Four SC Launch® Portfolio Companies Recognized at InnoVision Technology Awards
December 5, 2008
CHARLESTON, SC – December 5, 2008 – SCRA, a global leader in applied research and commercialization services, announced today that four SC Launch Portfolio Companies were honored at the InnoVision Technology Awards last week. Entering its 10th year of collaboration, InnoVision held an awards dinner in Greenville to celebrate business achievements in innovation, leadership and technological excellence in the South Carolina Upstate region. The following SC Launch Portfolio companies were honored:
- CreatiVasc Medical, winner in the Small Enterprise category;
- Innegrity LLC, winner in the Technology Application category;
- Zipit Wireless, winner in the Technology Development category;
- Invenca LLC, finalist in the Small Enterprise category.
“We are pleased that we are able to support SC Launch and SC Launch companies by honoring these companies and highlighting their innovative technical contributions to the knowledge based economy of South Carolina” said Douglas Kim, Chairman of InnoVision and attorney with McNair Law Firm, P.A., the Presenting Sponsor.
“CreatiVasc is honored to be selected as a 2008 InnoVision winner for our FistulaFinder® device, which is already demonstrating its ability to improve the quality of life of dialysis patients around the country,” said Steve Johnson, CreatiVasc President and CEO. CreatiVasc recently formed a relationship with Henry Schein® for both local and global distribution of the FistulaFinder to the dialysis market. Henry Schein is the largest distributor of health care products in the US and European markets. CreatiVasc’s InnoVision award is the third for the company. The company’s founder, Dr. David Cull, received an award in 2005. Johnson was honored in 1999 with a Technology Development award at the first InnoVision ceremony.
“Zipit is honored to have received Innovision’s Technology Development Award for 2008. It is especially gratifying considering the other fine nominees in this category. As we work to identify new strategic partners and expand the Zipit product portfolio, this award provides further validation of our company’s unique technology and our ability to design and produce cutting-edge connected devices. Zipit is grateful that Innovision recognizes the technical achievements made here in the Upstate.”
“We were extraordinarily pleased that the Innovision Awards Judging Committee chose to recognize the value of using our fiber to protect human life in ballistic protection applications,” said Brian Morin, Innegrity CEO. “It is an honor to be included among their winners again.”
Elizabeth Cates, Ph.D., Invenca Chief Technology Officer said, “As a little start-up company — less than a year old, it was an honor to be considered as a finalist in the InnoVision awards. Invenca’s technology for chemical separation and purification is in its infancy, so I expect to have an even more exciting story to tell in the future.” Cates said that “one of the delightful side benefits of the InnoVision Awards is the creation of an entrepreneurial community in the Upstate, where entrepreneurs can learn from each other and draw on local talent to fill business development needs. The recognition of Ms. Robichaud’s work to launch the InnoVision program was well deserved.”
“We are so pleased to be associated with the companies who have been recognized by InnoVision this year,” said Bill Mahoney, SCRA CEO. “Their entrepreneurial successes demonstrate the tangible results that come from supporting and facilitating knowledge-based businesses in South Carolina.”
The InnoVision awards provide an opportunity for high visibility and exposure amid the Upstate business community. Finalists are celebrated at a Finalists Reception in September and are featured in videos at the November InnoVision Technology Awards Dinner, where winners are announced. For a complete list of winners, click here.
The InnoVision Technology Forum Series offers an avenue for keeping abreast of leading-edge technology advances in the Upstate. Past InnoVision Award finalists and winners, as well as other leaders in innovation and technology, make presentations and lead discussions about cogent topics.
About SCRA (http://www.scra.org/)
SCRA is a global leader in applied research and commercialization services with offices in Anderson, Charleston and Columbia. SCRA collaborates to advance technology. SCRA provides technology-based solutions with assured outcomes on behalf of industry, government, and research universities like Clemson University, the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina.
About SC Launch (http://www.sclaunch.org/)
SC Launch, an SCRA collaboration, assists entrepreneurial start-up companies with up-front counseling, seed-funding, and access to a powerful resource network. The SC Launch mission is to help generate knowledge economy jobs in South Carolina, enhance the state’s quality of life and provide opportunity for all South Carolinians in the new economy. For more information please visit www.sclaunch.org.
SC Launch! is a trademark of SC Launch!, Inc. SCRA is a registered trademark of SCRA.
About INNOVISION Technology Awards
INNOVISION and its awards program is a leader in driving South Carolina’s new economy. Its mission is to honor and highlight organizations and individuals that develop or apply technological innovation and to advance technical collaboration and innovation among organizations and individuals. For a list of the InnoVision advisory board, click here. Sponsors of the November 19 event were Presenting Sponsor McNair Law Firm, Techtronic Industries North America, Fuji Photo Film, Inc., The Arthur M. Spiro Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Clemson University, Spirit Telecom, SC Launch, and RIO Technical Consulting and Founding Sponsor Deloitte.
