Betty Beard, The Arizona Republic 9/21/11
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Fourteen companies, most of them from the Southwest and including four based in Arizona, have been selected to appear at a major conference this fall in Phoenix where they can appeal to more than 100 angel investors for funding.

The 14 early-stage companies were picked from a record number of about 130 applicants to appear at the Invest Southwest Capital Conference.

The meeting this year is being merged with a similar conference under the auspices of the Erie, Colo.-based Venture Capital in the Rockies, organizers said.

Their joint conference will be Nov. 2-4 at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in Phoenix.

The combined event not only drew a record number of applicants but is also expected to attract more investors than Invest Southwest generally has drawn on its own, said Karen Katzorke, executive director of Invest Southwest Capital Conference.

"We typically see 125 investors, and we hope by partnering with Venture Capital in the Rockies this year we will see an additional 50 investors," she said. Most of them are from the Southwest, but others are expected to come from around the world.

The 130 applicants surpassed the usual 75 to 100 who apply, she said.

Each one typically asks for $1 million to $10 million.

Each company gets about 10 minutes to pitch its products or services to investors. Investors then take up to a year to decide which companies they will invest in and how much funding will be offered, Katzorke said.

Since Invest Southwest started in 1992, its applicants have received almost $250 million, she said.

The Arizona presenters will be:

• Green Light Cost Management, a Scottsdale information-technology firm offering services to help health-care companies manage their expenses.
• MSDx, Inc., a Tucson company that develops commercial products to monitor neurological and autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis.
• Post.Bid.Ship, also of Tucson, was founded by three University of Arizona students to use technology to streamline freight transportation.
• SyCara, of Scottsdale, provides search-engine-optimization technology to help companies manage workflow and reports.

Another company, San Diego-based Medipacs, has a research lab in Tucson. It has created a solid-state polymer pump that offers a new way to deliver medicine.

The other presenters will be:

• 2c Tech Corp., Irvine, Calif., has developed a nanotechnology-based injectable medical device to prevent blindness.
• Azano Pharmaceuticals, Albuquerque, produces a protein to help treat kidney failure associated with lupus and other autoimmune inflammatory pathogens.
• Exagen Diagnostics, also of Albuquerque, develops diagnostic and drug-monitoring tests for diseases and therapeutics.
• Goomzee, Missoula, Mont., provides real-estate information over mobile devices.
• Prieto Battery, Fort Collins, Colo., offers a new style of lightweight lithium-ion battery invented by researchers at Colorado State University.
• Rockit Media, Boulder, Colo., has created an automated method to simplify marketing processes for social media and mobile devices and track customer engagement.
• Swarmology, La Jolla, Calif., develops real-time marketing tools for social media.
• Transactiv, Boulder, Colo., created a variety of on-demand services to help companies communicate and collaborate across a variety of channels.
• Wasatch Microfluidics, Salt Lake City, provides instruments for drug research.