CED Announces Early-Stage Companies Selected to 'Demo' Their Technologies at CED Tech Venture Conference 2014

DURHAM, N.C., Aug. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), the largest and oldest entrepreneurial support organization in the country, today announced more than 60 "demo" companies that will demonstrate their products and technologies in a Demo Room at this year's CED Tech Venture Conference 2014. These companies have distinguished themselves as among North Carolina's most exciting early-stage companies.

Today's announcement of the "demo" companies comes on the heels of CED's recent selection of roughly 20 "showcase" companies that will present on the main stage. Together, these two groups demonstrate the full gamut of companies, from early stage to growth stage, that can be seen at the conference – and bring the number of companies to be featured at this year's conference to more than 80.

"There are so many great companies being featured this year that we've actually had to reconfigure the showroom to accommodate them all," said Jay Bigelow, CED's director of entrepreneurship. "It's a testament to the explosion of talent in the entrepreneurial sector."

More than 600 people are expected to attend the conference, which has become a "Who's Who" of the nation's technology industry -- from the hottest emerging tech companies to the most influential investors and tech leaders. It will be held Sept. 16-17 at the Raleigh Convention Center. The North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) is a presenting partner for the conference.

The demo and showcase companies hail from across the state, including: Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Morrisville, Hillsborough, Wilmington, Charlotte, Wake Forest, Statesville, Greensboro, Rocky Mount and Zebulon. Companies from Virginia and Kentucky will also be featured.

"This year's featured companies represent the hottest and most promising up-and-comers and growth-stage companies from the Triangle, across North Carolina and nearby states," Bigelow said. "They are all making their way to the Raleigh Convention Center to tap into CED's deep network."

The CED Tech Venture Conference 2014 theme features companies that are "On the Rise." The conference attracts a broad sweep of representatives from North Carolina's top universities, companies from across the state, local and national venture capital firms, angel investors, corporate and strategic investors, and entrepreneurial support groups.

"This conference offers a breathtaking snapshot -- all in one place -- of what North Carolina has to offer," Bigelow added. "This year's demo and showcase companies truly demonstrate how much bench strength exists here, with companies thriving at every stage of growth. For a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem to sustain itself, it needs companies at all stages of evolution -- from ideation to maturity and exit."

Joan Siefert Rose, president of CED, said both the number and quality of Triangle companies is gaining notice.

"The Triangle is gaining notice all over the world as a great example of the 'Rise of the Rest,'" Rose said. "This refers to the phenomenon of places outside the traditional tech centers in the Northeast or West Coast that are leading the next wave of innovation in the tech sector."

According to CED's 2013 Innovators Report, last year 223 entrepreneurial companies in North Carolina raised in excess of $460 million through equity investments, grants and awards from 108 unique funders – and 75 percent of these funders were from other states or other countries. Of the money raised for entrepreneurial companies in North Carolina, 80 percent was invested in companies right here in the Triangle (Wake, Durham and Orange counties).

The demo companies represent many sectors that will be highlighted at this year's conference, including: ecommerce and marketing, digital health, new media, mobile and data, and advanced materials/manufacturing.

This year's demo companies, listed in alphabetical order, are:

3DFS, LLC (Charlotte)

3F, LLC (Raleigh)

Able Device, Inc. (Raleigh)

Acceleforce (Durham)

Acorn Applications, LLC (Raleigh)

Active Location, Inc. (Raleigh)

Adaptive Health Systems, LLC (Cary)

AeroZag (Zebulon)

Akili Software, Inc. (Raleigh)

American Remote Health, LLC (Durham)

Atmospheric Plasma Solutions, Inc. (Cary)

betaCrowd (Raleigh)

BioCentric Media, LLC (Raleigh)

Bright Wolf (Wake Forest)

CellBreaker (Durham)

Code A Site, LLC (Morrisville)

CompletERGO, LLC (Raleigh)

CPS Biofuels (Virginia Beach, Va.)

dba eFuzion (Rocky Mount)

Eighty Percent Solutions (Chapel Hill)

elpis labs (Raleigh)

Entigral Systems, Inc. (Raleigh)

ETreasureBox, LLC (Charlotte)

Fogbeam Labs (Chapel Hill)

Fraysen Systems (Chapel Hill)

FreedomRFID (Statesville)

Fusion3 Design (Greensboro)

GEMAtouch (Raleigh)

Green Shoot Group (Cary)

Harrison Analytic Technologies, LLC (Cary)

Help Get Sponsors (Raleigh)

Hostel Rocket, Inc. (Durham)

Hypestarter (Durham)

Indigru Home Cleaning (Wilmington)

Intelligent Campus Solutions, Inc. (Livitae) (Raleigh)

Klever (Durham)

KonnectBand (Raleigh)

Legal Software Solutions, LLC (BernieSez) (Raleigh)

Medtuit, LLC (Durham)

Nephos6, Inc. (Raleigh)

NetSanity, Inc. (Charlotte)

Nine Oak Media, LLC (Raleigh)

NLITe (Durham)

Noteables, Inc. (Chapel Hill)

OBX Computing Corporation (Raleigh)

Physcient, Inc. (Durham)

ProPatient Learning (Hillsborough)

Punch Technologies, Inc. (Charlotte)

Reische Design (Durham)

RJL Interactive (Raleigh)

RocketBolt (Durham)

Sivad Business Solutions/Easy Vote (Wilmington)

Smart Farm (Nicholasville, Ky.)

Smart Office Energy Solutions (Chapel Hill)

Smartlink Mobile Systems, LLC (Cary)

SnapYeti (Raleigh)

swaggr. (Durham)

Sweeps, LLC (Chapel Hill)

Track2Quit (Raleigh)

Userlite (Hillsborough)

WaterPlay USA (Wilmington)

WedPics (Raleigh)

White Stagg, LLC (Charlotte)

About CED
CED is the network that helps Triangle entrepreneurs build successful companies.

CED website:
http://www.cednc.org

Conference website:
cednc.org/techventure

2013 Innovators Report: 
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/cednc.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/Docs/CED_Innovators_Report_Releas.pdf

2014 Showcase Companies:
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/cednc.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/Tech_Venture_Conference/CED_Announces_18_%27Showcase_C.pdf

Media interested in attending the conference or connecting with showcase or demo companies should contact Kelly Killian Voelker at [email protected] or 704-769-5537.

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SOURCE Council for Entrepreneurial Development