About the WBT

What began as an idea in early 2002, the WBTshowcase has emerged as the world's largest forum of pre-screened, pre-prepped, undiscovered companies and technologies emanating from top universities, labs, and research institutions from across the country and around the globe.

The WBTshowcase represents the collaborative, year-long effort of investors, licensees, and tech commercialization professionals. The WBT is deal-focused and diverse, showcasing companies and technologies that vary by geography, funding source, and type of 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. Most companies are presenting for the very first time. All selected presenters are coached and prepped to make a concise, investor-oriented presentation.

The WBT serves as an efficient and effective means for emerging companies to build their network of resources, and helps launch world-class technologies from leading laboratories and universities into the marketplace. Presenting technologies are selected 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, consulting services or otherwise compete with participating investors, licensees and consultants.

Prospective presenters can be broadly divided into two groups - actual startup companies and pure technologies (i.e. institutions representing researchers still in the lab.) Each 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. Rather, prospective WBT presenters must demonstrate that their technology has the potential to form the basis for high growth commercial enterprise or be easily licensed to solve a specific market problem. Selected technologies are typically supported by a number of federal R&D programs including SBIR, STTR, the US Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) program, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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Applicants are screened by a national panel of seed investors, venture capitalists and corporate licensing executives. Up to one hundred (100) presenters are 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 seasoned experts. All presenters are also eligible to compete for selection as a "World's Best Technology" where investors and licensing scouts ultimately select the top 3 most promising technologies, designating one technology to receive the "Best of Show" award. Presenting 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 2008 WBTshowcase brought together 75 world-class companies and technologies, and attracted over 500 attendees--including 140 bonafide investors and Fortune 1000 licensees.

Approximately 46% (17 of 37) of the WBT02 selected presenters have successfully raised over $225 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, since the WBT04, 30% (17 of 56) have successfully raised over $46 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.

Data on WBT05 presenters indicates that 17% (13 of 75) of selected presenters have raised over $125 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.

Research indicates that 12% (9 of 74) of WBT06 presenters have raised over $7 Million in first round venture capital or secured licensing agreements. Preliminary data on WBT07 presenters indicate that 3 of the 77 presenters have received funding totaling $4.6 Million, not including TravellingWave’s undisclosed Series A investment.

These figures do not consider subsequent federal R&D grants or sources of other government, state, local grant funding, or licensing agreements of undisclosed amounts.

When compared to industry norms for venture investment (1 to 3% of business plans get funding), the track record of the WBT and the success of WBT presenters is significant.

The WBTshowcase is produced in cooperation with the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF), the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC), and the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA). The National Association of Seed and Venture Funds is a network over 5,000 innovation capital providers including seed and venture funds, economic developers, angel investors, universities, and tech commercialization experts. The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) is a consortium of over sixty universities and colleges throughout the US that helps to identify, coordinate, and commercialize translational science and engineering for energy, cleantech, life science, infotech, and other applications.