Frequently Asked Questions
What is the WBT Marketplace?
The WBT Marketplace is the world's largest forum offering a prescreened, pre-prepped collection of undiscovered companies and intellectual property emanating from top universities, labs and research institutions from across the country and around the globe. Each year's Marketplace represents the collaborative effort of investors, licensees and tech commercialization professionals, offering an unparalleled forum that is both deal-focused and unbiased with regard to geography, funding source, or originating research institution. Participating technologies are selected by - and presented to - over 100 seasoned venture investors and Fortune 500 licensing scouts representing a variety of industries, each supported by private funding, federal R&D grants or both.
Eligible presenters are screened by a national panel of seed investors, venture capitalists and corporate licensing professionals experienced in commercializing new and innovative technologies. Up to one hundred (100) presenters will be chosen to make a 6-minute presentation. In the weeks leading up to the Showcase presenters are provided guidance on their 6-minute presentations and groomed by individually assembled mentor teams comprised of at least two (2) seasoned experts.
Still Want to Learn More? Visit What is the WBT for details
Who should Attend?
- Seed and early stage venture investors
- Corporate venture investors
- Angel Investors
- Technology officers
- CRADA Partners
- SBIR Award recipients
- Federal R&D Program Managers
- Researchers & Scientists
- Business, legal, and finance experts
In March of 2009 nearly 500 participants attended the WBTshowcase. The audience can categorized into three groups: Investors/Licensees, Technology Presenters, and other attendees.
Click
here for a representative list of
investors and
licensees who have attended recent WBT's.
Who should apply to present?
- Technology entrepreneurs
- Researchers
- Research institutions
- Tech transfer professionals representing university, lab, or agency innovations
- Private enterprises and businesses
- Individuals seeking to license and commercialize advanced technologies
- Individuals seeking seed and early stage venture capital
Applicants can be at a variety of stages of development from startups to second round venture stage. Priority is given to applicants that have a functioning prototype or beta version of a product or technology. Regardless of stage, successful applicants will showcase investment and licensing opportunities that involve:
- Platform Technologies that could spawn many products, which are
- Close to Market, having few barriers remaining to commercial application and
- First in Space, having the potential to give rise to a whole new industry,
All applicants should be seeking either commercialization partners or growth capital. Ideal candidates will be able to demonstrate initial success in attracting outside funding, which may be in the form of research grants or seed capital.
Applications are open to the general public. However, priority will be given to applicants affiliated with, supported by or sponsored by a Federal Lab or University. If your technology derived from research conducted at a federal lab or university research facility, be sure to indicate so in the application.
While not required, if the applicant represents a breakthrough technology on behalf of a research institution (i.e. not yet part of a new enterprise), the designated presenter is at the discretion of the applicant. For onsite networking, it is recommended, but not required, to have the founding researcher in attendance and available to prospective investors and partners.
If the applicant represents an existing business, the presenter should be part of the company's senior management team (Founder, CEO, CTO, COO, CFO, VP Business Development). Ideally, the founder or CEO is expected to present.
There are no industry restrictions for prospective applicants. However, priority will be given to companies seeking capital and/or licensing within industries known to attract venture capital and Fortune 500 licensees. Favored sectors include lifescience, advanced materials, nanotech, energy, software, semiconductor, chemical, and industrial machining/manufacturing.
How Do I apply to Present?
All applications can be submitted online. There is no cost to apply online and no limit of the number of research or technology applications that can be submitted by an individual, organization, or institution.
To apply visit, Submit Your Technology, You will be asked to create an account including contact information. This account can be used to submit multiple applications. Once an account is created you are ready to submit an application, just follow the steps. All applications can be saved in draft form until you are ready to "Save as Final". Once the application has been saved as final it has officially been submitted and no further changes can be made.
For convenience there is also a word document application that can be downloaded and completed before submitting online.
* Don't forget to save all drafts as final before the application deadlines.
How are applications selected?
Our panel of screeners rate each technology application using a points system. Consideration is given to each application based on the science team, strength of technology or product, position in the technology marketplace, the market opportunity, the value proposition, the business model, and the management team. For details, visit Selection Criteria
How can I increase my chances of being selected to present?
The exhibitor application provides an opportunity to describe (in approximately 3 pages) the investment and/or licensing opportunity of your company or intellectual property in an executive summary format.
Priority will be given to applications that:
- are easy to understand (written in plain English without a lot of technical jargon).
- convey the specific market need for the technology.
- clearly articulate the technology's sustainable competitive advantage.
- identify sizable target markets (ideally $1 billion or more) with which the product or technology is applicable.
- illustrate the financial opportunity to an investor or corporate licensee.
And for those applicants which are operating companies:
- describe the basic business model (i.e. how the technology ultimately leads to making money) in terms of anticipated gross or net margins.
- match innovative technology with an experienced management team (if applicable).
To get a look at our Past Presenters, click on the links below.
The statistics reflected are based only on information on investments and licensing that have been made publicly available or reported directly by the participant. These figures do not consider subsequent federal R&D grants or licensing agreements of an undisclosed amount.
The WBT2010 brought together 90 world-class companies and technologies drawing nearly 600 attendees--including 140 bonafide investors and Fortune 1000 licensees, and 8 federal agencies.
WBT02 selected presenters successfully raised over $227 Million in first (or next) round venture capital or secured licensing agreements. This figure includes the $169 Million acquisition of MeshNetworks, a DARPA funded technology by Motorola.
Likewise, WBT04 presenters, successfully raised over $49 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. This also includes the acquisition of OrganicID by Weyerhaeuser in 2006 for an undisclosed amount.
WBT05 presenters have secured over $160 Million in first (or next round) venture capital, including the $42 Million acquisition of Planning Systems, Inc, a US Army and NIH backed technology by QinetiQ North America. WBT05 results also include the purchase of the NASA spinout, Institute for Development's technology by Lextel Intelligence Systems, LLC for an undisclosed amount. NASA reports that the introduction that resulted in the purchase occurred at the WBT.
WBT06 presenters have raised over $7 Million in first round venture capital or secured licensing agreements. WBT07 presenters have received funding totaling $6.1 Million, not including TravellingWave’s undisclosed Series A investment. WBT2008 – WBT2010 presenters have collectively raised $39,850,000.
According to the Center for Venture Research, venture capital firms regularly receive hundreds of business plans each month. From among these, it is not unusual for a VC firm to actually fund only 0.25% — 0.5%. When compared to industry norms the track record of the WBT and the success of WBT presenters is significant. To learn more about WBT Past Presenters visit, Presenter Update
Investment Facts:
The most famous and successful venture capital firms regularly receive hundreds of business plans each month. From among these, it is not unusual for a VC firm to actually fund only 0.25% — 0.5% according to the Center for Venture Research
According to The MoneyTree™ Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Reuters
In 2010 Q1 - $1.4 billion was invested in 299 Seed and Early stage investments
In 2010 Q1 - $972 million, First-time financing (companies receiving venture capital for the first time) dollars were invested in 208 companies
By becoming a WBT sponsor you support the nation's premiere event showcasing the largest collection of undiscovered technologies emanating from top universities, labs and research institutions from across the country and around the globe.
Sponsorship is an opportunity to:
If you are interested in becoming a mentor and getting a sneak-peek at some of the technologies that will participate, contact Wiley Larsen or Amanda Radovic. or call 480-477-6408. Mentors are selected and assigned based on a "best-fit" basis, where the type of technology and stage of development are considered. By agreeing to become a part of our mentor pool, you may or may not be selected to mentor a technology presenter in a given year.