; Flywheel Ventures of Santa Fe; and Gary Loveman, the CEO of Harrah’s Entertainment.

Flywheel Ventures Closes $31 Million Venture Capital Fund

Santa Fe, NM – 29 June 2005 – Flywheel Ventures, a Southwest/Rockies-based early-stage venture capital firm, today announced the final close of its first institutional venture capital fund, Flywheel I, L.P. The $31 million fund, with 75% of committed capital from institutions, will invest in seed and early-stage information technology and physical sciences ventures located primarily in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. 

Participating investors include national foundations, university endowments, state governments, and prominent family offices including the Kauffman Foundation, New Mexico State Investment Council, the McCune Foundation, Hunt Holdings, the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation and the New Mexico State University Foundation.

Kauffman Foundation’s Chief Investment Officer, Dan Kingston, said, “We were attracted to the strong investing track record and broad operating experience of this emerging manager team.  The team’s combination of deep local roots, Silicon Valley connections and focused investment strategy offered a unique value proposition in a promising regional technology market.”

Flywheel I, L.P. represents a next-generation successor fund to Flywheel Capital, LLC, the firm’s 2002 angel fund with a similar investment focus and strategy. 

Flywheel I, L.P. will be managed by Trevor Loy, Founder and Managing Partner, General Partners Scott Caruso and Kim Sanchez Rael and Senior Associate Chris Traylor.  Collectively, the team has founded, managed, advised, invested or otherwise participated in the growth of 50 technology companies, including 12 companies in the Southwest / Rockies region.  The team is supported by a nationally-recognized Strategic Advisory Board chaired by Dr. Tom Byers of Stanford University and includes seasoned venture capitalists such as David Albin of Natural Gas Partners, Stewart Alsop of New Enterprise Associates, and Erik Straser of Mohr Davidow Ventures.

Trevor Loy, Flywheel’s Managing Partner said “We are very gratified by the strong institutional support for Flywheel I, L.P.  We believe that there is a significant early-stage funding gap relative to the rich technology and economic potential of the Southwest / Rockies region.  Our team will continue to leverage our on-the-ground presence and start-up experience with our Silicon Valley connections to build successful businesses.”

Flywheel I, L.P. expects to lead initial investments of $100K-$1M in entrepreneurs and ventures that use innovations in information technology or the physical sciences to ‘re-segment’ the delivery of products and services to existing vertical markets.  The Fund will invest in a total of 15-18 companies. To date, Flywheel I, L.P. has made three investments in its primary target region. 

—-

Founded in 1999, Flywheel Ventures (www.flywheelventures.com) is a Southwest/Rockies-based seed and early-stage venture capital firm focused on information technology and physical sciences ventures in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. The firm matches talented entrepreneurs with market opportunities where Flywheel’s capital, entrepreneurial experience and industry relationships help accelerate innovations into profitable companies.  Flywheel has offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Silicon Valley.

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