Contact
- Kristin Osborne
- Communications Manager
- (206) 389-7320
- Text 100 Public Relations
- Carol Rogalski
- (206) 267-2024
- carolr@text100.com
Alliance of Angels Recognizes First "Start Up Company of the Year" At Annual Technology Alliance Luncheon
Neah Power Systems Receives Top Honors
SEATTLE, WA - May 10, 2004 - The Alliance of Angels, the Northwest's premier non-profit angel investment organization, today awarded its first Start Up of the Year Award to Bothell-based Neah Power Systems, Inc. at the annual Technology Alliance luncheon. The award honors and encourages the entrepreneurial spirit of new businesses in the Pacific Northwest.
Neah Power, founded in 1999, is a micro-fuel cell development company using a patent-pending, silicon-based design to provide long-lasting, efficient and safe power solutions for portable electronic devices, including notebook PCs and other power-hungry computer, entertainment, and communications products. As an emerging leader in fuel cell technology and design, Neah Power products are expected to allow users to extend the operating time of their devices multiple times beyond that of conventional batteries.
"It is wonderful to see a young entrepreneur such as Neah Power Founder Leroy Ohlsen apply such tremendous passion to solve a difficult problem in a truly innovative way," said Susannah Malarkey, executive director for the Technology Alliance. "The business Neah Power is creating has incredible potential to create an entirely new industry in Western Washington."
From a group of 200 companies that have presented to Alliance of Angels members since 1998, a ten-member committee of Alliance of Angels leaders used a comprehensive review process to select the five finalists for the Start Up of the Year Award. Each had to have received angel or venture capital funding and made significant and notable high-growth progress as a result. Another requirement was that the company made a positive impact upon the technology economy.
The five finalists then presented to Alliance of Angels investors a review of their accomplishments over the last three years, including milestones regarding technology development, management team, market penetration, financing and other value creation.
The other four finalists include the Insitu Group, based in Bingen, Washington; SunStream Corporation, headquartered in Kent; Seattle-based Vigilos and Bellevue's VoteHere.
The Insitu Group, founded by Tad McGeer and located on the Columbia River, is a pioneer developer of low cost, long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Active since 1994, the company's miniature robotic aircraft are being used and tested for applications in meteorology, surveillance, communications relay, geophysical measurements and other military applications.
SunStream Corporation was co-founded as Design Tech in 1992 by president and CEO Kenneth E. Hey and his wife Debra. Sunstream makes high-speed hydraulic, remote-controlled boat lifts. In 2002, the company was recognized on the Inc. 500 list as one of the fastest growing companies nationally over five years and was ranked number four for Washington State. The Puget Sound Business Journal also named the company one of the fastest growing private companies in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Founded in 1996 by Jim Adler, VoteHere is an industry leader in developing secure e-voting software through the use of patented security protocols and the world's most advanced election technology. The company's technology has been used in over 90 elections in the United States and Europe, for over 50 worldwide clients and partners, reaching nearly 13 million voters.
Vigilos, founded in 2000 by Geoffrey Barker, is a physical security solution company that uses advanced technology to solve security challenges. The company focuses on improving the protection of people and property through the smart integration of security environments with network-based software and services. By breaking through the limitations of traditional security approaches and software, the Vigilos solution quickly improves security, safety and productivity, while reducing costs, errors and time spent on security issues.