LaunchMemphis Early Stage Investment Forum was recently featured in the Memphis Business Journal.  Friday, May 2, 2008 LaunchMemphis seeks to match investors with local entrepreneurs Memphis Business Journal – by Einat Paz-Frankel Staff writer There’s talent and money in Memphis, but they don’t always meet. LaunchMemphis, a group of local technology leaders, aims to change that by connecting investors to startup companies and Memphis entrepreneurs. The group says many local venture capitalists invest in companies outside Memphis, which is part of the reason why many brilliant ideas born in Memphis never make it to market. In a series of events starting May 8, LaunchMemphis will attempt to engage both entrepreneurs and investors in advancing technology locally. “When growing a successful science or a technology-based company, you can find the right ingredients within the grassroots infrastructure of LaunchMemphis,” says venture capitalist Eric Mathews, principal of Mercury Technology Labs LLC, who co-created LaunchMemphis with attorney Harry Brown. “From finding a new management team member to tracking down funding, the events organized can help entrepreneurs take their idea from the back of a napkin to the next level.” The most significant event for those entrepreneurs seeking funding, the LaunchMemphis Early Stage Investment Forum, will take place June 9 at the University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology. Applications for funding — or, rather, for the opportunity to pitch your idea to investors at the forum — will be accepted through May 16. Lori Turner, managing partner at The RedRover Co. and one of

Innova Lunch-n-Learn with LaunchMemphis — The LaunchLunch May 13th, 2008 — 11:30am- 1:00pm Location: Bioworks Additorium on the 1st Floor Speaker: Kevin Boggs, Director of Technology Transfer, University of Memphis Topic: “Technology Transfer: Working with researchers and industry to develop innovative products, while supporting local economic development and making our world a better place.” RSVP if Attending to Courdria Pointer — cpointer@memphisbioworks.org Description of Talk  Our standard of living improves when the productivity of our industries increases and the goods and services they produce are better and more efficient. These improvements depend on innovative research. Universities and research institutes are the dominant source of basic science in the U.S, while industry has the capability to develop products and services based on that science. Kevin Boggs, Director of Technology Transfer at the University of Memphis, will discuss ways that academic technology transfer helps bring science and industry together to provide the next generation of innovative products, support small business formation and foster local economic development.    About Kevin Boggs  Kevin Boggs was most recently Director of Business Development at Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC), a biotechnology company spun-out from the University of Florida. AGTC received over $30MM in funding from leading national venture capital firms and its lead product is in Phase I clinical trials. As a member of the Executive Management Team at AGTC, Dr. Boggs was responsible for identifying and evaluating new product development opportunities and negotiating IP licenses required to secure market exclusivity. Before joining AGTC, Kevin was

Thank you for your interest in Memphis BarCamp. We want everyone to have the opportunity to attend the event.  The reason we have discount codes is to allow you to pick a price that fits your budget.  The only thing we ask in return for a discount is that you do one or all of the following: 1) send a message to your friends and colleagues about Memphis BarCamp and encourage them (if they are interested) to join us for the conference 2) send a letter to the editor of the Commercial Appeal either before the conference or after the conference on why it is important for these and other events that LaunchMemphis puts together to continue 3) blog, tweet (twitter.com), utter (utterli.com), Zannel (Zannel.com), Facebook, etc. about BarCamp before, during, and after the conference Or 4) any other way you can communicate to others the value of BarCamp to you personally and why others should attend (or should have been there). Now for the discount . . . It is estimated that your participation in BarCamp will cost around $40.  In order to cover these costs, we ask that you pay what you can at registration.  No one will know how much you paid at registration so don’t worry about that.  The discount codes are placed below.  Use a code that fits your budget. See you on November 7th and 8th, LaunchMemphis Founders Code                    Discount 25OffMemphis       25.00% Off $40 (or $30 for you) HalfOffMemphis     50.00% Off $40 (or $20

Memphis Startup Weekend was recently featured in the Memphis Business Journal.  Check it out here . . . Memphis Business Journal Friday, February 22, 2008 Next great company could be in Memphis After beating out such cities as San Diego and Indianapolis, the city of Memphis was selected to be the next site for Startup Weekend — an event that aims to bring together local entrepreneurs with the goal of creating a real company in just 54 hours. Memphis will join cities such as San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., which have all hosted Startup Weekend events. “Over 600 people in Memphis have said we want Startup Weekend here,” says Eric Matthews, Mercury Technology Labs founder, who is helping organize the event. “It is a real testimony to what people want here as far as building an entrepreneurial community.” Matthews says Memphis Startup Weekend will be held May 30-June 1 and will be hosted at EmergeMemphis at 516 Tennessee St. EmergeMemphis is helping organize the event along with Matthews and Harry Brown, a local entrepreneur. At the event, participants will decide on an idea for a company the first night. After a decision has been made on a company, participants will split up and work on all the issues that come with starting a company — from branding to public relations. Participants will be rewarded with shares of the company, which ideally could become operational in the future. Matthews says five of the original Startup Weekend businesses are still around

Memphis Startup Weekend was recently featured in the Daily News.  Check it out here . . . Thursday, March 06, 2008 Biz Startup Event Slated for Late May ROSALIND GUY | The Daily News | The possibilities are endless. With a group of 100 people, experts in various fields and many different visions, there’s no telling what ideas will come out of the weekend event that br…. Read The Full Story

LaunchMemphis was recently established by Memphis area leaders to grow an entrepreneurial community. By undertaking a series of events throughout the year all designed to bring focus to entrepreneurial activities in Memphis, TN, we hope to deliver new technology business startups to our economy. While we will be working to expand LaunchMemphis activities to be year round, our present focus is on a series of activities to occur in late Spring and early Summer of 2008.  We will kick off the activities with a networking event focused on technology and startups and end with an investor forum where startup companies at the seed or venture stage can pitch for funding to move forward. This year, we have the privilege of hosting Startup Weekend in Memphis, a national program in which a new startup business is created in 52 hours by Memphians. For more information visit our Events Page.

LaunchMemphis is moving forward with a series of events to stimulate entrepreneurship in the Mid-South. We hope you will join us in growing a rich startup community and building new business ventures.   LaunchMemphis Kick-off: Tech Fuel Technology and Startup Networking Event May 8th, 2008, 5pm-7pm Location: Fox and Hound (5101 Sanderlin Ave) Sponsors: Pending Inspired by other networking events occurring across the country like Tech Cocktail, the LaunchMemphis Kick-off is designed for technologists, entrepreneurs, media (bloggers), and other business professionals to meet, and share ideas in a fun and open atmosphere. The event is open to the public. With the LaunchMemphis Kick-off we hope to see the Memphis tech community better connected. These networking events we hope to continue quarterly. Innova/Bioworks LaunchLunch with Speaker Dr. Kevin Boggs on Technology Transfer Spin-Off Companies May 13th, 2008, 11:30am Networking begins, 12:00pm Program begins Location: Bioworks Sponsors: Innova RSVP if Attending to Courdria Pointer — cpointer@memphisbioworks.org The purpose of this program is to connect audience members with others drawn to a speaker by similar interests, while providing the benefits of an educational forum on a critical topic. Startup Weekend Participant Gathering in conjunction with FedEx Institute May 22nd, 2008, 5:30pm to 7:30pm Location: FedEx Institute of Technology Sponsors: FedEx Institute of Technology, Boscos Beer For the those participants that have registered for Startup Weekend in Memphis, this event will provide an opportunity for the founders to network and get familiar with knowledge, skills, and backgrounds of fellow founders. This is to directly address