Thirty-Six Companies Are Selected to Present at CED's 25th Annual Venture Conference

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. - (Business Wire) The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) announced today that it has selected 36 companies to present at CED’s Venture Conference, where the organization will celebrate its 25^th anniversary.

Scheduled for April 16-18, 2008, at Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club in Durham, N.C., CED’s 25th annual Venture conference will showcase the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic’s top investment opportunities to hundreds of venture capitalists and financiers from throughout the United States.

Three companies will take the stage as Showcase Presenters:

• SciQuest, Inc. (Cary, NC www.sciquest.com) Global leader in helping academic and research-centric organizations realize the potential of strategic procurement.
• CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN) Biopharmaceutical company focused on new therapeutics for neurological diseases – developed a novel clinical stage migraine molecule.
• Regado Biosciences, Inc. (Durham, NC -- www.regadobiosciences.com) Biopharmaceutical company developing antidote-controlled therapeutics via simultaneous rational design of drug-antidote pairs.

Seven late stage companies will present as part of the Technology Track, focusing on IT, Telecom and Alternative Energy:

• Digitalsmiths (Research Triangle Park, NC) – www.digitalsmiths.com) Video search company providing solutions for advertising, user generated content and other consumer opportunities.
• Inlet Technologies (Raleigh, NC -- www.inlethd.com) Digital media technology for content creation and distribution.
• Omnilink Systems (Alpharetta, GA -- www.omnilinksystems.com) Location-based services technology solution provider.
• Semprius, Inc. (Durham, NC -- www.semprius.com) Provider of photovoltaic modules for solar farms.
• Tricycle, Inc. (Chattanooga, TN -- www.tricycleinc.com) Eco-efficient merchandising alternatives for commercial interiors.
• Yap, Inc. (Charlotte, NC -- www.yapme.com) Automated speech to text messaging platform for mobile devices.
• Zenoss, Inc. (Annapolis, MD -- www.zenoss.com) Open source application, server, and network management.

Nine late stage companies will present as part of the Life Science Track, focusing on Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices:

• Agility Healthcare Solutions (Glen Allen, VA -- www.agilityhealthcare.com) Healthcare resource and workflow to control patient-care process.
• Chimerix, Inc. (Durham, NC -- www.chimerix-inc.com) Antiviral drug discovery and development.
• Proventys (Durham, NC -- www.proventys.com) Personalized medicine knowledge service provider focused on delivering cutting-edge risk prediction technology.
• Phase Bioscience, Inc. (Durham, NC -- www.phasebio.com) Pharmaceutical drug delivery and protein purification company.
• Integrated Oncology Solutions, Inc. (Raleigh, NC -- www.ioshealth.com) Oncology nuclear receptor drug discovery and development company.
• MaxCyte, Inc. (Gaithersburg, MD -- www.maxcyte.com) MaxCyte creates cell therapeutics that cannot otherwise be developed.
• SCYNEXIS, Inc. (Durham, NC -- www.scynexis.com) Drug Discovery and Development Company.
• Argos Therapeutics, Inc. (Durham, NC -- www.argostherapeutics.com) Developing breakthrough immunotherapies that target the unique features of a patient’s disease.
• Optimal Reading Solutions (Birmingham, AL – www.optimalreadings.com) Optimizing patient care through faster, higher quality radiology interpretation processes and results.

Nine early stage companies will present as part of the Technology Track, focusing on IT, Telecom and Alternative Energy:

• Spectrum Bridge, Inc. (Lake Mary, FL -- www.spectrumbridge.com) Real time, dynamic spectrum exchange.
• Intercede (Charlotte, NC -- www.intercedeservices.com) Global provider of intelligent incident and allegation management solutions.
• Blue Square Energy (Northeast, MD -- www.BlueSquareEnergy.com) High-performance, low-cost solar cell manufacturer.
• Qualtré, Inc. (Atlanta, GA -- www.qualtre.com) Supplier of MEMS inertial sensor components.
• NexGenVS LLC (Blacksburg, VA -- www.vidrunner.com) Peer-to-peer live streaming video over mobile devices.
• Chaologix, Inc. (Gainesville, FL -- www.chaologix.com) Morphing logic based semiconductor company.
• BLUERIDGE Analytics, Inc. (Charlotte, NC -- www.siteops.com) Land optimization Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform.
• Innegrity (Greer, SC -- www.innegrity.com) Maker of a high-modulus thermoplastic fiber to enhance fiberglass and carbon in performance composite applications
• Escape Media Group d/b/a Grooveshark (Gainesville, FL -- www.grooveshark.com) P2P Music Sharing Community.

Nine early stage companies will present as part of the Life Science Track, focusing on Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices:

• Abeome Corporation (Atlanta, GA -- www.abeomecorp.com) Monoclonal antibody therapeutics and diagnostics.
• FirstString Research (RTP, NC) A developer of a wound-healing peptide gel.
• ADial Corporation (Keswick, VA) Pharmaceutical drug development company.
• Amulet Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Rockville, MD -- www.amuletpharma.com) A novel treatment for idiopathic and diabetic gastroparesis.
• NextRay (Chapel Hill, NC) Medical device manufacturer.
• SoloHealth (Duluth,GA -- www.solo-health.com) Self-service health screening and digital media.
• OcuCure Therapeutics, Inc. (Roanoke, VA -- www.ocucure.com) Ophthalmic drug development company.
• Precision BioSciences, Inc. (RTP, NC - www.precisionbiosciences.com) Genomic molecular biology.

“This year’s Venture conference promises to feature the most exciting investment opportunities in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions,” said CED Venture conference co-chair Eric Linsley, partner, Pappas Ventures. “Not only does this conference offer access to an intriguing pipeline of companies from pre-seed to mezzanine rounds of funding, but also an impressive range of technologies including cutting edge innovations in Technology, Life Science and Alternative Energy.”

In addition to the presenting companies, CED will once again feature the ever popular Angel Retreat and the 2^nd annual Start Up Speed Dating Session as well as an exciting keynote speaker and insightful panel of industry leaders. More details will be announced soon.

“This is a must-attend event for any investor interested in seeing the best and brightest entrepreneurs and most exciting investment opportunities, all under one roof,” added conference co-chair Linda Daniels, attorney, Ward and Smith, P.A.

About the Council for Entrepreneurial Development

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, headquartered in Research Triangle Park, is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high-impact companies in the Research Triangle, North Carolina and Southeast region. Since 2001, CED has helped triangle-area companies raise over $2.6 billion in venture capital. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. CED is the largest and oldest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 5,000 members representing over 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. For more information, visit www.cednc.org.

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED)
Cassandra Cranston, 919-226-0460
ccranston@cednc.org