2007 Headlines
Johnson School's Student-Managed Venture Capital Fund Joins Excell Partners and Cayuga Venture Fund to Invest in e2e Materials
September 24, 2007 | Ithaca, NY The Johnson School at Cornell University's student-managed venture capital firm, BR Ventures, today announced that it has invested an undisclosed amount in convertible debt in e2e Materials LLC. Based on Cornell technology, e2e Materials is working to commercialize a formaldehyde-free, cost competitive alternative to particleboard. BR Ventures co-invested with Excell Partners, a seed stage venture capital firm focused on economic development for New York State, and Cayuga Venture Fund, an early stage venture capital firm focused on technology-based companies with high growth potential in upstate New York or those that have a significant Cornell connection.
Based on technology developed by Cornell professor Anil Netravali, e2e Materials is commercializing a biodegradable composite made entirely from various plant fibers and a resin derived from soy protein. The company's first products are skateboards and a formaldehyde-free replacement for particleboard, a popular raw material for office and low-cost home furniture. The e2e product is several times stronger than current particleboard, weighs less, and is formed by compression molding to the exact specifications of the furniture company, thereby reducing shipping and manufacturing costs. The company has won several new business development competitions including the Johnson School's Business Idea Competition, EssentialConnections.org Emerging Business Competition, and the UNYTECH '06 pitch event.
"e2e's technology is an important shift towards an environmentally sustainable and high performance material platform and BR Ventures is proud to be supporting the business," commented James Macon, the chief operating officer of BR Ventures. "BR Ventures' Business Idea Competition has been a great resource to uncover new businesses and our last two investments, Systanix and e2e, are both prior winners of that competition."
"In addition to the money and legal counseling that we received for winning BR Ventures' Business Idea Competition, we've gained significant advantage from working with Johnson School students," commented Pat Govang, e2e CEO. "They helped with market and supply chain research which we use regularly in our strategic planning. This initial round of funding will help e2e hire key engineering talent and build out our Ithaca production facility."
Another resource available to commercialize Cornell research and expertise is Cornell's Center for Technology Enterprise & Commercialization (CCTEC). CCTEC is committed to facilitating the transfer of technologies invented at Cornell to regionally-based companies and small businesses. CCTEC and e2e signed a license in July 2007 granting e2e exclusive rights to produce fully biodegradable reinforced composites from soy proteins and plant fibers using the patent-protected technology.
About BR Ventures
BR Ventures is the venture capital arm of the Johnson School's Entrepreneurship Triad, providing venture
capital and business expertise to promising startups by providing seed funding, typically ranging between $40,000 and $100,000. BR Ventures' dynamic team of second year MBA student fund managers helps startups realize their commercial potential and creative vision. Fund managers control over every aspect of the fund and execute each step of the venture capital process including searching for and selecting investment opportunities; performing due diligence; negotiating term sheets; making investment decisions; and guiding transactions through closing. BR Incubator, a student-run incubator service and BR Legal, a legal counsel service form the remainder of the triad.
BR Venture's previous investments include Systanix, Inc., which offers patent-pending technology for continuous flow micro-reactors (http://systanix.com); Experience Enterprises, LLC, an experience-based retailer (http://www.racelinemotorworks.com); SightSpeed, an internet-based video conferencing company started by a Johnson School MBA and Cornell professor (http://www.sightspeed.com); Gene Network Sciences, a systems biology company (http://www.gnsbiotech.com); NovaSterilis, a biomedical sterilization company (http://www.novasterilis.com); Pacific Biosciences, a DNA sequencing company (http://www.pacificbio.com); and Medical Care Corporation, an Alzheimer's detection company (http://www.mccare.com).
