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About the WBT
The WBTshowcase was designed with a single purpose in mind: source and screen the best deals from the most promising universities, labs, research institutions, and the private sector, then prepare and present them to the most active seed stage venture capitalists and Fortune 500 licensing scouts. In doing so, the WBT offers a unique forum for investors and licensees to sample deal flow from participating institutions at one time, in one place, in an unbiased setting. For participating universities and labs, the WBT offers a level playing field to present the highest quality opportunities without regard to geography, sector limitations, or political agendas.
What began as a concept just five years ago (at a time when a national forum of this kind did not yet exist), the WBTshowcase is now the world's largest forum offering prescreened, pre-prepped collection of undiscovered technologies emanating from top universities, labs, and research institutions from across the country and around the globe. Today, the phrase "technology showcase" has even become synonymous with events and forums at the regional and institution level involving tech commercialization efforts nationwide. We are proud of that fact.
Click here for WBT Summary Profile
The WBT serves as an efficient and effective means to move world-class technologies from leading laboratories and universities into the marketplace. Participating technologies are selected by - and presented to - seasoned venture investors and Fortune 500 licensing scouts representing a variety of industries. Each year's Showcase represents the collaborative effort of investors, licensees, and tech commercialization experts. Presenting technologies are selected solely on the merits of their innovation and the specific investment or licensing opportunity. Exhibit space is limited to selected presenting technologies and event sponsors only. WBT staff do not solicit participants ancillary products or consulting services or otherwise compete with participating investors, licensees and consultants.
Prospective exhibitors can be broadly divided into two groups - pure technologies (i.e. institutions representing researchers still in the lab) or actual startup companies. Either candidate must be seeking seed/venture capital or a corporate licensing partner. The WBT is not an event recognizing and highlighting technology for technology's sake. But rather, prospective WBT exhibitors must demonstrate their technology has the potential to form the basis for high growth commercial enterprise or may be licensed easily to solve a specific market problem. Selected technologies are typically supported by a number of federal R&D programs, including SBIR, STTR, US Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) program, National Science Foundation (NSF), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to name a few.
Eligible exhibitors are screened by a national panel of seed investors, venture capitalists, and corporate licensing professionals experienced in commercializing new and innovative technologies. Up to seventy-five (75) exhibitors are chosen. Among this group, 25 exhibitors are provided the opportunity to make 8-minute PowerPoint presentations, with the remainder making 3-minute presentations. All exhibitors are provided guidance by seasoned experts in their presentations. Those making 8-minute presentations are additionally groomed by individually assembled mentor teams in the weeks leading up the Showcase. All exhibitors are also eligible to compete for selection as a "World's Best Technology" where Showcase participants ultimately select the top 3 most promising technologies, designating one technology to receive the "Best of Show" award. Presenting WBT technologies represent a convergence of industry sectors, including Lifescience, Advanced Materials, Energy, Software, Semiconductor, and Agriculture to name a few.
Technologies are judged on the following basic criteria:
Is it a Platform Technology that could spawn many products?
Is it First in the Space, having the potential to give rise to a whole new industry?
Is it Close to Market, having few barriers remaining to commercial application?
The World’s Best Technologies Showcase held in Arlington TX in March 2006 brought together 75 world-class technologies and attracted over 400 attendees including over 100 bonafide investors and Fortune 500 licensees. To date, fourteen of the WBT02 presenters (better than 1 in 3) have secured licensing agreements and raised over $223 Million in first (or next) round venture capital. This figure includes the $169 Million acquisition of MeshNetworks (a DARPA funded technology) by Motorola. Likewise, in the twenty two months following the WBT04, over 1/5 (12 of 56) have successfully raised over $33 Million in first round venture capital or secured licensing agreements, including the acquisition of Sensant (a National Science Foundation SBIR sponsored technology) by Siemens AG for an undisclosed amount. And finally, preliminary data on WBT05 presenters indicates that in the 10 months following the WBT05, 6 of the seventy-five selected presenters have raised over $48 Million in first (or next round) venture capital which includes the acquisition of Planning Systems, Inc (a US Army and NIH backed technology) by QinetiQ North America for $42 Million. These figures do not consider subsequent federal R&D grants.
The WBT is produced in cooperation with the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) and the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF). The FLC represents over 700 federally funded research centers and laboratories throughout the United States. The NASVF is a national organization of public agencies, private investors, and public/private partnerships serving those who invest in America's entrepreneurs.
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