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Check out this News9 feature on i2E and some of our successful clients.Read more

By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. Last week, speaking at the Oklahoma Venture Forum’s chairman’s luncheon, I caught looks of interest, and perhaps a little surprise, when I told the audience that it is my firm belief that Oklahoma has entered the era of the high-growth entrepreneur. We have built theRead more

By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. The state stepped up almost two decades ago to help Oklahoma-based startup companies bridge the investment gap and leverage other private, federal, and institutional sources of capital. i2E Inc., in partnership with the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, has been theRead more

By Jim Stafford Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. There is a saying in the startup world that if you want to be successful, you have to learn to fail fast. It appears to be an oxymoron, but there really is substance to the expression, said Scott Meacham, president and CEO of i2E Inc.,Read more

By Jack Money Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. A startup technology or medical company based in Oklahoma needed real luck in finding the capital it needed to propel it into the big leagues before 1998. But then, i2E was created. And, during the following 19 years, state, federal and private money the organizationRead more

Scott Meacham Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Company There’s always a lot of discussion around pros and cons of state-sponsored venture capital funds. A recent Kauffman Foundation white paper even postulates that states should avoid state VC funds. The suggestion is that state-sponsored funds don’t match private VC funds when it comes to returnRead more

Scott Meacham Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Company Selexys was one of the top five largest mergers and acquisitions of U.S.-based companies in the fourth quarter of 2016. That deal and the sale of WeGoLook are proof positive that Oklahoma’s strategy of public/private venture capital funds works. When the recent fourth-quarter and full-year MoneyTreeRead more

  Due to significant job losses in its manufacturing sector, Oklahoma City needed a strategy to diversify and boost its economy. To move the city forward and create more opportunities for innovation and technology-based businesses, EDA partnered with local nonprofit, i2E, Inc., to support their “Oklahoma City Technology Business Initiative.” The initiative allowed i2E toRead more

By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Company If you look at economic development from the state perspective, there are three areas of concentration. One, Oklahoma can be in an arms race against other states for the next new manufacturing plant or the next corporation looking to move. Two, the state can createRead more

  By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. I’ve been writing (and talking) a lot about the exits of WeGoLook and Selexys over the few weeks. In fact, when I sat down to work on this column, my wife even asked me if I was ever going to come up with somethingRead more

By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2016, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. As 2016 draws to a close, entrepreneurs and early stage investors in Oklahoma are ending the year with big smiles. In the past few weeks, the exits of Selexys and WeGoLook have been strong validations that in this state we do have the talent, capitalRead more

By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2016, The Oklahoma Publishing Company Now that the acquisition announcements of Selexys by Novartis and of WeGoLook by Crawford & Co. have been made, I’m looking forward to what happens next. In the case of Selexys, like any biotech deal, seeing the “next” will take some time. But with WeGoLook,Read more

By The Oklahoman Editorial Board Copyright © 2016, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. OKLAHOMA legislators have another tough session ahead, one in which they are expected to have perhaps $600 million less to appropriate than they did in 2016 — when there was $1.3 billion less than the year before. It will be challenging work, toRead more

Oklahoma startups are cashing in By Jack Money Copyright © 2016, The Oklahoma Publishing Company Chalk up WeGoLook, LLC’s deal with Crawford & Co. as another success story for i2E and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. On Dec. 6, Crawford & Co. announced it would acquire an 85 percent membershipRead more

Two major acquisitions of local firms good news in several ways By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2016, The Oklahoma Publishing Company I had an amazing Friday a couple of weeks ago. Literally, in one day, I found out that two of i2E’s portfolio companies were being acquired by major corporations — the two biggest exitsRead more

CRAWFORD & COMPANY® ACQUIRES MAJORITY INTEREST IN WEGOLOOK®, LLC Acquisition gives Crawford® the potential to transform the insurance industry Oklahoma City, Okla. – December 8, 2016 – WeGoLook® today announced that Crawford & Company® (NYSE: CRD-A and CRD-B), one of the world’s largest independent providers of claims management solutions to the risk management and insuranceRead more

WeGoLook sells majority interest By: Journal Record Staff Copyright © 2016 The Journal Record OKLAHOMA CITY (JR) – WeGoLook, the 7-year-old company headed by CEO Robin Smith, sold an 85-percent interest to Crawford & Company for more than $36 million. The acquisition was approved by the directors of both companies for $36.125 million and willRead more

Company moves ahead with WeGoLook deal Copyright © 2016, The Oklahoma Publishing Company Atlanta-based Crawford & Co. has agreed to buy 85 percent of the membership interest in Oklahoma City-based WeGoLook for $36.1 million, the companies announced Tuesday. The deal is expected to close next month. Crawford & Co. provides claims management for insurance companiesRead more

CRAWFORD & COMPANY® ACQUIRES MAJORITY INTEREST IN WEGOLOOK®, LLC Atlanta, GA – December 6, 2016 – Crawford & Company® (www.crawfordandcompany.com) (NYSE: CRD-A and CRD-B), one of the world’s largest independent providers of claims management solutions to insurance companies and self-insured entities, today announced the acquisition of a majority interest in WeGoLook®, LLC (WGL(TM) or WeGoLook),Read more

BrewFest attracts more than 500 people. It’s a unique opportunity for the entrepreneurial community in Oklahoma to come together for a few hours to network and enjoy tasting products from yet another emerging and nontraditional segment of Oklahoma’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Events like BrewFest draw together people from across Oklahoma who are interested in the innovation economy here. In this casual environment, they learn things they didn’t know about making wine, brewing beer and about what’s happening in innovation across Oklahoma.