Skip to content
i2E
  • Programs
    • E3
    • ACT Tulsa
    • Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio
  • Services
    • Access to Funding
    • Venture Advisory Services
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Programs
    • E3
    • ACT Tulsa
    • Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio
  • Services
    • Access to Funding
    • Venture Advisory Services
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Contact
  • Media
Search

Investment a feel-good milestone

Get in Touch

By Rex Smitherman

Copyright © 2012, The Oklahoma Publishing Company

This last year has been a remarkable time for those of us working to create jobs and wealth for Oklahoma by helping entrepreneurs and high growth companies become successful.

Entrepreneurs come to us with ideas at all stages of venture development, from those that are just a concept they are kicking around to those already in the product stage they want to take to the marketplace.

Let me share the story of one of those who came to us almost three years ago.

When Dr. Bryan Fuller walked through our doors, he already had a line of topical skin care products with anti-inflammatory properties. He wanted to build a sales force to expand revenue beyond a regional network of physicians’ clinics and medical spas.

i2E’s team of venture advisers and investment professionals worked with Fuller to position his company for the investment that would allow him to build the sales team that would expand his client base and grow revenue.

It all came together this year in a $1.5 million investment round in DermaMedics that included $325,000 from the i2E-managed Angel Sidecar Fund, one of three investment funds created through a partnership with the U.S. Treasury Department and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

It was a feel-good milestone for both DermaMedics and the i2E team that worked for months on presentations and documentation that demonstrated the company was a worthy investment.

“i2E is very proactive,” Fuller said. “They are clearly and sincerely interested in helping you.”

Since this is a day for warm reflections with family and friends, I thought it appropriate to share Fuller’s story. The sense of accomplishment with DermaMedics has been replicated many times over through the years as the i2E investment team has closed funding deals with other Oklahoma entrepreneurs.

“When we’ve worked with a company for six months to a year, going through the ups and downs and the question marks, getting it through our investment committee, through due diligence — when all the boxes are checked, the dotted line is signed and the entrepreneur has the funds in hand — we know it’s all worth it,” said Cindy Williams, i2E investment analyst. “The business can keep moving forward toward job creation and revenue.”

When the startups we’ve worked with for months or even years start hitting their milestones — when they sign that big contract with an all-important customer and accomplish the things that they and we believed they could — it feels like Christmas, no matter what time of the year it is.

Rex Smitherman is interim president and CEO of i2E Inc., a nonprofit corporation that mentors many of the state’s technology-based startup companies. i2E receives state appropriations from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. Contact Smitherman at [email protected]

Click here to read the article at newsok.com.

  • admin
    admin

More News

Loading...
Black doctor smiling with stethoscope
Blog, i2E
02.09.23

Titan Intake Automates Patient Referrals to Accelerate Care

Read more
man and woman reviewing paperwork at a table
Blog, i2E, News
01.10.23

Stories of Oklahoma Innovation: Building a Startup

Read more
woman in lab conducting a study
Blog, i2E
12.13.22

Bayesic Technologies Improves Effectiveness and Efficiency of Data Analysis in Healthcare

Read more
Bison grazing fields
Blog
11.30.22

Bison Underground Merges Nature, Science, and Technology to Tackle Climate Change

Read more
African American family sitting on couch reading and chatting
Blog, E3, i2E
11.22.22

Fokes Connects Families, Caregivers and Care Agencies for Smoother Communications and Care 

Read more
i2e blog post graphic
Blog, News
11.03.22

Introducing: Stories of Oklahoma Innovation

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.28.22

Oklahoma Grown! i2E Invests in BIO startups

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Moleculera Labs BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Oklahoma State University BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

ECHO Investment Capital BIO

Read more
i2E

Oklahoma City Office

840 Research Parkway, Suite 250
OKC, OK 73104
+1 (405) 235.2305

Tulsa Office

100 S. Cincinnati Ave – Suite 514
Tulsa, OK 74103
+1 (918) 582.5592

  • Client Portfolio
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Resources

© 2022 i2E Privacy Policy

Follow us:

Facebook Twitter Linkedin

Programs

  • E3
  • ACT Tulsa
  • Love's Entrepreneur's Cup
  • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio

Services

  • Access to Funding
  • Venture Advisory Services
  • Contact
  • About
  • Our Values
  • Our Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Corporate Partners
  • Media
i2E