About the WBT

What began as a concept just six 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 a 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 become synonymous with regional and national technology commercialization forums and events. We are proud of that fact.

Each year's Showcase 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. Most technologies are presenting for the very first time. All selected presenters are coached and prepped to make concise, investor-oriented presentations that seek investment capital or licensing partners. The WBT offers a level playing field for participating universities and labs to present the highest quality opportunities free of sector limitations or political agendas.

The WBT serves as an efficient and effective means to move world-class technologies from leading laboratories and universities into the marketplace. 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, consulting services or otherwise compete with participating investors, licensees and consultants.

Prospective presenters 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. 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).

Click here for WBT Summary Profile

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 seventy-five (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 World’s Best Technologies Showcase held in Arlington TX in March 2008 brought together over 75 world-class technologies and attracted over 500 attendees including over 140 bonafide investors and Fortune 500 licensees.

To date 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, resulting in the purchase occurred at the event.

Preliminary figures indicate that of the WBT06 presenters 12% (9 of 74) 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 over $4.6 Million, to include TravellingWave’s undisclosed Series A. Preliminary information on WBT08 presenters is not yet available.

These figures do not consider subsequent federal R&D grants or sources of other government, state, local grant funding, or licensing agreements of an undisclosed amount. Beyond the absolute dollars raised by past WBT presenters, when compared to industry norms for venture investment (1 to 3% of all business plans reviewed) the subsequent success of WBT presenters as a percentage of all that are selected 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.