CT’s $5 Million Global Venture Challenge Opens Applications to Early-Stage Companies

Connecticut Innovations recently announced the launch of the first-round application period for VentureClash 2019. The global venture challenge is designed to attract early-stage digital health, financial technology (FinTech), insurance technology (InsurTech), and Industry 4.0 companies to Connecticut.

AWARDS

The entire investment award pool is $5 million, with a top investment award of $1.5 million. The remaining $3.5 million will be determined by the judges’ panel on the day of the event.

APPLICATION

The VentureClash challenge launched the first-round application on February 1, 2010. Companies will have until June 7, 2019, to submit the first-round application. After two rounds of judging, approximately 10 companies will be invited to the finals event in Connecticut to compete in person for investment awards. An outside panel of judges will help to determine the winning VentureClash 2019 companies.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible to apply, a company must:

Have been in business for at least 12 months
Have paying customers or customers who are actively testing the applicant’s product
Have a compelling business reason to create a Connecticut presence, which applies to domestic and international applicants
Be focused in digital health, FinTech), InsurTech, or Industry 4.0 (including sustainable materials and resources)

In addition to the annual pitch event, VentureClash will be hosting a pitch competition in Tel Aviv on Thursday, May 23, 2019. The event will invite promising companies from Israel to compete for a $500,000 investment from Connecticut Innovations, a semifinalist spot in VentureClash 2019 and a $5,000 grant to visit Connecticut in August. To apply for the Tel Aviv pitch competition, companies must submit applications by Friday, March 15, 2019.

“There is a dense concentration of fast-growing startups in Tel Aviv,” said Connecticut Innovations CEO Matt McCooe. “Over the past few years, many Israeli companies have competed in our semifinals and finals rounds. This year, we are taking VentureClash to Israel to meet companies that are ready to expand to the United States.”

For more information about qualifications, requirements, guidelines, and application, visit www.ventureclash.com.

About VentureClash
Managed by Connecticut Innovations, VentureClash is Connecticut’s global venture challenge focused on early-stage companies. The challenge, launched in 2016, identifies high-potential companies in digital health, IoT, InsureTech and FinTech that will compete for investments from a $5 million award pool.

About Connecticut Innovations
Connecticut Innovations provides financing and ongoing support for Connecticut’s innovative, growing companies. Connecticut Innovations provides venture capital and strategic support for early-stage technology companies; financial support for innovation and collaboration; and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals. For more information, visit www.ctinnovations.com.

Interested in learning more?

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VentureClash Announces 2018 Winners of Global Investment Challenge

October 26 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Awards 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Connecticut Innovations, digital health, early-stage businesses, early-stage companies, financial technology, fintech, insurance technology, InsurTech, Internet of Things, IoT, technology, VentureClash

Connecticut Innovations announced the winners the 2018 VentureClash Global Venture Challenge. The final pitch event took place Thursday, October 18, at the Yale School of Management in New Haven.

The $5 million global investment challenge provides early-stage companies worldwide with an opportunity to grow their business in Connecticut. The goal is to help speed Digital Health, FinTech, InsurTech and Internet of Things (IoT) innovations to market by awarding capital to promising early-stage companies.

In all, nine companies from six different countries participated in the final pitch event. VentureClash judges awarded six companies with investments, mentoring, and customer introductions to help them grow and succeed.

DOZR Founders Kevin Forestell, Erin Stephenson, and Tim Forestell (left to right). The Canadian startup was a second place winner in the 2018 VentureClash Global Challenge.

The winning companies are required to establish a presence in Connecticut.

Voiceitt received the top investment award of $1.5 million. Based in Israel, Voiceitt is developing the world’s first speech recognition technology designed to understand non-standard speech and help restore communication channels for a combined 10.4 million people in the United States and Europe who suffer from speech disabilities.

Two second-place winners were each awarded a $1 million investment:

DOZR: A Canadian company that has developed a marketplace for the online rental of heavy equipment, enabling business owners to earn additional revenue from their idle equipment and allowing contractors to rent equipment at lower rates than traditional rental companies.
IronYun: A Stamford-based next-generation, artificial intelligence deep-learning, big-data video search business-to-business software company providing enterprise customers with hyper-converged, private cloud computing and big-data video software products.

Three additional finalists were selected to each receive a $500,000 investment award:

CloudKPI: An Irish company developing an insight engine that enables SaaS businesses to predict likely outcomes.
Invixium: A Canadian manufacturer of modern biometric solutions for markets needing strong user authentication, convenience and data analytics.
Paygilant: An Israeli technology company working to prevent mobile payments fraud on mobile devices in the preauthorization phase.

The other finalists were:

Kasko: A London-based digital insurance intermediary bridging the gap between the digital and insurance economies.
Panoply: An Israeli startup developing a smart data warehouse, using machine learning and natural language processing to automate data integration, data management and query optimization.
SnapSwap: A Luxembourg-based company offering white-label end-to-end know-your-customer (KYC) services for financial institutions and businesses.

“The VentureClash competition continues to introduce some of the world’s most innovative and promising early-stage companies to all that Connecticut has to offer,” said Connecticut Innovations CEO Matt McCooe.

“From the initial application period through to the finals, we were so impressed with the caliber of leadership and the depth of innovation represented by the companies involved in the competition,” he added. “We thank them for their efforts and commitment and look forward to working with the companies to help them make Connecticut a center point of their growth strategy.”

The finalists, representing the most promising early-stage companies in digital health, financial technology, insurance technology and the Internet of Things, pitched their ideas in front of a live audience and a panel of judges at the Yale School of Management in New Haven, Conn. The judges included investors and subject-matter experts from Greycroft Partners, Oak HC/FT, Real Ventures, Stanley Ventures, Teamworthy Ventures, Travelers and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

In addition to the company pitches, the pitch event also featured a keynote address from Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology at Yale University, where she serves as Director of the Comparative Cognition Laboratory as well as the Canine Cognition Center, a research facility that studies how dogs think about the world.

The VentureClash competition began with applications from 300 companies from more than 15 countries. After two rounds of judging, nine finalists were named, and they then went on to compete at the live pitch event.

Event partners and sponsors included Aetna; aventri; Bernstein; Boehringer Ingelheim; Diameter Health; Disruptive Technologies; Elm Street Ventures; FML; Harman; Hartford Healthcare; Magellan Health; MasterCard; Medtronic; Nassau Re; NatWest Markets; Payflex; Pitney Bowes; Health Venture; ISG; Stanley, Black & Decker; startlab powered by Bank of Ireland; The Hartford; Shipman & Goodwin; Sikorsky Innovations; Synchrony Financial; Teamworthy Ventures; Travelers; Updike, Kelly & Spellacy; Voya Financial; Webster Bank; Yale University; and Yale University’s Office of Cooperative Research.

About VentureClash

Managed by Connecticut Innovations, VentureClash is Connecticut’s global venture challenge focused on early-stage companies. The challenge, launched in 2016, identifies high-potential companies in digital health, IoT, InsureTech and FinTech that will compete for investments from a $5 million award pool. Visit www.ventureclash.com to learn about qualifications, requirements, guidelines, and how to apply.

About Connecticut Innovations

Connecticut Innovations provides venture capital and strategic support for innovative, early-stage technology companies; financial support for innovation and collaboration; and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals. For more information, visit www.ctinnovations.com.

Interested in learning more about Connecticut Innovations?

Read our interview with Connecticut Innovations CEO Matt McCooe

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Dublin-Based IoT Company Creates CT Presence

March 02 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford IDH Global 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Connecticut Innovations, early-stage companies, global, innovation, Internet of Things, IoT, pitch competition, technology, VentureClash

Dublin-based Internet of Things (IoT) company Davra Networks was one of nine finalists o participate in the 2017 VentureClash Global Venture Challenge.

VentureClash provides early-stage companies worldwide with an opportunity to grow their business in Connecticut. The goal is to help speed Digital Health, FinTech, InsurTech and Internet of Things (IoT) innovations to market by awarding capital to promising early-stage companies.

At the $5 million pitch competition, early-stage companies are joined by experts, investors, entrepreneurs, customers, and educators where finalists will pitch to a panel of judges. With the recognition that it takes more than money to succeed, competitors also receive access to a critical network of customers, investors, mentors, and talent.

Davra Networks CEO Paul Glynn shared information about the company’s innovative IoT product and plans to build a base in Connecticut.

INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: Tell us about your company/when and why did it launch?

PAUL GLYNN: Having sold our previous company, Crannog Software, the core Davra team reformed in 2011 with a few to provide network and connectivity management solutions to the emerging IoT market. We quickly realized that the “T” in IoT is much more important than the “I,” so we expanded our offering to include management and visualization of asset data.

We now partner with some of the biggest technology companies in the industry including Cisco, Intel, Amazon, and Dell all of whom bring solutions to market based on our platform.

IDH: What makes your product innovative?

PAUL: ConnecThing is an application enablement platform (AEP) that enables end users, system integrators, and service providers to develop managed network and data services for the IoT.

Although horizontal in design with functionality and customers in healthcare, mining, utilities, and smart cities, our platform is particularly suited to connected transportation projects with a specific focus in connected fleet, emergency services, mass transit and rail.

IDH: Why do you feel it is important for your company to have a U.S. presence?

PAUL: The United States is the largest market for IoT projects worldwide and will account for more than 50% of our revenues in 2017. Having a local base here to manage our rapidly growing partner channel is long overdue and will greatly enhance our ability to execute right across the Americas.

IDH: What challenges do international businesses face when trying to establish a presence in the United States? Why is Connecticut a good fit?

PAUL: Working across multiple time zones is particularly difficult for startups, as by their nature they don’t have a lot of resources and teams end up working very long days. Once you start to get established and bring more customers online, this becomes increasingly problematic and the “hands-on, relationship-driven” nature of the startup business model comes under pressure.

As an Irish company, having an East Coast office gives us a good section of the day to collaborate but also enables us to seamlessly pass tasks as our European team wind down in the evening.

Also, and maybe quite surprisingly, negative coverage of the high corporate tax rates in Connecticut seems to have created a number of “soft” benefits for smaller companies like ours to relocate with really creative funding mechanisms like VentureClash and support organizations like Innovation Destination: Hartford enhancing the states attractiveness by creating harnesses and support mechanisms not necessarily available elsewhere. Also, direct flights to Dublin help too—I hate layovers!

IDH: How did you become involved with VentureClash?

PAUL: We met the team from Connecticut Innovations at an event in Dublin where they were speaking to Irish startups at the seed and series A stage and the rest is history.

IDH: What did you hope to gain from the experience of participating in VentureClash?

PAUL: It's all about contacts. Getting to engage with and present our story to companies like Stanley Black and Decker, Pitney Bowes, Sikorsky, and Travelers is invaluable and offers us the opportunity of opening business relationships that may have otherwise been a struggle.

Also, VentureClash is a great opportunity to refine our pitch in front of quite a range of judges and investors, many of whom will take a very different view of a company than a traditional venture capitalist would, so all in all it’s a great opportunity and a great experience to be part of the VentureClash program.

IDH: Where do you hope to see the company in one year’s time?

PAUL: At this point, we pretty much know where we’ll be in one years’ time, its two, three, and four years that are harder to judge. That said, having won top prize at VentureClash we’d expect to have a team of six to eight people in Connecticut and have developed a strong (and profitable) working partnership with at least one of the sponsor companies.

Our base in Connecticut would be actively managing a growing partner channel across the United States, Canada and Latin America, and they will have added at least one new high-level vendor partner to our portfolio, which is a key building block of our go-to market strategy.

Having a U.S. presence will allow us to expand our revenues considerably and build on the foundations we’ve already created, so all in all it’s a big milestone and one that we’re excited to get to.

Roll on 2018.

Learn more about Davra Networks

VISIT: www.davranetworks.com
FOLLOW: Facebook and Twitter @davra_iot

Learn about other VentureClash 2017 finalists

Bought By Many – London-Based InsurTech Company Is a Ventureclash Finalist
FRISS – InsurTech Startup from The Netherlands is a VentureClash Finalist
Peekmed – Portuguese Healthcare Startup Creates CT Presence
SCADAfence – Israeli IoT Startup Second Place VentureClash Winner
Telespec – Canadian IoT Startup is a VentureClash Finalist

About Connecticut Innovations
Connecticut Innovations provides venture capital and strategic support for innovative, early-stage technology companies; financial support for innovation and collaboration; and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals. For more information, visit www.ctinnovations.com or read our interview with Connecticut Innovations CEO Matt McCooe.

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Hartford Incubator Making a Name Outside of Connecticut

January 02 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Initiatives 0 comments Tags: Connecticut Innovations, Hartford, incubator, MetroHartford Alliance, reSET, startup, startups, Upward Hartford, VentureClash

This story originally appeared in the Hartford Courant January 2, 2018.

Ojala Naeem is Managing Director at reSET.

Ojala Naeem was nervous when reSET, the Hartford startup-business incubator she directs, raised the bar for its latest round of applications, limiting entry into its 4-month program to businesses already generating investments or revenue.

Naeem hoped the new requirement would help attract successful businesses ready for growth, even if it significantly thinned the field. Instead, the “impact accelerator” program got 110 applications—triple what reSET received in 2016 and a sign that word may be getting out that Connecticut is open for business.

Through early December, applications streamed in from the major innovation hubs of New York City, Boston and Silicon Valley; from the United Kingdom and Canada; from India and Azerbaijan, Brazil and Haiti, Hungary and Malawi, Mexico and Spain, and a dozen other countries.

“We were banking on getting some companies from other places,” Naeem said. “That was a big shift we made that really worked out.”

The 22 companies that ultimately enrolled with reSET will spend January through May in Hartford, working with mentors, meeting prospective clients, attending business workshops and planning their growth—growth that may take root in this state.

reSET, a Hartford nonprofit, is funded by the state and a consortium of businesses, including the MetroHartford Alliance and the Walker Group, a Farmington-based digital and technology consultant. Since its creation in 2007, reSET says it has awarded more than $250,000 to new and growing businesses, and its graduates have generated $4.4 million in revenue.

That desire to foster economic development in the state is partly why 14 of this year’s participants are Connecticut-based, Naeem said. Still, eight out-of-state startups made the cut as well, including a California-based company co-founded by the former chief technology officer of StubHub, an Israeli company that’s already renting a desk at Upward Hartford, a co-working space on Church Street.

Last year, the impact accelerator did not even have eight out-of-state options, just two companies from Massachusetts and one from Chile. This year, 65 companies applied from numerous states and 22 countries.

Boaz Zilberman is CEO of Project Ray, a 4-year-old Israeli company developing smartphones and apps for the blind, and now new member of reSET’s impact accelerator. The company started renting office space in Hartford this year after meeting Upward Hartford CEO Shana Schlossberg, who does regular outreach to Israeli companies.

Project Ray also recently received a $150,000 loan from Connecticut Innovations. But Zilberman says he’s known of reSET for more than a year, because the nonprofit has a good reputation among Israeli social impact ventures.

“Once I got to Hartford, it became natural to approach them,” he said. “This is the type of ecosystem we need in order to bring in business, to push it forward.”

The new cohort also has three companies from New York City, though the major startup community has at least 20 incubators and accelerators of its own.

But Barak Oksayan, whose company Tatjack is developing an app to match tattoo artists with clients, says there’s an appeal to swimming in a smaller pond, like Connecticut.

Whereas networking events in New York yielded lots of introductions but few connections, Oksayan eventually found a mentor in Eric Knight, an entrepreneur-in-residence at reSET.

“I started going to his advising sessions. I was driving up two hours from New York City to talk to him only 30 minutes,” Oksayan said with a laugh.

From there, reSET reached out to encourage Tatjack to apply to the impact accelerator. “If we get investment from Connecticut, I might just move my headquarters there,” he said. “We can do this anywhere. If the opportunity comes, why not?”

Zilberman said he still thinks Washington, D.C., could be the ideal location for his first international office, but he echoed Oksayan’s praise of smaller cities and lesser-known states.

“For a company actually building a startup, to be in New York or Boston is extremely expensive. And second, you are one of too many other companies like you,” he said. “Here there is a small enough community we can get an initial impact quite rapidly.”

The impact acclerator at reSET is not alone in expanding its reach beyond the state.

The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology has seen about a 10 percent increase in out-of-state business over the past year at its Advanced Manufacturing Center, thanks to relationships with businesses in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Florida and even Alaska, says spokesman Silvio Albino.

VentureClash, a $5 million international business challenge run by Connecticut Innovations—the state’s venture capital firm—also saw a spike in interest this year.

The pitch-off competition had 285 applications in 2017, up from 165 in 2016, according to CI spokesperson Lauren Carmody.

She, too, said the increased demand is a sign that the state’s reputation is finally starting to change in the eyes of entrepreneurs.

Carmody said the evidence goes beyond successful programs like the impact accelerator, or competitions like VentureClash.

On December 5, Stanley Black & Decker Inc. announced plans to open an advanced manufacturing training and research center in downtown Hartford next year, with a focus on cyber technology, the internet of things, cloud computing, robotics and 3-D printing.

Four days earlier, the Hartford InsurTech Hub unveiled its own inaugural cohort of 11 startups chosen from 1,000 applications. They’ll relocate to the city in January for a three-month accelerator program run by Startupbootcamp, a global leader in the creation of startup hubs.

“We think this is the start of something very, very good,” Carmody said. “There have been the beginnings of this for a long, long time but we think right now we’re establishing some critical mass.”

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London-Based InsurTech Company is a VentureClash Finalist

November 20 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford IDH Global 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Connecticut Innovations, early-stage companies, global, innovation, InsurTech, pitch competition, technology, VentureClash

London-based InsurTech company Bought By Many was one of nine finalists to participate in the 2017 VentureClash Global Venture Challenge.

Bought By Many CEO & Co-Founder Steven Mendel shared information about the company’s innovative InsurTech products and plans for the future.

INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: When and why did Bought By Many launch?

STEVEN MENDEL: Bought By Many launched in 2012. I founded it with Guy Farley, who I’d met at Close Brothers Group, a U.K.-based merchant banking group. I came up with the business concept when I left a corporate job and tried to get the same healthcare package I was receiving with company benefits.

It was the same insurer, family, and product, but it was four times more expensive to buy it on my own than as part of my employment.

While there is an extra admin cost involved in dealing with an individual, it’s mostly about the balance of power.

SM: The mission of Bought By Many was to level the insurance playing field, rounding up groups of individuals to give them greater buying power.

We still negotiate deals for our groups but we found many of our members raised issues about fundamental problems and gaps in cover in existing insurance products. That led us to start designing our own insurance products.

IDH: Tell us about your products What makes them innovative?

SM: We launched our own pet insurance this year. It has a range of policies with unique features, such as money back if you don’t claim and cover for pre-existing medical conditions. We plan to launch products in other lines of insurance soon.

Bought By Many also works with international partners. We offer a range of services, including analysis of millions of lines of online insurance searches to identify gaps in regional markets that partners could focus on.

We use online insurance search data to find gaps in the market so we can create groups for people with specific insurance needs. We then either negotiate deals with insurers or create our own products for members of our groups.

Bought By Many also uses social media to identify audiences with similar insurance and micro-target them with advertisements for our unique products.

IDH: What challenges do international businesses face when trying to establish a presence in the United States? Why is Connecticut a good fit?

SM: From our research, one of the biggest barriers to insurance innovation in the United States is state-by-state financial regulation. It can increase setup costs and slow growth.

From what we’ve seen, Connecticut has a lot of insurance and InsurTech talent. For businesses looking to expand internationally it’s important to find people who have the right skills, knowledge of the industry, and (this is often overlooked) fit in with the company’s culture.

Connecticut’s location is also beneficial for European companies. Because it’s on the east coast there is a good cross-over of business hours.

IDH: How did Bought By Many become involved with VentureClash?

SM: Someone from the New York office of Octopus Ventures (one of our investors) suggested we enter.

Having only heard about VentureClash a few days before the entry deadline, we’re delighted to have progressed so far in the competition. It’s great to know we’re recognized as one of Europe’s leading InsurTech companies by organizations and competitions in other countries. We’re looking forward to meeting the other firms in the competition at the final event.

IDH: What do you hope to gain from the experience of participating in VentureClash?

SM: We entered to raise our profile outside of the United Kingdom and gain contacts who will be able to help with a soft landing if we do decide to launch in the United States.

It’s also been great to think about the questions VentureClash has asked us and how we present ourselves. It fosters team learning and is a good way to highlight and celebrate our achievements.

IDH: Where do you hope to see the company in one year’s time?

SM: Bought By Many will continue to grow. We have more than 380,000 members and we expect to add hundreds of thousands more to that number in the next year. We will launch new products and explore how we can help individuals find better insurance in other countries.

For more information about Bought By Many, visit boughtbymany.com

Learn about other VentureClash 2017 finalists:

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Israeli IoT Startup Second Place VentureClash Winner

November 02 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford IDH Global 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Connecticut Innovations, early-stage companies, global, innovation, Internet of Things, IoT, pitch competition, technology, VentureClash

SCADAfence Co-Founder & CEO Yoni Shohet.

Based out of Tel Aviv, SCADAfence was a second place $1 million award winner at VentureClash. The company was one of nine finalists in the 2017 Global Venture Challenge.

SCADAfence Co-Founder & CEO Yoni Shohet explained why he feels Connecticut is a good fit for his IoT company.

INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: Tell us about your company and the products it provides.

YONI SHOHET: SCADAfence is a pioneer in securing industrial networks in the smart manufacturing and critical infrastructure sectors from cyber threats.

As part of the Industrial IoT Revolution, industrial companies are adopting advanced technologies and, while these technologies increase productivity and reduce costs, they expose mission-critical systems to new risks, such as operational downtime, product manipulation, ransomware attacks and theft of sensitive proprietary information.

SCADAfence offers passive solutions for operational technology (OT) environments such as industrial control systems (ICS) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) networks. Our solutions are designed to provide visibility of day-to-day operations, detection of malicious cyber-attacks as well as non-malicious operational threats, and risk management tools—without risking production environment availability.

IDH: Why do you feel it is important for your company to have a U.S. presence?

YS: The United States is an important manufacturing hub with many major manufacturers. Therefore, SCADAfence has focused and will focus great efforts in the U.S. market.

IDH: What challenges do international businesses face when trying to establish a presence in the United States? Why is Connecticut a good fit?

YS: For an international business to establish a presence in the United States, it’s critical to be located near your customer base. Connecticut provides great access to our customer base.

IDH: What do you hope to gain from the experience of participating in VentureClash?

YS: I hope to further expand my network and gain good connections that will help us expand our activity in the United States.

For more information about SCADAfence visit www.scadafence.com or follow on Twitter @SCADAfence.

Learn about other VentureClash 2017 finalists:

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Canadian IoT Startup is a VentureClash Finalist

October 26 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford IDH Global 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Connecticut Innovations, early-stage companies, global, innovation, Internet of Things, IoT, pitch competition, VentureClash

Tellspec was one of nine finalists in the 2017 VentureClash Global Venture Challenge.

Isabel Hoffmann, Founder and CEO of the Canadian startup, told Innovation Destination Hartford about the company’s IoT solution and why Connecticut is an ideal business location.

INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: Tell us about your company.

ISABEL HOFFMANN: Tellspec is addressing a global need to reduce food fraud, improve food safety, minimize food waste, protect the food industry, and empower consumers.

We are an IoT company that enables data-driven decisions about food quality, safety, and authenticity across the complete food supply chain. We have developed an affordable device and a cloud platform that can test food in less than 10 seconds. Our disruptive technology maximizes food safety and minimizes food waste.

Food fraud costs the food industry more than $15-billion per year and there are 76 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States with 5,000 deaths per year.

Food fraud damages industry value and has a negative effect on consumer trust. Food waste is another issue we are trying to address. It squanders resources and causes needless production of greenhouse gases. Approximately 60% of food waste can be avoided with quality testing quality.

IDH: When did Tellspec launch?

IH: We incorporated in 2013 and launched our first sensor in late 2015.

IDH: How does the sensor work?

IH: Our cloud platform allows the integration of spectral sensors, which are sensors that use spectroscopy. In very simple terms, spectroscopy measures the light absorbed by a material to identify and quantify that substance. The amount of light that a material absorbs at different wavelengths makes a unique fingerprint. The combination of the fingerprints of the substances in that material can tell you what substances are present and in what amounts.

IDH: Why do you feel it important for your company to have a U.S. presence?

The United States is a big market. As a Canadian company it is always far better to have our headquarters in the United States versus Canada. We have had some great success in Europe where our sensors are used by food producers, distributors, retailers, and even a few clinics. We even had nine different European awards in less than 12 months. Now we need to grow our North American presence.

IDH: Why is Connecticut a good fit for your company?

IH: Connecticut is ideal because it has great universities and biotech and health companies. It is also close to New York City and Boston, which are great economic centers in the United States. We also want to explore manufacturing opportunities in Connecticut.

IDH: How did you become involved with VentureClash?

IH: We were invited to participate through an email from Connecticut Innovations’s CEO to asking us to enter this competition. And we are glad we did.

IDH: What do you hope to gain from the experience of participating in VentureClash?

IH: We hope to win one of the top awards. So far, it has been great and very fruitful working with the team at Connecticut Innovations. We have been introduced to several companies in the United States that can use our technology. We have also met companies that use similar technologies. VentureClash is by far the best experience we have had with respect to business opportunities.

IDH: Where do you hope to see the company in one year’s time?

IH: I hope we will have a lab and an office near Yale University and that we will be working with several U.S. companies to integrate our technology in their production or process. I also hope our U.S. team will be the largest team we have.

For more information about Tellspec, visit tellspec.com and follow on Facebook, Twitter @TellSpec, and Instagram @tellspec_inc.

Learn about other VentureClash 2017 finalists

FRISS: InsurTech Startup from The Netherlands Wins Big at VentureClash 2017

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InsurTech Startup from The Netherlands Wins Big at VentureClash 2017

October 25 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford Awards, IDH Global 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Connecticut Innovations, early-stage companies, global, innovation, InsurTech, pitch competition, VentureClash

Based out of The Netherlands, FRISS received the top investment award of $1.5 million at VentureClash last week. The company was one of nine finalists in the 2017 Global Venture Challenge.

Jeroen Morrenhof, CEO of FRISS, told Innovation Destination Hartford about why Connecticut is a good fit for his InsurTech company and shared some plans for future goals.

INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: Tell us about your company/when and why did it launch?

JEROEN MORRENHOF: Insurance fraud is a big problem. From our figures, we know that at least one out of 10 claims are fraudulent or dishonest. Our question to insurer companies is: Why should sincere customers bear the risk brought in by others?

In 2006, we founded FRISS based on the strong belief that sincere people should not be paying for dishonest people’s behavior. At that time, fraud was not on the agenda of the boards of insurance companies.

From day one, we have been on a quest for honest insurance. This means we help insurers to detect fraudulent behavior and to make better decisions with underwriting and claim processes while helping them to stay compliant with ever-changing rules and regulations. Our mission is to strive for a trustworthy insurance industry, healthy insurance portfolios, and fair insurance premiums.

IDH: What makes your services innovative?

JM: FRISS is 100% focused and dedicated to fraud detection and risk mitigation for non-life insurance companies worldwide. Our real-time business solutions for underwriting, claims, investigations, and compliance are ready-to-use. The solutions deliver the FRISS Score, a reliable risk indication, to more than 120 insurers worldwide. The FRISS Score enables companies to make reliable and objective decisions about quotations, policies, and claims across all private and commercial lines.

IDH: Why do you feel it is important for your company to have a U.S. presence?

JM: Non-life (or P&C) insurance is a vast global market. At the moment, FRISS is European market leader. Together with the United States, these territories count for 70% of the total market, where the United States alone has a 41% share. There is ample opportunity for further usage of fraud analytics solutions. It’s fueled by market digitalization, straight-through-processing, and the need for predictive modeling.

Gartner recently published the Hype Cycle for P&C Insurers, in which it states that only between 5% and 20% of P&C insurers adopted a solution for fraud analytics. Looking at our mission, we strongly believe the United States is definitely a territory where we can make a difference in making insurance more honest.

IDH: What challenges do international businesses face when trying to establish a presence in the United States?

JM: Doing business in the United States is like doing business in Europe. You cannot look at the continent as being one region. From state to state there are huge differences; the same goes for the various countries in Europe. If you are successful in Greece, it does not mean the same exact model will work in Sweden. Apart from that, we face cultural differences as Europeans are typical more modest than necessary.

We have years of insurance experience from customer implementations as well as from our employees, who often have backgrounds in insurance. That stallgeruch, as we like to call it, benefits every prospect and customer.

Therefore, we put a lot of effort into analyzing and understanding where opportunities for FRISS are most worthwhile. We did so with the different countries in Europe. We did the same when looking at the U.S.

How/why is Connecticut a good fit?

JM: We evaluated states in the United States based on a great number of criteria. Our conclusion was that when looking at the size of the non-life insurance market, the amount of skilled people and resources available, and the cultural fit and ease of doing business, Connecticut scored high on all these qualifications.

IDH: How did you become involved with VentureClash?

JM: We had our first encounter with VentureClash at the Digital Insurance Agenda (DIA) event in Amsterdam, where we won the DIAmond award for our pitch. Our encounter coincided perfectly with our plans to seek an investor and conquer the U.S. market.

IDH: What do you hope to gain from the experience of participating in VentureClash?

JM: Aside from our goal to win the competition, we wanted to get as much feedback as we can about our branding, positioning, presentation, and opportunities. From the interactions leading to the finals we already had many valuable introductions that will help us land in the United States.

IDH: Where do you hope to see the company in one year’s time?

JM: Our vision is to become the global standard for honest insurance by 2025. We work hard to reach that goal. In the niche market we serve, we managed to achieve this in only 10 years’ time in The Netherlands, in Europe and are now on our way to the Americas.

One year from now, I hope to see that our mission landed at U.S. insurers and we have inspired the boards of various U.S. insurers to work with us on a trustworthy insurance industry. And, on a personal level, I hope my family and I have settled in Connecticut and are ready for more adventures to come.

Learn more about FRISS at www.friss.com.

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VentureClash Announces Winners of Global Investment Challenge

October 24 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford Awards 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Connecticut Innovations, digital health, early-stage businesses, early-stage companies, financial technology, fintech, insurance technology, InsurTech, Internet of Things, IoT, technology, VentureClash

Connecticut Innovations announced the winners of the 2017 VentureClash Global Venture Challenge.

The VentureClash competition began with applications from 285 companies from more than 20 countries. After two rigorous rounds of judging, nine finalists were named. On October 20 they pitched their ideas in front of a live audience and a panel of judges at the Yale School of Management in New Haven, CT.

The judges included investors and subject-matter experts from 1843 Capital, Elm Street Ventures, Greycroft Partners, The Hartford, and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). In addition to the company pitches, the VentureClash program also included a keynote address from Tim Armstrong, CEO of Oath.

Of the nine finalists from seven different countries, VentureClash awarded six companies with investments, mentoring, customer introductions, grants, and services to help them grow and succeed.

The winning companies are required to establish a presence in Connecticut.

Investment Awards:

FRISS received the top investment award of $1.5 million. Based in the Netherlands, Friss uses proprietary analytics software to provide state-of-the-art solutions in the fields of fraud, risk and compliance for the insurance industry.
Learn more about FRISS in our feature story: Insurtech Startup from The Netherlands Is a Ventureclash Finalist

Two second-place winners will each receive a $1 million investment:

SCADAfence, Israel – Securing mission-critical industrial networks from cyber threats and reducing the risk of connecting multiple devices in industries such as manufacturing, utilities, oil, and gas.

Vouchr, Canada — Creating a secure, payment-agnostic tool that enables users to bundle transfers of funds with photos, videos, social networking, and gamification.

Three companies will each receive a $500,000 investment award:

Buzzmove, United Kingdom – Developing a price-comparison and instant-booking platform for all services related to moving and the right level of insurance needed to cover moving-related services.
Davra Networks, Ireland – Providing a complete IoT platform that enables customers to define, build and bring to market vertical-specific IoT applications while collecting and easily sharing data.
EAVE, United Kingdom – Working on developing the next generation of hearing protection and communication technology, utilizing noise cancellation and speech enhancement to eliminate noise-induced hearing loss.

“The talent in this year’s competition was incredible,” said Matt McCooe, CEO of Connecticut Innovations. “Judges struggled to make the decision, but in the end, FRISS took home the top award because of its strength in the space and ability to disrupt here in the United States.”

The other finalists included:

Bought By Many, United Kingdon – An interactive members-only service offering targeted insurance opportunities designed to efficiently help individuals find insurance customized to their needs.
PeekMed, Portugal – Offering powerful 3-D preoperative planning software for orthopedic surgery that aims to help the surgeon better treat the patient while reducing costs and surgical times.
Tellspec, Canada – A data company with the ability to scan food, offering non-destructive real-time food testing for quality control, authentication, safety, and nutritional value.

Interested in learning more about Connecticut Innovations?
Read our interview with Connecticut Innovations CEO Matt McCooe

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Top Ten Reasons It Is Time for You to Raise American Venture Capital

May 18 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford Blog 0 comments Tags: Connecticut Innovations, entrepreneur resources, raising venture capital, VentureClash

10. You are unafraid to scale fast or fail fast.

9. Your company nailed product-market fit, your customers value what you are doing and they’re willing to pay your asking price.

8. Your company is growing and you raised some investor capital. Yet, you are spending too much time raising additional funding and not enough time adding value to your enterprise. You are ready to tap into the massive supply of venture capital in the United States.

7. Competition in the United States is ferocious—and that excites you. Some of your U.S. competitors are likely to be well funded and well managed, with large networks to draw upon. You want to come up against the best, and to push your company to be the best in every market.

6. You understand that the war for talent is global, and you know the benefits of having a diverse team with varied cultures, languages and skill sets. And you know you need help getting the best on board.

5. Marketing, storytelling and user experience are vital to the success of your company—you get it, but you know it is done differently in the United States. In a time of accelerating change, you believe great marketing will keep you in the game even when your competitors catch up to you. You are willing to adapt your marketing to achieve success in foreign markets.

4. There are a multitude of advisors and partners who can help you with visas, real estate, regulations…you want the right ones.

3. You understand that getting access to key decision makers at potential customer and partner organizations can take years of industry and local experience. You are not afraid to ask for help, ask for the meeting and ask for the business. You just need the right introductions.

2. You want to maximize the potential rewards for your business’s success, and you want to take your shot in another market where exits are frequent and large scale.

1. You heard about VentureClash, Connecticut’s $5M global venture challenge. You think you are going to be the winner. You win.

About the Author
Matthew McCooe is Chief Executive Officer at Connecticut Innovations.

Learn more about Connecticut Innovations, read our story Connecticut Innovations: Contributing to Growth in CT
Applications for VentureClash 2017 are open until June 9. Find out more, read Global Venture Challenge Opens Applications to Early-Stage Companies

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CT’s $5 Million Global Venture Challenge Opens Applications to Early-Stage Companies