Triathlon Medical Ventures and Affinity Capital Management are launching a $10 million venture fund that will make seed investments in biotech, medical device and other life-sciences startups.

The fund will primarily target Minnesota-based companies, making initial investments of between $250,000 and $500,000 in each startup. Triathlon, a venture firm with about $100 million in capital under management, is based in Cincinnati but has set up regional venture funds in the past. George Emont, managing partner for Triathlon’s Kenutcky Seed Fund, approached Affinity about starting a Minnesota fund, partly because the state is home to promising biotech startups that struggle to secure funding.

“We’ve seen some very good deal flow in Minnesota. But one of the things we’ve noticed is that, while there’s a lot of support from angel [investor] groups, especially for [medical] device firms, there’s not that support in the biotech area,” he said.

Emont declined to say how far along Triathlon is in the fundraising process.

Matt Rogers of the Department of Energy discusses how $36.7 billion from the Recovery Act is helping to define the future of green power--and the agency itself

Can wind turbines help to get the U.S. economy spinning again? The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) is banking on the notion that they will at least help. With the $36.7 billion it received from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act last February, the agency is making historic investments in the energy industry.

Not all of the money is going into building better turbines, of course. The agency is also putting big green toward a host of other emission-lowering projects, including better batteries ($2 billion), geothermal technologies ($400 million) and carbon capture and storage ($3.4 billion).

Whereas the largest chunk of change ($16.8 billion) is going to renewable energy and energy conservation, one of the smallest cuts of the DoE stimulus payout ($1.6 billion) is going toward scientific research. In a congressional hearing on the DoE's 2011 budget earlier this month, Energy Secretary Steven Chu noted that science, however, was a crucial part of future development:"With every initiative the department undertakes, sound science must be at the core."

Even in these tough times, surprising and extraordinary efforts are under way in businesses across the globe. From politics to technology, energy, and transportation; from marketing to retail, health care, and design, each company on the following pages illustrates the power and potential of innovative ideas and creative execution.

MIT researchers are exploring whether a swarm of tiny helicopters outfitted with LEDs could self-organize into a massive flying display "screen." The vision for the nascent Flyfire project is that each of the choppers acts as a pixel to form a dynamically-reconfigurable display.

I [Carin Canale Theakston] love asking Google questions. In preparation for an upcoming panel at the San Diego Venture Group’s monthly breakfast meeting, I decided to ask the mighty search engine “Is the venture capital model dead?” In .24 seconds I had over 19 million results that addressed the question. Astonishing. I continue to be amazed by Google’s depth and speed but more importantly, I’m shocked that there are so many conversations which specifically address the death of the venture capital industry.

While the conversation is controversial and intriguing, it’s clear that the venture capital industry is not going away. Even in a down year like 2009, venture firms invested more than $21 billion. Notably, for the first time on record, the largest percentage of funding went to health care companies versus IT; however, at less than $5 million, the median amount invested was by far the lowest since the new millennium began.

But clearly the venture capital model is evolving. Few things ever stay the same, and the venture capital model is no different. As this evolution occurs, it is becoming increasingly difficult for capital-intensive life science companies to raise money, especially in the early rounds before proof of concept is established.

No amount of brainpower or world-class technology could save Silicon Valley last year from the wrath of the recession.

In the San Francisco Bay Area's high-tech hub, the economic downturn caused jobs, patents and venture capital investment to decline in 2009, according to a study released in February by Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The survey, titled the "2010 Index of Silicon Valley," also shows office vacancy at its highest rate since 1998 as the focus has shifted from software to green energy, the media, biotech and medical devices.

With the loss of 90,000 jobs between the second quarters of 2008 and 2009, the cutting-edge innovators of Silicon Valley "could not insulate ourselves from the larger economic downturn," said Russell Hancock, Joint Venture president and CEO, and Silicon Valley Community Foundation CEO Emmett Carson, in a joint statement.

"At a time when we need to engage more actively in the global economy, the very foundations for that engagement are weakening," according to the statement. "We're disinvesting in education and we're not cultivating talent. Our state is no longer able to make crucial investments in infrastructure. Gridlock in Sacramento has become a major barrier to our ability to compete abroad and solve problems here at home."

Law schools will begin offering a specialized degree in entrepreneurship next year. But will the owners of start-ups consider this specialty essential when hiring a lawyer?

It’s hard to start a company without involving a lawyer, but it can be even harder to figure out what type of lawyer to hire. There has never been an official credential for an “entrepreneurial lawyer.” That is, until Duke Law School invented one. Two months ago, the school announced that it will be moving forward with plans to offer a LLM degree in entrepreneurship for the 2010-2011 school year.

The one-year program is primarily aimed at lawyers who want to advise entrepreneurs or to be entrepreneurs themselves. The University of Colorado at Boulder Law School has plans to launch a similar program within the year, but is still waiting for official approval.

While many law schools have been offering classes on entrepreneurship for years, these schools are the first to offer an additional degree. LLM degrees are typically reserved for highly technical areas of law, like taxes, or for lawyers from other countries who want to practice in the United States. An LLM degree in a broad subject like entrepreneurship is unusual, and it is yet to be seen if it will be something start-ups consider when they are hiring a lawyer.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 18, 2010) — A simple and cheap way of making vaccines stable -- even at tropical temperatures -- has been developed by scientists at Oxford University and Nova Bio-Pharma Technologies.

The British technology has the potential to revolutionise vaccination efforts, particularly in the developing world where infectious diseases kill millions of people every year, by removing the need for fridges, freezers and associated health infrastructure.

Preparing vaccines that do not need refrigeration has been identified as one of the major unsolved problems in global health.

'Currently vaccines need to be stored in a fridge or freezer,' explains lead author Dr. Matt Cottingham of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford. 'That means you need a clinic with a nurse, a fridge and an electricity supply, and refrigeration lorries for distribution.

Bill Ford Jr. believes innovation will drive the car industry into more prosperous days ahead.

The executive chairman of Ford Motor Co. believes that the economy, energy and environment are the global issues affecting the company's car products in the future.

“There's no question that these are tough times, but we are beginning to turn it around,” Ford told a crowd of nearly 500 Tuesday at a lunch with the Livonia Chamber of Commerce.

How Ford Motor Co. and the other car companies answer determines the size and speed of recovery “because no economy has been strong since the Industrial Revolution without a strong manufacturing base,” Ford said.

The auto industry is viewed by some “as a rust belt dinosaur,” Ford said. ”That attitude is changing.”

Ford discussed his company's efforts to continue to work to develop more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. The vehicle's economy, energy use and environmental impact are key, he said.

“Our goal is to give leadership in technology to make the customers' lives better,” Ford said.

Europe produces more research papers than the US or Japan but needs an influx of venture capital to turn inventions into commercial success, according to Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, EU commissioner for research, innovation and science.

Geoghegan-Quinn cited the example of the MP3 standard for compressing audio files, which was invented in Europe but commercialised in the US.

"This has to change. If we could deliver a large and harmonised single market for services, together with a European venture capital market, just imagine how much we could achieve," she said at the American Chamber of Commerce in Brussels today (18 February).

The commissioner's voice adds to growing clamour to link public and private venture capital funds in a concerted effort to boost innovation in Europe.

Private sector investors and high-level policymakers will meet in Brussels on 2 March to discuss ways of boosting long-term venture capital investment in the EU. However, risk adversity and limited experience in fund management mean Europe remains a tough place for innovative businesses to raise money.

WASHINGTON, February 18, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the selection of community based organizations in 18 states to receive funding to promote economic growth. USDA Rural Development Rural Housing Administrator Tammy Trevino made the announcement on Vilsack's behalf while attending an event with Senator Blanche Lincoln at the Arkansas Studies Institute in Little Rock. The organizations will receive more than $6.5 million in total grants to support rural economic development efforts.

"These funds support USDA's partnership with rural America to bring increased economic opportunity to rural citizens and communities," Vilsack said. "They will serve as investments that will help organizations build the capacity and expertise of local nonprofit groups."

For example, in Little Rock, Ark., Winrock International was selected to receive a $251,706 grant to help local groups establish economic development projects, and deliver services including energy audits, teach sustainable business practices and management.

Facilities to Support AT&T LTE Trials and Testing Beginning Later this Year

DALLAS, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Inc.* today announced plans to establish AT&T Innovation Centers to drive development of next-generation devices, applications and equipment that expand the capabilities of mobile and wired broadband.

Plans call for AT&T Innovation Centers to be opened in at least three locations later this year, including two locations in the U.S. and one international facility. The centers will be designed to enable AT&T scientists and engineers to work directly with device makers, application developers and network equipment providers to expedite development of an ecosystem of mobile and wired broadband services and capabilities for consumers and business users. Third-party developers will have access to a full range of AT&T services and network capabilities to facilitate development of new applications.

"Collaborative innovation is at the heart of broadband today, and it will be even more critical in the years to come as we work to ensure that customers get the most out of mobile broadband platforms like LTE and service platforms like U-verse IPTV," said John Donovan, AT&T's chief technology officer. "We envision these AT&T Innovation Centers as a crossroads for the industry to drive new capabilities crossing networks, devices and applications. They will provide an opportunity for AT&T experts to work directly with others in the industry to develop, evaluate and perfect new apps and services as broadband networks continue to evolve in the years to come."

While nearly all of the economic indicators for the country were falling rapidly, the commercialization of university-generated technologies quietly continued to move into the market place at an increasing pace, according to the latest survey conducted by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). Highlights from the AUTM U.S. Licensing Activity Survey Summary: FY2008 include:

• 648 new commercial products introduced
• 5,039 total license and options executed
• 595 new companies formed
• about 72 percent of new companies formed with the primary place of business in the institution's home state
• 3,381 startup companies still operating as of the end of FY2008
• 20,115 disclosures
• 12,072 new U.S. patent applications
• 848 non-U.S. patent applications
• 3,280 issued U.S. patents

The report is available for purchase at: http://www.autm.net/.

Our ability to field competitive domestic manufacturing industries is deteriorating, says one economist, and too few understand the implications for the U.S. economy.

The world is upping its game for manufacturing superiority. Many are content to see basic industries leave the United States, assuming that there is an inevitable evolution in a developed economy toward high-tech industries. They see the drop in manufacturing employment over the past decade as a necessary byproduct of globalization and increased efficiency. The answer is to pursue new manufacturing opportunities such as electric cars and wind turbines, and to focus on the service sector.

But as National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) economist Gregory Tassey argues in his provocative analysis of the United States' competitive status in manufacturing, the nation must see manufacturing as a series of complex supply chains rather than individual industries and dramatically change its policies to encourage research and development.

Tassey makes a compelling case in "Rationales and Mechanisms for Revitalizing U.S. Manufacturing R&D Strategies" that the U.S. economy's future depends on a strong manufacturing sector. He notes that "the high-income economy must be the high-tech economy" and that manufacturing is a necessary element, as it supports 70% of industry R&D spending. He also points out "the majority of trade is still in products," and the United States cannot fix its huge trade deficit by relying on services. Moreover, he says international competitors are targeting high-tech services. With the advent of the Web, many of these services can be provided from Bangalore as easily as from Boston.

Any given innovation is much more likely to fail than to succeed. Innovation as a whole may even be unprofitable for the innovators. Fortunately, we keep doing it, because in economic terms, innovations are durable (they last forever) and non-rivalrous (anybody can use them), so over the long term, society benefits a lot from the successful innovations. As a society, we look for ways to get around the fact that innovation is generally unprofitable. We subsidize innovation. We honor it.onstartups piggy bank slots

A recent conversation has me wondering anew about the question of whether venture capitalists actually further the process of innovation. They claim to be in the business of innovation, but they also talk constantly, often in the same paragraph, about how much they want to avoid innovation.

In this latest conversation, the VC said "We look for companies with a product and a proven business model." This should should sound familiar to you. I wish I could run a video montage of the pictures in my head of VC's saying how much they want to avoid innovation. Surely you would laugh. If you ask VC's what they look for, they use words like "traction", "proven business model", "reference customers", and "invest in marketing" or “sales and marketing”. This in itself is a big step forward from "We invest in teams that have done it before" (Greylock partner, 90's), or "We look for the second time around" (Sigma partner, 90's). It doesn't take a genius to understand what they are saying. As much as possible, they want to avoid all innovation (stuff that’s not proven). It’s risky and unprofitable.

American Express OPEN just released their latest Economic Pulse survey of small business owners. This survey was conducted 1/28/10 to 2/1/10.

Overall, 68% of small business owners surveyed say the economy stresses them out (on par with January 2009 results). 38% say their greatest concern is a prolonged recession/"double dip" and 32% list high unemployment.

They are right worry about both of these problems, but they also better start paying attention additional problems that are likely to raise their ugly heads very soon. I have been beating the drum about inflation and interest rate spikes for some time. Now I am beginning to hear bankers start to quietly warn their clients about a sharp increase in prime rates. I have heard estimates of between 3 to 8 basis point increases by the end of 2011.

The University of New Hampshire and the State of New Hampshire recently partnered to create the Green Launching Pad, an initiative that will help accelerate and expand the deployment of new green ideas and technologies to the marketplace. It will help innovative clean technology entrepreneurs succeed and support the creation of new well-paying jobs in New Hampshire.

The Green Launching Pad will help to maximize the economic benefits in the state from emerging interest and efforts to reduce energy use and the dependence on high carbon content and imported energy sources, in the nation and globally. It will stimulate the conception and development of innovative business ventures and support the efforts of existing companies positioned to expand market activities in this so-called "green economy." These ventures will draw on engineering, energy, environmental and business research at UNH, Dartmouth, other colleges and community colleges and other New Hampshire entities to conceive of, develop and commercialize new technologies and practices that reduce energy use and/or provide renewable energy resources.

The Green Launching Pad's focus and timing is right for New Hampshire. People in New Hampshire are very concerned about the economy and the poor prospects for strong recovery from the recession. They also care deeply about the environment. These two concerns are increasingly tied together in the Granite State and will be even more intertwined in the future. As we start to come out of the current economic hard times, the state has an opportunity to ensure a strong economic and environmental future for its citizens with the help of the Green Launching Pad.

According to technology entrepreneur and researcher Vivek Wadwha, women entrepreneurs continue to be poorly represented in technology businesses.

Wadwha enlisted the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) to analyze data on 549 successful entrepreneurs. Some ways male and female entrepreneurs differed:

• Women were more motivated by the encouragement of business partners.
• Women counted on business partners as key funding sources more often than men.
• Women rated prior experience as more important to their businesses’ success than did men.
• Women valued professional and business networks more highly.
• Men felt the financial pressure to earn an income more strongly than did women.

But there are also many similarities. In general, men and women entrepreneurs had equivalent education, an early interest in entrepreneurship, similar work experience and similar access to financing. They also shared the same motivations: the desire to make money, to be their own bosses and to see their ideas come to fruition.

Yes, the recession has taken its toll on most small businesses -- but not everything about the economic downturn is bad.

In fact, some smart companies are turning the tough times into an advantage — making changes that can help them not only to survive the recession, but to create a stronger business for when the economy improves, as well.

What’s more: “Time is running out,” says Ken Gaebler, who heads Gaebler Ventures, a Chicago-based small business consulting firm. “Businesses that haven’t made the most of the recession need to do so, before the opportunity is lost.”

How to do that?

FORTUNE is joining forces with the Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) as national media sponsor.

FORTUNE, one of the leading magazines in the world focused on businesses and their growth, announced they are teaming up with the RBPC in 2010 to enhance the already prestigious $800,000 international competition hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University in Houston. The 2010 Competition will be held on April 15-17, 2010.

"We're thrilled to be joining forces with the Rice Business Plan Competition," says Hank Gilman, Fortune magazine's deputy editor. "There's nothing more exciting in the business world than showcasing promising young entrepreneurs and their ideas."

The RBPC is the largest and richest, intercollegiate, MBA/graduate-level business plan competition in the world. Prize money has grown to over $800,000 and the number of teams applying to enter the competition last year increased 45% to 340 teams vying for the 42 slots. Teams compete in areas such as clean energy, life sciences & biotech, information technology, nanotechnology, sustainability, and consumer products.