Press Release: November 12, 2007
New firms look to get launched
Madison event lets 21 companies make pitch to would-be investors
Dave Gruenwald and his team have developed a one-of-a-kind boat. Now all they need is the cash to float it.
It features a propeller tucked so high, the boat can operate in 12 inches of water. Its air-cooled Briggs & Stratton engine means there's no water pump to overheat or winterizing to do.
Ven-T Boats Inc. is betting those features, plus a price tag of $7,000 or $8,000, will generate strong sales in late 2008, when the patent-protected fishing and recreational boat is expected to launch.
Now all the Allenton company that makes it needs is some enthusiastic investors with connections, expertise, "and maybe a little passion for the product" who are willing to part with about $2 million, said Gruenwald, Ven-T's president.
Ven-T is one of 21 companies that will pitch their stories to investors from at least three states Wednesday at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium in Madison's Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center. About half are biomedical firms, with the rest in software, Internet services, advanced manufacturing and clean technologies, said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, which puts on the event.
"The companies presenting range from med tech to organic cranberries, and from cancer cures to better fishing boats," Still said.
Gruenwald says Ven-T's high-tech, low-cost boat - it can pull water tubers, but not water skiers - will solve some of boaters' biggest problems. But after four years of development, with seven patents and another six pending, the spinoff from product design firm Brooks Stevens needs to move quickly, Gruenwald said.
"When you have patents pending, you have to move quickly because they lose value every year," he said.
Whether it's the patent clock ticking, the need to hire employees, build buildings or anything else, the 21 firms seeking funds will each get seven minutes to make their best pitch.
One of the best ways to get financiers' attention is to be able to point to real potential customers, said Charles Goff, general partner of NEW Capital Fund, an angel investing group based in Appleton.
"In entrepreneurs' minds, they often think, 'We'll put it out there and everybody will come to our Web site.' That is an extreme amount of risk," said Goff, who will be at the symposium to watch company presentations. "How do we know that? It's got to be more than a gut feel."
If that same entrepreneur has sales, or has lined up distribution and invites Goff to talk to the distributor, then he gets serious about the prospect, Goff said.
Like most angel investors, Goff doesn't reveal his group's returns. But investors who participated in organized angel groups had an average 27% internal rate of return on their investments, according to a study released Monday by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Angel Capital Education Foundation. The study, conducted by researchers at Willamette University and University of Washington over the past year, analyzed results from 539 investors with 86 organized angel groups who had experienced more than 1,130 so-called exits, in which their companies were acquired, went public or were closed.
Along with presentations by 21 companies, the Early Stage Symposium will feature two other opportunities for investors to see young companies. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of Corporate Relations on Wednesday will discuss technologies being developed on campus, and about 20 state companies will make 90-second presentations on Thursday as part of the "Elevator Pitch Olympics."
The event also offers the "VentureQuest boot camp" for those who want to learn how to go after financing, and a number of panel discussions covering the nuts and bolts of running a company, Still said.
In seven minutes give us your pitch.
Twenty-one state companies, each seeking $500,000 to $5 million in private equity investment, will get seven minutes each to make their pitch to investors from across the Upper Midwest at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium Wednesday at Madison's Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center. Here are summaries of four of those companies:
CraneBerry Farms, Reedsburg, is aiming to produce low-cost organic cranberries in high volume by planting 750 acres on an "ideal" site and using proprietary breakthroughs in water, fertilizer and pest management. Started by cranberry industry veterans groomed at Ocean Spray, Northland Cranberries and other companies, the company wants within five years to be producing 10 million pounds of organic cranberries. Organic cranberry growers last year produced just 5 million pounds of the 20 million pounds the market wants, and Ocean Spray recently abandoned its organic development program, CraneBerry organizers say.
Echometrix LLC, Mount Horeb, expects to begin clinical trials by the end of 2007 for its proprietary ultrasound technology that extracts additional information from ultrasound data to help surgeons, trainers and therapists diagnose injuries; determine proper tensioning of tendons and ligaments during surgery; and monitor tissue healing and functional recovery during rehab. The company was founded by Barbara Israel, former top executive at Platypus Technologies, and the two University of Wisconsin-Madison professors who developed the technology. The company's first product will be a portable ultrasound system to quantify strain and stiffness of tendons and ligaments.
PDM Solar, Wausau, is planning to build and install a solar-heat driven air conditioning system in the Southwest during 2008, and have for sale solar air conditioning systems in 2009 and solar electric generation systems in 2011. The company's patent-pending technology uses solar collectors, an insulated storage reservoir, patent-pending concentrators made from a single-cylinder steam engine connected to a single-cylinder compressor, and a steam turbine generator set to provide low-temperature collection and storage that supplies air conditioning or electricity as needed. Existing solar energy companies use mirrors to concentrate the sun's energy at the time of collection, creating maintenance problems and high costs because of the high temperatures involved, PDM organizers say.
Ven-T Boats Inc., Allenton, is expecting to bring to market in late 2008 a low-cost, patented fishing/recreational boat the company says solves the two biggest problems for small boaters: ruined propellers and overheated water pumps. The boats use a "vented tunnel" propulsion system that is so high they can operate in 12 inches of water, and their air-cooled V-twin 26 horsepower, Briggs & Stratton engines have no water pump. The boat began four years ago as a research and development project for Brooks Stevens Inc, and Ven-T Boats executives have many years of experience at marine and outboard engine companies.
Photos/Gary Porter
Steve Lippincott (left) and Luke Schrab fit the air-cooled Briggs & Stratton power plant into place at the stern of a Vent-T Boats prototype. The firm is one of 21 pitching for investments at a Madison symposium this week.
Luke Schrab looks over a Briggs & Stratton 26-horsepower riding lawn mower engine that had been put into a Vent-T Boats prototype. Allenton-based Ven-T Boats Inc. is one of 21 firms pitching for investments at a Madison symposium this week.
The Vent-T Boats prototype employs an air-cooled engine coupled with a propulsion system that uses a surface-breaking propeller.
Press Release: February 22, 2007
Brooks Stevens Inc. introduces "Vented Tunnel" boat.
Allenton, WI -- February 22, 2007-- Brooks Stevens Inc, a turn-key product design firm, has introduced a revolutionary new boat package at the Indianapolis Dealer Expo on February 17th., 2007. The 15' boat, which utilizes an air cooled 26hp Briggs and Stratton engine, is coupled to an industry changing "Vented Tunnel" propulsion system that is designed to protect the gearcase and most of the propeller in a shroud located behind a keel. The new boat/motor/trailer (BMT) package, is targeted directly at the entry level boater. According to Dave Gruenwald, V.P. of Engineering for BSI: "Our goal is to bring new people into boating. If you don't bring them in, they can't move up to buy other boats and engines. Statistics prove that once a person enters into boating , they will buy 5 more boats over their lifetime. But boating participation has been on a general decline since the mid 80's when Bayliner was the last company to make a significant impact on entry level boating. One of the primary causes of that decline is that the cost of a new BMT package has gotten out of reach for the average consumer. According to a recent article in Composites Manufacturing Magazine the average cost of an outboard boat sold for $10,144 in 2001 and for $15,006 in 2005. An increase of 48%. We aim to change that. By using the low cost Briggs and Stratton engine and joining it to a revolutionary new form of the proven POWER-VENT propulsion system, we have made a boat "for the rest of us". This boat is easy to use, easy to maintain and most of all, it's affordable. It requires virtually zero maintenance, there is no end of year winterization, no water pump to burn up and virtually no possibility of engine overheating. In addition and just as exciting, the fully shrouded propeller has been raised vertically up into the hull to enable the craft to run in only 12 inches of water and unlike Waterjets, that can plug with weeds, any debris that does enter the shroud can be blown out by the operator by simply putting the drive in reverse! The boat package is currently in Market and field testing and will be in full production within 12 months."Further information can be found at www.ven-tboats.com.
Press Release: February 17, 2007
VEN-T BOATS Introduced at Dealer Expo
Recreational Boat Building Industry
http://www.rbbi.com/company/ingenium/ven-tboats/ven-tboats.htm
VEN-T BOATS introduced their new vented tunnel boat at the Dealernews International PowerSports Dealer Expo in Indianapolis on 17 February 2007.
VEN-T BOATS' 15 foot boat designed by Brooks Stevens Inc., uses a surface piercing propeller in a vented tunnel, twin rudders and a 26 horsepower air cooled Briggs & Stratton engine for propulsion. Targeting the market for small entry level boats, including those often used for fishing and hunting, VEN-T BOATS entry to the market is inexpensive, runs in shallow water, and unlike many outboards, can run in very muddy water as well (its air cooled engine does not rely on pulling in raw water for cooling).
The shallow running surfacing prop has a protective shroud and is back up under the boat making it safer to people in the water and less susceptible to damage. Safety and damage resistance is further enhanced by twin rudders that "pop up" when going over obstacles or debris.
In addition, the vented tunnel drive has a slow running troll mode, and a very low profile in the rear made possible by the air cooled engine being mounted low inside the boat instead of being hung up in the way like most outboards that obstruct fishing from the rear.
Brooks Stevens Inc. reports the VEN-T BOATS is currently in market and field testing and is expected to be in full production within 12 months.
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