Visible Tech-knowledgy is named "Best Emerging Tech Company" at the NJTC's 5th Annual Venture Fair
Another young, high-tech business grown at Stevens Institute of Technology has received a major honor.
Visible Tech-knowledgy, Inc. took the title of Best Emerging Technology Company 2001, as awarded by a distinguished panel at the New Jersey Technology Council's 5th Annual Venture Fair. The fair was held March 26 at the Liberty Science Center, Liberty State Park, in Jersey City, N.J. The event featured booth displays by more than 50 New Jersey-based companies. It was attended by some 800 venture capitalists, investors and other council affiliates. (Go to njtc.org to learn more about the NJTC and the 2001 Venture Fair.)
Headed by President and CEO Alex Gelbman, Visible Tech-knowledgy is another emerging successstory from the Technology Ventures Incubator at Stevens (tvi.stevens.edu). The company's primary technology product is called Visible LabelsT. These are thin "smart labels" with an alterable imaging capability. Visible Labels look like simple paper labels. However, they can be changed via wireless transmission using radio frequency, or RF. The first engineering prototype was completed last October. The first market entry point will be grocery electronic shelf labels.
Since moving to TVI, Visible Tech-knowledgy has tripled its number of employees. The company is currently seeking $5 million in development capital to create additional prototypes and to perfect the manufacturing process.
Other officers of the company include Kate Holdsworth, who is marketing director, and Dr. Ned Forbes, who is the technical director.
Stevens' Technology Ventures Incubator is one of seven academic-related incubators in New Jersey supported by the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. TVI's mission is to help accelerate the commercial application of new high-value technologies.
"Coming up with a new concept is difficult, but the real challenge lies in advancing that concept into a successful commercial reality," according to Dr. Lawrence Gastwirt, director of the Stevens Alliance for Technology Management and a member of the TVI Advisory Board since 1992. "This is the true meaning of innovation. TVI has fostered innovation for a decade by mentoring entrepreneurs and guiding them through the numerous tasks that must be executed to transform a promising idea into a successful business."
The Incubator has nurtured 53 start-up companies, with 182 jobs created and 131 patents issued. It has helped its entrepreneurs raise over $20 million in external funding. Stevens' TVI is directed by Gina Boesch, herself a veteran of private industry and a Stevens alumna.
Also displaying at the Venture Fair was the Stevens alumni management team from PlasmaSol Corp, another soon-to-graduate TVI business. The company, which is developing environmental applications for "cold plasma" technology, has signed major contracts with the U.S. Navy, NASA, and Alcoa.
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.
Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
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