TVF Welcomes 12 StartUp Worcester Winners To incubate new businesses in Worcester, the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and its partners, The Venture Forum and Running Start, named 12 winners

of the first class of StartUp Worcester entrepreneurs on Thursday, May 7.

Selected from a pool of applicants from local colleges and universities, the 12 businesses include three digital game developers (see profile below), a real estate developer, a hydroponics company, a fashion blog/consultant, and technology companies focusing on city engagements, fitness and transportation. TVF volunteer and this year’s Five-Minute Pitch Contest organizer Aaron Birt is among those selected with his company YourScene.

Petricore Games Develop at New Level For Ryan Canuel, co-founder and CEO of Petricore Games, work is pretty sweet these days for his newly incorporated mobile games development company. Currently under contract to develop its first mobile app for a vascular surgeon,

the company’s first game, “Mind the Arrow,” is set for a summer release.

Although contract work pays the bills, Petricore’s main focus and passion is developing mobile games. Petricore was launched at the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (Mass DiGi), the statewide gaming and programming project hosted at Becker.

Looking ahead, Petricore intends to make a name for itself in Worcester and for the game-development industry as well. “There are a ton of outstanding game companies in and around the Cambridge-Boston area, but that doesn’t exist in Worcester,” Canuel said. “One of our goals is to foster a place where talented students can find internships and jobs.”

Past 5MP Winners See Progress In the final stages of finding funding and finalizing trials with a prototype in hand, the 2014 Five-Minute Pitch winner Sano LLC is close to launching its fast bedside chronic wound diagnostic, WoundDx™.

Co-founder Paul Hayre and the Sano team are pushing to close the first round of financing, start clinical trials at UMass Medical this summer, and submit preliminary FDA filings on its chronic wound diagnostic that quickly assesses wound biochemistry to help clinicians speed healing and reduce treatment costs.

With five renowned wound doctors on its advisory board, Sano expects earlier adoption in capitated environments and will file for a device-specific reimbursement code in parallel with regulatory clearance. With FDA feedback in

hand, prior to clearance, Sano will select a global wound care company to jointly market and launch WoundDx.

Elected the 2014 Audience Choice award winner, Drinkwell, which has a franchise model for local, low-cost production and sales of clean water in the developing world, was named a $100,000 diamond winner at the fifth-annual MassChallenge in Boston in October 2014 and has since won the South by Southwest Eco for-profit social impact award, the Gratitude Network health award, a US-India Science and Technology grant, and an Action for India Silicon Valley Challenge grant, among others. Co-founder Minhaj Chowdhury was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

Last’s year poster winner, AMProtection, won this year’s poster contest, too. The two wins bookmarked a year of progress, pitches and prospective customer research, thanks to several awards.

Co-founder Todd Alexander hopes to begin benchtop testing soon. He and co-founder Lindsay Lozeau initially believed that AMProtection’s novel titanium surface modification using antimicrobial peptides had natural applications to control orthopedic implant infections, but addressing the catheter market could present a better opportunity, he said. This would involve different chemistry and different challenges, however.

One reason for the shift is the intelligence they gained from visiting 86 prospective customers over six weeks last spring, thanks to an NSF I-Corps grant. Conversations with everyone from orthopedic surgeons, patients and healthcare providers to orthopedic device salespeople and R&D leaders, gave the researchers insights on the commercial potential of their innovation as they crisscrossed the US and attended a biofilm conference in the Netherlands.

AMProtection also received a VentureWell E-Team stage 1 $5,000 grant to further their innovation and attend a market validation workshop.

TVF Presenters Gain Traction, FundingPast Five Minute Pitch contestant and one-minute pitch presenter Freight Farms received $3.7 in venture funding in December 2014 in a round led by Spark Capital. With the funds, the company launched its latest version of the hydroponic-farm-in-a-box — the Leafy Green Machine — in a wifi-enabled recycled shipping container. The company also moved into new South Boston offices in April.

LearnLux, whose founder Rebecca Liebman gave a one-minute pitch at the November 2014 TVF meeting, was named a global finalist for the Challenge Festival in Washington, D.C. in May 2015 and received the $10,000 audience choice award. Her company’s online tools offer millennial employees the personal finance education they need.

Inspiring Innovative Entrepreneurswww.theventureforum.org

Summer 2015

A “smart pancreas” producer that automates glucose and insulin delivery to hospitalized diabetic patients, Admetsys won both the $2,500 first prize and the $1,000 audience choice award at The Venture Forum’s ninth annual Five-Minute Pitch Contest on April 14.

Rapidly absorbent sutures company VitaThreads, LLC took the $1,500 second prize, and Articulate Labs won special mention from the judges for its successful orthopedic device that speeds recovery from knee surgery. AMProtection, which has developed an antimicrobial surface treatment for orthopedic implants, won the $500 poster session prize for the second year in a row.

Admetsys CEO Jeff Valk founded the Boston-based company seven years ago with his father, endocrinologist and chief scientist, Tim Valk. They expect to improve healthcare economics by addressing the nation’s dia-betic epidemic, where more than one in five health-care dollars is spent annually. Since their April win, Admetsys has completed the first phase of production engineering, scheduled clinical trials at the University of Michigan, and been named a Top Company at the Digital Health Venture Fourm in Denmark and a Top 100 Company in the challengeUp! IoT Accelerator.

VitaThreads grew from the work of two WPI biomedical engineering professors on a microthread device developed from fibrin, the body’s own wound healing

matrix. President and CEO Adam Colette, PhD, showed the 5MP audience the first prototype of the dissolvable suture material, noting that the company’s first market would be aesthetic surgeons with customers seeking less costly procedures and fewer complications with post-surgical sutures. They have received a Phase 1 SBIR grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

AMProtection returned to win the poster award for its description of a tethered antimicrobial peptide it has developed for orthopedic implants, such as a hip replacement. Co-founders Todd Alexander and Lindsay Lozeau seek to improve patient outcomes by reducing infection stemming from orthopedic surgery (see update article on page 4).

Grants, IP Strategy, Sales and Market-Driven R&DOther topics covered during TVF meetings in the second half of the season were grant funding, as seen from both sides of the application, IP strategic counsel from the trenches, a panel on how R&D shapes a company’s go-to-market strategy, and making initial sales with sales and marketing plans. At every meeting, seasoned leaders shared their wisdom with practical advice.

[continued on p.2]

AdvantageThe Venture Forum

Notable Speakers, New Networking in 2015

A big check helps judges celebrate with Five Minute Pitch winner Admetsys.

TVF Executive CommitteeChair Joe VignalyVice Chair Phil CyrTreasurer Richard F. PowellProgram Chair Rosemarie BoulangerMarketing Chair Ed LearyMembership Chair Robin PalermoSponsorship Chair Dick PrinceSponsors WPI Robert A. Foisie School of Business business.wpi.edu

Bowditch & Dewey LLP bowditch.com

Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli grkb.com

Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds hbsr.com

Mirick O’Connell, LLP mirickoconnell.com

FletcherTilton fletchertilton.com

Mass Ventures mass-ventures.com

Boynton Angels boyntonangels.com

Gesmer Updegrove LLP gesmer.com

Dingman, McInnes & McLane LLP dmmiplaw.com

Davideo Company davideocompany.com

Commonwealth Consulting Group, LLC commonwealthcgllc.com

Media Partner

Worcester Business Journal

www.theventureforum.org innovation@theventureforum.org

The Venture Forum c/o Greenberg, Rosenblatt,

Kull & Bitsoli 306 Main St., Suite 400

Worcester, MA 01615-0034

Leading Technologies Headline Fall Events

When you attend a meeting of The Venture Forum this fall, expect to find a new focus. We will look at

technology-driven industries in Massachusetts enjoying impressive growth — game development and robotics — as well as examine a few disruptive technologies — 3D printing and yes, robotics. Every meeting offers leading speakers in their fields, plus expert advice for innovative businesses willing to serve as case studies. We believe there’s much to learn from the experiences of other entrepreneurs.

Regardless of your focus, TVF offers regional contacts and connections to the expertise and resources you need to build and grow your business. Volunteer with our organization and you can strengthen your network, building relationships as you work together to develop programs and extend the organization’s marketing reach.

Ready for a fresh start? Email me at joe.vignaly@gmail.com and we’ll focus on connecting you to the best TVF has to offer.

Joe Vignaly Chair, The Venture Forum

Answers to questions we regularly hear from prospective clients offer

a useful way to understand the value video can bring to your business’ bottom line.

“Why should I consider using video as part of my marketing strategy?”

Because it works. Consider these highlights from DigitalSherpa research:

• Videos increase people’s understanding of your product or service by 74 percent

• Click-through rates increase 2 to 3 times when marketers include a video in an email

• 80 percent of your online visitors will watch a video, while only 20 percent will actually read content in its entirety

With a video, people can see what your product does and watch your service performed. Rather than having to read a written description, they’ll pay closer attention and retain more of the content. This holds true whether the content is about a product, a service, or a process.

Remember that Google searches tend to rank websites with video higher than sites that don’t feature video. In fact, after Google, You Tube itself is the world’s second most used search engine. Once prospects find you there, however, be sure to have a strategy in place to direct them to your website.

“Can I save money by shooting my own video with a smartphone?”

Yes, you can. You can also save money by doing your own dental work with a mirror and a pair of pliers! Experts produce the quality that generates results. While many smartphones are capable of recording high-quality video, virtually all of the good-looking videos you may have seen that were “shot on smartphones” have also involved a substantial behind-the-scenes crew utilizing additional lighting, professional microphones, tripods and other camera stabilizers. In addition, most benefit from the services of skilled scriptwriters, editors, and graphic artists.

“What kind of video should I post on my website?”

People go to the Internet for information, and spend more time watching videos with useful information and advice rather than obvious sales pitches. Post some video tips on what to look for when shopping for your product or service, or short how-to videos for simple procedures. Another video might help consumers recognize a situation in which it would be better to call in a professional.

You should also put video testimonials from your best customers on your website and in email newsletters. Remember that testimonials have to be genuine, from real consumers the viewer can relate to — people who faced the same choices the viewer faces now, and who can explain

in simple language why they were happy with your product or service. Select different customers to make different points: one can tell how you saved them money by doing the job right the first time, another can mention how you solved a specific problem, and so forth.

Just remember: multiple short videos are better than one long one that tries to be all things to all people. If your product has multiple applications, consider a short video for each of those applications. Multiple audiences? Tailor your videos for each one.

“How can video provide internal benefits for my business?”

Customers and prospects are key targets of course, but you need to communicate effectively with your employees, too. One-on-one, in-person, live training may be effective but can be very inefficient. Need to orient new employees on a regular basis? Want to teach your technicians how to install and service that new item in your line? Show them how to do it with a video. You know a video can’t really clone you, but it can clone your presentation.

Source: http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/25-amazing-video-marketing-statistics/

Done Right, Video Can Boost Your Business

by Peter Stassa, Executive Producer, Davideo Company

Peter Stassa is Executive Producer of Davideo Company in Framingham, MA. For more information, visit www.DavideoCompany.com or contact Peter at 508-877-0065 or via email at peter@davideocompany.com.

Sales expert John Petrella of Kurlan Associates (left) and marketing guru Jim Pouliopoulos from Bentley University offer some real-world advice to Paul Lasko on how he could improve sales for Save Energy Systems with greater post-sale customer contact and expert positioning on energy savings at the June TVF meeting.

February’s meeting was a networking night with VentureMeets at Worcester’s Compass Tavern.

[continued from p.1]

Preview of upcoming meetings:

September 8, 2015 Making the Digital Physical: Industrial, Biomedical, Consumer

October 13, 2015 Gamify Your Way to Customer Engagement

November 10, 2015 Robotics: What’s Next?

TVF Executive CommitteeChair Joe VignalyVice Chair Phil CyrTreasurer Richard F. PowellProgram Chair Rosemarie BoulangerMarketing Chair Ed LearyMembership Chair Robin PalermoSponsorship Chair Dick PrinceSponsors WPI Robert A. Foisie School of Business business.wpi.edu

Bowditch & Dewey LLP bowditch.com

Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli grkb.com

Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds hbsr.com

Mirick O’Connell, LLP mirickoconnell.com

FletcherTilton fletchertilton.com

Mass Ventures mass-ventures.com

Boynton Angels boyntonangels.com

Gesmer Updegrove LLP gesmer.com

Dingman, McInnes & McLane LLP dmmiplaw.com

Davideo Company davideocompany.com

Commonwealth Consulting Group, LLC commonwealthcgllc.com

Media Partner

Worcester Business Journal

www.theventureforum.org innovation@theventureforum.org

The Venture Forum c/o Greenberg, Rosenblatt,

Kull & Bitsoli 306 Main St., Suite 400

Worcester, MA 01615-0034

Leading Technologies Headline Fall Events

When you attend a meeting of The Venture Forum this fall, expect to find a new focus. We will look at

technology-driven industries in Massachusetts enjoying impressive growth — game development and robotics — as well as examine a few disruptive technologies — 3D printing and yes, robotics. Every meeting offers leading speakers in their fields, plus expert advice for innovative businesses willing to serve as case studies. We believe there’s much to learn from the experiences of other entrepreneurs.

Regardless of your focus, TVF offers regional contacts and connections to the expertise and resources you need to build and grow your business. Volunteer with our organization and you can strengthen your network, building relationships as you work together to develop programs and extend the organization’s marketing reach.

Ready for a fresh start? Email me at joe.vignaly@gmail.com and we’ll focus on connecting you to the best TVF has to offer.

Joe Vignaly Chair, The Venture Forum

Answers to questions we regularly hear from prospective clients offer

a useful way to understand the value video can bring to your business’ bottom line.

“Why should I consider using video as part of my marketing strategy?”

Because it works. Consider these highlights from DigitalSherpa research:

• Videos increase people’s understanding of your product or service by 74 percent

• Click-through rates increase 2 to 3 times when marketers include a video in an email

• 80 percent of your online visitors will watch a video, while only 20 percent will actually read content in its entirety

With a video, people can see what your product does and watch your service performed. Rather than having to read a written description, they’ll pay closer attention and retain more of the content. This holds true whether the content is about a product, a service, or a process.

Remember that Google searches tend to rank websites with video higher than sites that don’t feature video. In fact, after Google, You Tube itself is the world’s second most used search engine. Once prospects find you there, however, be sure to have a strategy in place to direct them to your website.

“Can I save money by shooting my own video with a smartphone?”

Yes, you can. You can also save money by doing your own dental work with a mirror and a pair of pliers! Experts produce the quality that generates results. While many smartphones are capable of recording high-quality video, virtually all of the good-looking videos you may have seen that were “shot on smartphones” have also involved a substantial behind-the-scenes crew utilizing additional lighting, professional microphones, tripods and other camera stabilizers. In addition, most benefit from the services of skilled scriptwriters, editors, and graphic artists.

“What kind of video should I post on my website?”

People go to the Internet for information, and spend more time watching videos with useful information and advice rather than obvious sales pitches. Post some video tips on what to look for when shopping for your product or service, or short how-to videos for simple procedures. Another video might help consumers recognize a situation in which it would be better to call in a professional.

You should also put video testimonials from your best customers on your website and in email newsletters. Remember that testimonials have to be genuine, from real consumers the viewer can relate to — people who faced the same choices the viewer faces now, and who can explain

in simple language why they were happy with your product or service. Select different customers to make different points: one can tell how you saved them money by doing the job right the first time, another can mention how you solved a specific problem, and so forth.

Just remember: multiple short videos are better than one long one that tries to be all things to all people. If your product has multiple applications, consider a short video for each of those applications. Multiple audiences? Tailor your videos for each one.

“How can video provide internal benefits for my business?”

Customers and prospects are key targets of course, but you need to communicate effectively with your employees, too. One-on-one, in-person, live training may be effective but can be very inefficient. Need to orient new employees on a regular basis? Want to teach your technicians how to install and service that new item in your line? Show them how to do it with a video. You know a video can’t really clone you, but it can clone your presentation.

Source: http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/25-amazing-video-marketing-statistics/

Done Right, Video Can Boost Your Business

by Peter Stassa, Executive Producer, Davideo Company

Peter Stassa is Executive Producer of Davideo Company in Framingham, MA. For more information, visit www.DavideoCompany.com or contact Peter at 508-877-0065 or via email at peter@davideocompany.com.

Sales expert John Petrella of Kurlan Associates (left) and marketing guru Jim Pouliopoulos from Bentley University offer some real-world advice to Paul Lasko on how he could improve sales for Save Energy Systems with greater post-sale customer contact and expert positioning on energy savings at the June TVF meeting.

February’s meeting was a networking night with VentureMeets at Worcester’s Compass Tavern.

[continued from p.1]

Preview of upcoming meetings:

September 8, 2015 Making the Digital Physical: Industrial, Biomedical, Consumer

October 13, 2015 Gamify Your Way to Customer Engagement

November 10, 2015 Robotics: What’s Next?

TVF Welcomes 12 StartUp Worcester Winners To incubate new businesses in Worcester, the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and its partners, The Venture Forum and Running Start, named 12 winners

of the first class of StartUp Worcester entrepreneurs on Thursday, May 7.

Selected from a pool of applicants from local colleges and universities, the 12 businesses include three digital game developers (see profile below), a real estate developer, a hydroponics company, a fashion blog/consultant, and technology companies focusing on city engagements, fitness and transportation. TVF volunteer and this year’s Five-Minute Pitch Contest organizer Aaron Birt is among those selected with his company YourScene.

Petricore Games Develop at New Level For Ryan Canuel, co-founder and CEO of Petricore Games, work is pretty sweet these days for his newly incorporated mobile games development company. Currently under contract to develop its first mobile app for a vascular surgeon,

the company’s first game, “Mind the Arrow,” is set for a summer release.

Although contract work pays the bills, Petricore’s main focus and passion is developing mobile games. Petricore was launched at the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (Mass DiGi), the statewide gaming and programming project hosted at Becker.

Looking ahead, Petricore intends to make a name for itself in Worcester and for the game-development industry as well. “There are a ton of outstanding game companies in and around the Cambridge-Boston area, but that doesn’t exist in Worcester,” Canuel said. “One of our goals is to foster a place where talented students can find internships and jobs.”

Past 5MP Winners See Progress In the final stages of finding funding and finalizing trials with a prototype in hand, the 2014 Five-Minute Pitch winner Sano LLC is close to launching its fast bedside chronic wound diagnostic, WoundDx™.

Co-founder Paul Hayre and the Sano team are pushing to close the first round of financing, start clinical trials at UMass Medical this summer, and submit preliminary FDA filings on its chronic wound diagnostic that quickly assesses wound biochemistry to help clinicians speed healing and reduce treatment costs.

With five renowned wound doctors on its advisory board, Sano expects earlier adoption in capitated environments and will file for a device-specific reimbursement code in parallel with regulatory clearance. With FDA feedback in

hand, prior to clearance, Sano will select a global wound care company to jointly market and launch WoundDx.

Elected the 2014 Audience Choice award winner, Drinkwell, which has a franchise model for local, low-cost production and sales of clean water in the developing world, was named a $100,000 diamond winner at the fifth-annual MassChallenge in Boston in October 2014 and has since won the South by Southwest Eco for-profit social impact award, the Gratitude Network health award, a US-India Science and Technology grant, and an Action for India Silicon Valley Challenge grant, among others. Co-founder Minhaj Chowdhury was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

Last’s year poster winner, AMProtection, won this year’s poster contest, too. The two wins bookmarked a year of progress, pitches and prospective customer research, thanks to several awards.

Co-founder Todd Alexander hopes to begin benchtop testing soon. He and co-founder Lindsay Lozeau initially believed that AMProtection’s novel titanium surface modification using antimicrobial peptides had natural applications to control orthopedic implant infections, but addressing the catheter market could present a better opportunity, he said. This would involve different chemistry and different challenges, however.

One reason for the shift is the intelligence they gained from visiting 86 prospective customers over six weeks last spring, thanks to an NSF I-Corps grant. Conversations with everyone from orthopedic surgeons, patients and healthcare providers to orthopedic device salespeople and R&D leaders, gave the researchers insights on the commercial potential of their innovation as they crisscrossed the US and attended a biofilm conference in the Netherlands.

AMProtection also received a VentureWell E-Team stage 1 $5,000 grant to further their innovation and attend a market validation workshop.

TVF Presenters Gain Traction, FundingPast Five Minute Pitch contestant and one-minute pitch presenter Freight Farms received $3.7 in venture funding in December 2014 in a round led by Spark Capital. With the funds, the company launched its latest version of the hydroponic-farm-in-a-box — the Leafy Green Machine — in a wifi-enabled recycled shipping container. The company also moved into new South Boston offices in April.

LearnLux, whose founder Rebecca Liebman gave a one-minute pitch at the November 2014 TVF meeting, was named a global finalist for the Challenge Festival in Washington, D.C. in May 2015 and received the $10,000 audience choice award. Her company’s online tools offer millennial employees the personal finance education they need.

Inspiring Innovative Entrepreneurswww.theventureforum.org

Summer 2015

A “smart pancreas” producer that automates glucose and insulin delivery to hospitalized diabetic patients, Admetsys won both the $2,500 first prize and the $1,000 audience choice award at The Venture Forum’s ninth annual Five-Minute Pitch Contest on April 14.

Rapidly absorbent sutures company VitaThreads, LLC took the $1,500 second prize, and Articulate Labs won special mention from the judges for its successful orthopedic device that speeds recovery from knee surgery. AMProtection, which has developed an antimicrobial surface treatment for orthopedic implants, won the $500 poster session prize for the second year in a row.

Admetsys CEO Jeff Valk founded the Boston-based company seven years ago with his father, endocrinologist and chief scientist, Tim Valk. They expect to improve healthcare economics by addressing the nation’s dia-betic epidemic, where more than one in five health-care dollars is spent annually. Since their April win, Admetsys has completed the first phase of production engineering, scheduled clinical trials at the University of Michigan, and been named a Top Company at the Digital Health Venture Fourm in Denmark and a Top 100 Company in the challengeUp! IoT Accelerator.

VitaThreads grew from the work of two WPI biomedical engineering professors on a microthread device developed from fibrin, the body’s own wound healing

matrix. President and CEO Adam Colette, PhD, showed the 5MP audience the first prototype of the dissolvable suture material, noting that the company’s first market would be aesthetic surgeons with customers seeking less costly procedures and fewer complications with post-surgical sutures. They have received a Phase 1 SBIR grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

AMProtection returned to win the poster award for its description of a tethered antimicrobial peptide it has developed for orthopedic implants, such as a hip replacement. Co-founders Todd Alexander and Lindsay Lozeau seek to improve patient outcomes by reducing infection stemming from orthopedic surgery (see update article on page 4).

Grants, IP Strategy, Sales and Market-Driven R&DOther topics covered during TVF meetings in the second half of the season were grant funding, as seen from both sides of the application, IP strategic counsel from the trenches, a panel on how R&D shapes a company’s go-to-market strategy, and making initial sales with sales and marketing plans. At every meeting, seasoned leaders shared their wisdom with practical advice.

[continued on p.2]

AdvantageThe Venture Forum

Notable Speakers, New Networking in 2015

A big check helps judges celebrate with Five Minute Pitch winner Admetsys.