News

By Scott Meacham i2E’s connection to MaxQ Research, a Stillwater company that creates validated packaging systems for blood and other biologics, actually began with the 2012 Governor’s Cup, now the Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup, Oklahoma’s statewide collegiate business plan competition sponsored by Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores. MaxQ was one of the competing business plans.Read more

By Scott Meacham Successful startups are all about vision and passion and great ideas. They are also about attaining metrics that lead to positive cashflow and attract investment. When it comes to metrics, the customer growth story from SendaRide, a young Oklahoma company that provides customized, concierge, non-emergency medical transportation, packs a punch. SendaRide servesRead more

By Scott Meacham As i2E has been closing our latest round of new investments over the last few weeks, I am reminded of how in the startup world and the venture industry, investment events attract attention. I don’t usually write about investment events. The celebratory milestones have already occurred over the weeks, months, and yearsRead more

By Scott Meacham It is hard to start a business — very, very hard. This is true on Main Street, for information technology businesses and in biotech. For all entrepreneurs, building a company is a race against time, a race in which every milestone of success increases the pressure on the business plan. The biggestRead more

By Scott Meacham It’s a good thing when state leaders recognize the strategic importance of innovation in job and wealth creation. It’s also a good thing when a state considers legislation to help address capital gaps. Oklahoma’s Technology Business Finance Program (TBFP) Seed Fund is a nationally recognized best practices example of legislated early stageRead more

By Scott Meacham My mantra of investing, as any regular reader of this column knows, is capital begets capital. That’s why Oklahoma’s unique, pre-seed capital fund, Technology Business Finance Program (TBFP), is so critical to Oklahoma’s innovation economy. TBFP deploys state funding to provide equity-free capital for startups at such an early stage that thereRead more

By Scott Meacham Recently, I received a phone call about a friend who was raising a fund specifically to invest in women-led companies. Considering the track record of venture capital invested in women-led firms, it’s easy to understand her focus. In the United States, about 2.5 to 3 percent of all venture funding goes toRead more

By Scott Meacham Mentoring is one of the most valuable venture services i2E provides to Oklahoma’s innovators and entrepreneurs. Our mentoring covers a wide range of topics and situations based on the leadership team’s experience, the stage of the startup, and the market the company is working to serve. We are focused when we mentor.Read more

January 23, 2020 Contact: Sarah Seagraves, Senior VP for Marketing (405) 813-2403 sseagraves@i2E.org Genio Technologies, Inc. has acquired exclusive rights to the MasSpec Pen System, a revolutionary technology from the University of Texas at Austin that is proven to accurately identify the difference between cancerous and normal tissue during surgery. OKLAHOMA CITY — i2E ManagementRead more

By Scott Meacham Millennials (those born between about 1982 and 1996) have overtaken Baby Boomers as the largest generation in the U.S. labor force—that’s one-in-three of workers or people looking for work. With limitations on immigration and Baby Boomers retiring at an accelerating pace, businesses large and small are increasingly dependent on the Millennial segmentRead more

By Scott Meacham January is a time for new goals and resolutions, and, for corporations that provide employee healthcare, new plans and challenges as healthcare expenses continue to increase year over year. The traditional approach has been to put employees on higher deductibles so that they have more skin in the game to be betterRead more

By Scott Meacham From cars to refrigerators to doorbells, the machines we use every day are getting smarter every year. McKinsey reports that the Internet of Things (IoT)— the network of interconnected devices that collect and exchange data—is one of the three most impactful technological advancements we will see before 2030. IoT devices, embedded withRead more

By Scott Meacham Remember when doctors charted patient visits with handwritten notes that were filed in color-coded hanging folders that filled up miles of metal cabinets in doctors’ offices, hospital basements, and beyond? With the mandated healthcare industry transition from paper to digital record-keeping several years ago, all that changed. Electronic medical records (EMRs, theRead more

By Scott Meacham There is very big news this month for individuals and families affected by sickle cell disease (SCD). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first targeted treatment to reduce the frequency of pain crises in individuals living with SCD. This new drug — Adakveo® from Novartis — decreases theRead more

By Scott Meacham This time of year, Christmas music is everywhere. Some people get a little tired of it, but for me it’s all part of the season, and I like it. Christmas music reminds me of family, friends, and memories of Christmas mornings and meals. The other day, I was on an errand, andRead more

By Scott Meacham It is exciting when Oklahoma startups set out to change industries. That’s the story of Cage, an Oklahoma City company with customers from around the world. Cage provides a web-based tool that helps creative professionals—from freelancers to branding agencies to in-house creative departments—collaborate on projects and share ideas in one place inRead more

By Scott Meacham Recently, when Elliott Adams, author of The Startup Mixtape: The Guide to Building and Launching a High-Growth Technology Startup signed up for i2E’s Venture Assessment Program (VAP), it was a great opportunity for us to gain perspective from an industry pro. Elliott’s book is based on his broad experience in entrepreneurship. HeRead more

By Scott Meacham The energy is powerful when Oklahoma’s successful and “wannabe” entrepreneurs gather for the Oklahoma Entrepreneurial Summit and the simultaneous Who Wants to Be an Entrepreneur? (WWTB) event for college level entrepreneurs. This year’s program is Friday, November 15. The Summit begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes with a networking luncheon, which participantsRead more

By Scott Meacham Growing up I used to love to listen to Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story on the radio. The nuances he would bring to light with just a little deeper look were fascinating. After reading Dale Denwalt’s column in the Oklahoman (October 20) headlined “Insiders Report Flaws in State Startup Ecosystem,”Read more

By Scott Meacham Successful entrepreneurs and innovators are passionate. They know their products inside out. They are driven to ask for feedback and then to listen as their customers describe what they like and what they don’t. They are evangelists for the industry they represent. When that industry is the beverage industry, savvy entrepreneurs knowRead more