04-12-13 UCAN in UBJ – Sources of Capital for Entrepreneurs

03-08-2013 UBJ – UCAN – 3 New Investments

Check out some insights on entrepreneurship and early stage capital in South Carolina from a recent presentation to the Piedmont Economics Club by our Managing Director, Matt Dunbar.

02-08-13 UBJ – UCAN – Friendly Neighborhood Butcher Shoppe

01-11-13 UCAN in UBJ – Supporting High Growth Small Businesses

Contact: Matt Dunbar 864-751-4805

Upstate Carolina Angel Network (UCAN) Funds Cirtemo

Multivariate Optical Element Innovator Announces Initial Close on Series A Funding Round

Greenville, S.C. – Dec. 17, 2012 – Multivariate Optical Element innovator Cirtemo today announced the initial close of its Series A funding round. The S.C.-based Upstate Carolina Angel Network led the financing that also included additional private investors. Proceeds from the initial financing will be used to hire key technical personnel and to support ongoing sales and marketing activities.

Cirtemo designs and manufactures patented optical filters, called Multivariate Optical Elements, which are encoded to detect or measure complex chemical compounds and attributes. Its patented Multivariate Optical Element platform enables optical systems to perform high value detection and analysis at the speed of light, to a variety of industries, including life sciences, chemicals, medical devices, agriculture, food and beverage, pet nutrition, environmental, plastics, semi-conductor and multiple cleantech applications.

“Most people do not realize that optical filters – which are embedded in to optical systems – are everywhere,” said Jason Williamson, Cirtemo founder. “From breathalyzers and industrial sensors to medicals devices and onboard fuel analyzers for automobiles and aircrafts, optical filters are used in a variety of industries that touch our lives every day. Our patented Multivariate Optical Element platform enables almost any optical systems to detect and/or measure chemical compounds that are not possible with traditional optical filters and coatings while also improving overall system performances”

“We are excited to add Cirtemo to the UCAN portfolio” said Matt Dunbar, managing director of UCAN. “Cirtemo has a very strong intellectual property portfolio of over 40 patents. The company is addressing large, growing, global markets and most importantly, has a strong management team with a proven track record of successfully commercializing the Multivariate Optical Element platform.”

Cirtemo is primarily partnering with Optical Filter Manufacturers (OFMs) and Optical Component and System Manufacturers (OCSMs). The Multivariate Optical Element platform allows OFMs and OCSMs to differentiate their offerings with a well-protected IP position and enable their customers to tackle new applications that are not possible with traditional optical filters and coatings.  Cirtemo is also engaged with key collaborators who are working to develop Multivariate Optical Element based systems for companion and clinical diagnostics, hyper-spectral imaging, medical devices, industrial and other high value applications.

Cirtemo is the second company to be founded to commercialize the patented Multivariate Optical Element platform that was discovered by Dr. Michael Myrick at the University of South Carolina. Prior to founding Cirtemo, Williamson founded Ometric in 2005. Ometric successfully commercialized the Multivariate Optical Element platform in a wide variety of large industrial sectors, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, pet nutrition, mining, food and many others. The company was sold to Halliburton in 2011. Although the exact sale price of Ometric is considered confidential, Halliburton paid over eight figures ($XXM) for the company, and the transaction generated the largest royalty payment in history ever paid to the University of South Carolina ($2.4M).

About Cirtemo

Cirtemo designs and manufactures patented optical filters, called Multivariate Optical Elements, which are encoded to detect/measure complex chemical compounds and attributes.  Cirtemo’s patented Multivariate Optical Element platform enables optical systems to perform high value detection and analysis at the speed of light, to a variety of industries, including life sciences, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, medical devices, agriculture, food and beverage, pet nutrition, environmental, plastics, and multiple cleantech applications. For more information, visit www.cirtemo.com or call 803-467-4189

About UCAN

The Upstate Carolina Angel Network, LLC (UCAN) is a group of accredited investors located in Upstate South Carolina who invest in and support start-up and early-stage, high-growth businesses in the Southeastern United States. Our members possess a broad array of business experiences and skills they bring to bear in helping to screen and evaluate potential portfolio companies. They also serve as a valuable resource for guidance and advice to entrepreneurs and their businesses once an investment is made. Since its inception in 2008, UCAN has invested $6.5M in 24 companies. For more information, visit www.upstateangels.com

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12-14-12 UCAN in UBJ – Get to Know Some Local Angels

http://www.gsatc.org/2012/11/28/the-upstate-carolina-angel-network-what-theyre-investing-in-how-to-engage-them/

Greenville, SC – The Upstate Carolina Angel Network (UCAN) has completed six investments in the first half of 2012, bringing the group’s total to $5.6 million invested in 22 companies since its inception in 2008.

UCAN is a network of individual investors from across the Upstate who support start-up and early-stage, high-growth businesses with their intellectual and financial capital. Thus far in 2012, the group has invested nearly $500,000 in three Upstate firms: KIYATEC, American Titanium Works and Lab 21. Additional investments this year include two companies in Georgia (Verdeeco, Airo Wireless) and one in North Carolina (Virtual Race Bags).

KIYATEC is a Greenville-based medical technology company developing 3D cell culture tools and cell-based assays for the pharmaceutical, biomedical and life science industries. The technology was developed at Clemson University, and the company occupies space in the ITOR facilities at the Greenville Hospital System. UCAN co-invested in KIYATEC with SC Launch, Nexus Medical Partners and other local investors.

American Titanium Works is the company working to bring a world-class titanium mini-mill to Laurens County. The project was stalled as capital markets tightened during the recession, but UCAN worked with SC Launch and other local investors to provide bridge financing for the company as it prepares to re-enter the capital markets to secure funding for the plant. Although the investment is atypical for an angel group, UCAN members understood the potential impact of the project on the Upstate and came together to help the company move forward – similar to the group’s work last year with SC Launch to secure critical bridge financing for Proterra.

Lab 21 is the medical diagnostics company located in the NEXT Innovation Center that brought its North American headquarters to Greenville when it acquired local startup Selah Technologies. UCAN and SC Launch previously invested in both Selah Technologies and Lab 21.

UCAN’s other investments in 2012 span several industries. Virtual Race Bags is a Charlotte-based company providing a digital marketing platform to organizers of endurance events. Verdeeco is an Atlanta company working at the intersection of the smart-grid and big data trends, developing applications for utilities to analyze massive volumes of data generated by new smart-grid assets. Airo Wireless, also in Atlanta, is bringing to market the first ruggedized, feature-rich, intrinsically-safe smart phone.

Across UCAN’s portfolio, two thirds of the companies that have received investment are located in South Carolina, and over 75% of the dollars invested have remained in state. Companies in the portfolio have created more than 150 jobs, underscoring recent Kauffman Foundation research that shows all net new job growth in the United States over the last 30 years has come from startup companies.

In addition to helping fill a critical gap in the local landscape for early stage capital, UCAN works to educate investors and entrepreneurs about the early stage investment process. The group is currently seeking interested investors and affiliates to help it support the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Upstate and across South Carolina.

For additional information about membership or sponsorship opportunities, please contact:
Matt Dunbar, Managing Director
Upstate Carolina Angel Network
www.upstateangels.org
matt@upstateangels.org
(864) 751-4805
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Greenville, SC – May 23, 2012 – KIYATEC Inc. today announced the initial close of its Series A funding
round. The financing was led by institutional investor Nexus Medical and Technology Capital (Greenville,
SC and Quincy, MA) and Greenville, SC based Upstate Carolina Angel Network, and included additional
private investors. Contingent with this close, SC Launch and other debt investors now have equity
positions in the company. Proceeds from the initial financing will be used to advance two 3D cell?based
assays for more predictive evaluation of cancer efficacy and certain kinds of liver toxicity for drug and
biologic candidates.

“Pharmaceutical and biotech companies will soon benefit from KIYATEC’s ability to incorporate
perfusion and segregated co?culture into in vitro models, and the resulting increase in sensitivity and
predictive capability.” said Matt Gevaert, the company’s CEO. “The ability to detect a compound that
would otherwise fail in clinical trials, before it is used in humans or tested in animals, yields huge
benefits. Patients and doctors can focus more precious time and energy on future winners, resulting in
significant cost reductions for both the industry and our health care system. Data confirms that perfused
3D co?cultures are superior in vitro models – the additional complexity makes them more like our bodies
– but prior to our 3DKUBE™ platform, this type of experiment was not convenient or cost effective.”

KIYATEC has already brought its 3DKUBE™ to market and is experiencing initial buy?in from the relevant
research community. It offers a complete disposable “flow circuit” – all the components necessary for a
perfused 3D co?culture experiment – for less than $30. The company’s contract service arm also
currently provides cell?based testing services to medical device companies looking for more relevant
characterization of cell?material interactions for regulatory applications, quality control or product
development. The extension of KIYATEC’s contract services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies
for preclinical evaluation of drugs and biologics builds on these existing activities.

“We are excited to invest in the team at KIYATEC,” said Gregory Zaic of Nexus. “We have been following
their progress for some time and, based on the company’s achievements, we felt that the time was
right. We hope that our financial support and access to Nexus’s relationships in the US and in Europe
will contribute to their future success.”

“The SCRA Technology Ventures’ SC Launch program congratulates Matt and the entire team at KIYATEC
for their recent investment funding,” said SCRA CEO Bill Mahoney. “Our program has mentored and
helped connect the company throughout its early to mid?stage development over the past four years.
We are moving forward to convert our all of our investment in KIYATEC into a meaningful equity
position. We are delighted to have an ongoing relationship with KIYATEC and look forward to their
continued success.”

About KIYATEC
www.kiyatec.com
KIYATEC Inc. is a life sciences company enabling better in vitro models of complex human biology
through perfused 3D cell?based assays and enabling products. Its 3DKUBE™ technology platform
conveniently and cost effectively incorporates perfusion flow, accommodates all scaffold materials,
allows in situ imaging, models complex human biology using segregated cell co?culture, and is a singleuse
disposable. 3DKUBE cell?based assays leverage these features to create better in vitro prediction of
complex biochemical responses in humans, with a focus on evaluation of drug toxicity and efficacy prior
to use in human clinical trials.
Discover. Develop. Diagnose.™ KIYATEC 3D Cell Culture Delivers.

About Nexus Medical & Technology Capital (NMT Capital)
http://www.nmtcapital.com
Nexus is a leading private equity firm focused on emerging medical companies in North America and
Europe. KIYATEC is Nexus’s 11th investment in South Carolina. Other SC?based investments include Lab
21, Zipit Wireless, Spectra Analysis and Sabal Medical. Nexus has offices in Quincy, Massachusetts and
Greenville, South Carolina.

About SCRA
http://www.scra.org/
SCRA is an applied research corporation with over 29 years of experience delivering technology solutions
with high returns on investment to federal and corporate clients. To fulfill our mission, SCRA has three
sectors: Our Technology Ventures sector helps early?stage companies to commercialize innovations and
create jobs, our Applied R&D sector manages over 100 national and international programs worth over
$1.5 billion in contract value and our R&D Facilities sector builds and manages research facilities that
include wet labs, secure rooms for sensitive work and advanced high?tech manufacturing shops.
Multiple economic impact studies show SCRA’s cumulative impact on South Carolina’s economy to be
over $14 billion.

About UCAN
www.upstateangels.com
The Upstate Carolina Angel Network, LLC (UCAN) is a group of accredited investors located in Upstate South Carolina who invest in and support start-up and early-stage, high-growth businesses in the Southeastern United States.  Our members possess a broad array of business experiences and skills they bring to bear in helping to screen and evaluate potential portfolio companies.   They also serve as a valuable resource for guidance and advice to entrepreneurs and their businesses once an investment is made.   Since its inception in 2008, UCAN has invested $5.6 million in 22 companies.