Arizona Commerce Authority Announces Fall 2013 Arizona Innovation Challenge Grant Winners

 

PHOENIX, AZ (December 17, 2013) — The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) today announced the six winning companies in its Fall 2013 Arizona Innovation Challenge (AIC). These grant recipients represent innovative Arizona entrepreneurs who are creating technological solutions with the potential for global impact:

  • Clear Demand, Scottsdale, AZ (IT – Software): Clear Demand is the developer of a retail pricing solution that synchronizes and optimizes prices, promotions and markdowns of products online and in-store. This solution produces a consistent brand and shopping experience for customers and helps retailers establish competitive pricing to increase revenues and improve their operating margins.
  • Contatta, Scottsdale, AZ (IT – Software): Contatta is the developer of a cloud-based software solution that brings together all the ways you make contact into a single, intuitive email application you can use anywhere, on any device. This solution streamlines how businesspeople sell, communicate, collaborate, work and make contact with their customers and clients.
  • Delivery-IT, Phoenix, AZ (IT – Software): Delivery-IT is the developer of a same-day delivery management platform that enables brick-and-mortar retailers to provide their customers with same-day delivery services from their local stores or distribution centers.
  • Photon Medical Communications, Phoenix, AZ (IT – Software): Photon Medical Communications is the creator of Photon, a HIPAA-compliant communication platform that uses push-notification technology to contact on-call physicians through their mobile smart devices. This platform securely delivers a complete package of electronic medical records, high-resolution images, diagnostics, ER notes and test results that allows physicians to share confidential patient information to improve patient outcomes.
  • Recoleta Digital Media, Tucson, AZ (IT – Software): Recoleta Digital Media is the creator of a Personal Grocery Circular system designed to help grocers showcase their product offers to loyalty card members. This digital platform aggregates and presents 150 individually-relevant discount offers to shoppers and allows them to access weekly deals and digital coupons via email link, mobile smart devices and grocer websites.
  • Yolia Health, Peoria, AZ (Bio & Life Sciences): Yolia Health is the creator of a non-invasive, five-day eye treatment that corrects presbyopia, an age-related condition affecting people older than 40 from reading or doing close-up work without corrective lenses. The company’s True Vision Treatment combines customized contact lenses with specially formulated eye drops to modify a patient’s cornea, leading to corrected vision for up to one year per treatment.

“Our state’s dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to produce and attract companies that are developing technologies in Arizona that are adding value to businesses and providing innovative solutions to address real-world problems,” said Sandra Watson, President and CEO, Arizona Commerce Authority. “The Arizona Innovation Challenge has established a platform for entrepreneurs to amplify their success and gain commercial traction in the marketplace, which is positioning Arizona as a best place for business and capital investment – it continues to be a magnet for promising technology and biotech startups that are transforming Arizona into a hub of innovation and growth.”

 

Under the Arizona Commerce Authority, four rounds of the AIC have been completed with a total of 651 companies participating in the program. Since 2012, the ACA has awarded 24 AIC grants to Arizona’s entrepreneurs to help them accelerate their businesses and advance technologies, which are diversifying Arizona’s innovation economy. Winners from the previous Spring 2013 round, are among the many AIC companies that have leveraged their awards to create impact in their fields.

 

“Winning an AIC grant has had tremendous impact on our business – the capital has allowed us to expand and transition our research-focused lab to a commercialize testing facility for patient specimens, begin to attain a critical federal CLIA certification for laboratory testing, advance the clinical trial of our early cancer detection screen product LungVantage, and file an application for a full product patent this year,” said David Mallery, President and Co-founder, Viomics, a spring 2013 AIC grant winner in Phoenix. “As a result of this support, our credibility has multiplied with additional investors and new collaborators, and has primed our company for the commercial launch of our LungVantage test to the U.S. market by early 2014 to help patients better catch lung cancer at an earlier, more treatable stage.”

 

“This award has enabled Nasseo to secure FDA clearance of its groundbreaking nanotech surface technology, the TiArray Dental Implant, and to launch human clinical trials that we will begin next year in Arizona,” said Dr. Garrett Cale Smith, Co-founder and CEO, Nasseo Inc., a Peoria-based medical device company, also a spring 2013 AIC grant winner. “We are excited to offer patients and clinicians with a product that provides better anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and soft tissue responses than anything currently on the market today.”

 

The AIC is a bi-annual business plan competition that awards qualified, innovative start-ups and early stage companies, up to $250,000 in grant funding capital to grow their businesses – ultimately advancing innovation and technology commercialization opportunities in Arizona. Fall 2013 winners were selected from a pool of 180 applicants.

 

The ACA commits $3 million annually to the Arizona Innovation Challenge — $1.5 million awarded in both the spring and the fall. Companies receiving awards will be required to commercialize their technology and generate revenue within the following 12 months.

 

Every applying company that meets the AIC’s eligibility requirements will receive constructive feedback generated from the rigorous online evaluation and scoring process. All semifinalists will also be considered for participation in Venture Ready, the ACA’s mentor program that connects early stage companies with high-level CEOs to further refine business plans and investor pitches.

 

Media Contact

Joseph Valdez, Arizona Commerce Authority, (602) 845-1234 or [email protected]

 

About the Arizona Commerce Authority

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state’s leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona’s economy. The ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy: attract, expand, create – attract out-of-state companies to establish operations in Arizona; work with existing companies to expand their business in Arizona and beyond; and help entrepreneurs create new Arizona businesses in targeted industries. For more information, please visit azcommerce.com and follow the ACA on Twitter at @azcommerce.