Volume 8, Number 2, January 16, 2003




This Week's Contents:

1) NEWS ABOUT NETPRENEUR
    1.1 AdMarketing Grows Legs
2) REGIONAL NETPRENEURS
    2.1 Online Health And Fitness Support
    2.2 Primagraphics' Radar Tracking Systems
    2.3 No More Airline Meals
    2.4 Flight Data For Websites
    2.5 Round-up: Quick Hits
......news from World Diagnostics, Brickstream, Cyracle,

.........Communique Conferencing, and Berndt Group
3) FUNDING & FINANCE NEWS
    3.1 Dough Raise Me
......$4M for 1 local entrepreneur
    3.2 Life In The Food Chain
......E-centives Acquires ConsumerREVIEW.com
......Neometrix Acquires Kinetic Group
......IMC Acquires KEVRIC
......DSL.net Acquires Network Access Solutions
4) REGIONAL NEWS
    4.1 Virginia Makes Incubator Grants
5) WHO'SWARE
......news about people at Edison Ventures, Milestone Equity Partners, Megisto, and Comtex


|||||||||||||||||||| 1. News About The Program ||||||||||||||||||

1.1 ADMARKETING GROWS LEGS
Another update on the sunset front. Netpreneur's AdMarketing list, one of the Net's most popular forums about online (and offline) advertising, marketing, and PR has spun out. To whom? The group members themselves. Six long-time subscribers have become charter members of the AdMarketing Advisory Group, including Mark Brownlow of KeepingTheKey.com, Anne Holland of MarketingSherpa, Raj Khera of MailerMailer, Sharon Tucci of Sling Shot Media, and online marketing consultants Andy Brock and Dale Gardner. They'll act as a steering committee for the community, and among their contributions will be the designation of new moderators on a rotating basis. In order to keep everyone involved, increase diversity, and share the workload, new moderators will come in every month or so. Members are still working out some details about the process for mining content, and Morino Institute will continue to host the list software, archives, and Web content for a while, but Netpreneur's AdMarketing has effectively spun out for a life of its own. (Aw shucks, now we're getting all weepy.) The first new moderator is Mark Brownlow, a self-described Brit now living in Austria and working with US companies and individuals as a business reporter and Web publisher. The new blood has already brought new enthusiasm to the discussions, including recent threads on email marketing predictions for 2003, using instant messaging, and creating business relationships online.

Subscribe to AdMarketing: http://netpreneur.org/connect/am
KeepingTheKey.com: http://www.keepingthekey.com
MarketingSherpa: http://www.marketingsherpa.com
MailerMailer: http://www.mailermailer.com
Sling Shot Media: http://www.listhost.net
Andy Brock: http://www.andybrock.com


|||||||||||||||||| 2. Regional Netpreneurs ||||||||||||||||||

2.1 ONLINE HEALTH AND FITNESS SUPPORT
(Cockeysville, MD) The Teamwork Company launched Life Practice, an online behavior modification tool that coaches individuals in developing and maintaining greater balance in the areas of nutrition, exercise, stress management, and good sleeping habits. Users can log onto the website each day and complete a personal assessment about their previous day's activities. They are then provided with a Life Practice Index that indicates how well they are performing against their stated goals. Personal coaches review participants' progress daily and send email with instructions, information, and encouragement based on these results, as well as answers to any questions. Individuals pay $15 per month to participate in the program, which can be canceled at any time. Participants can also use their personal coach to help them with a small or large "private" challenge, receiving motivational support without their coach knowing the specific nature of their challenge, such as stopping smoking or improving relations with family. The program also provides a forum in which users can share their experiences and receive information from their coach and other Life Practice members.
http://www.lifepractice.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.2 PRIMAGRAPHICS' RADAR TRACKING SYSTEMS
(Charlottesville, VA) Primagraphics launched its RVP (Radar Video Processor) family of radar acquisition, tracking, and distribution servers in PCI and VME form factors. The RVP family is designed to provide a modular, off-the-shelf solution to applications such as specialist air traffic control, aircraft ground movement, coastal surveillance, and naval tracking systems. At the core is a set of integrated software modules which work on industry-standard operating systems and computing platforms so that systems can be upgraded and maintained over their operating life. The modules provide a variety of services, including radar video acquisition, clutter processing, radar video distribution on a local area network, and automatic target acquisition and tracking. Three baseline configurations are available now: RVP Video Server, RVP Plot Extractor, and RVP Tracker.
http://www.primagraphics.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.3 NO MORE AIRLINE MEALS
(Bethesda, MD) Cardinal Technologies and Southlake, TX-based Sabre Holdings launched Carry-On Cuisine, a new service that enables travelers to order meals online from restaurants and have the food ready for pick-up prior to boarding their flight. Travelers use the Web to select their meal from a participating restaurant located in the departing or arriving airport. While placing an order, they can provide special instructions and specify when they would like to pick up the order. Initially, the service will be offered at DC's Reagan National Airport, expanding during the first quarter of 2003 to airports in Providence, RI; Newark, NJ; and to New York City's JFK airport. Expansion to all major US airports is expected by mid-2003.
http://www.carryoncuisine.com
http://www.sabre.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.4 FLIGHT DATA FOR WEBSITES
(Arlington, VA) Flight Explorer debuted Flight Explorer FastTrack, a service that will enable any website to display airplane flight-status information. A turn-key solution targeted at sites operated by airlines, airports, travel companies, and other aviation-related organizations, it integrates graphically with the look and feel of any site and allows tracking of a flight in the US, Canada, and parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Users see the aircraft's position, flight status, and other information including altitude, ground speed, type of aircraft, arrival and departure airports, departure time, estimated arrival time, and weather for the two airports. Information is shown both graphically and as text.
http://www.flightexplorer.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.5 ROUND-UP: QUICK HITS

(Alexandria, VA) World Diagnostics, a provider of medical diagnostic tests and specialized laboratory products for international markets, announced its relocation from Miami to Alexandria. The company says that it intends to find a strategic buyer or investor for its operations and/or assets.
http://www.worlddiagnostics.com

(Fairfax, VA) Brickstream released Version 2.0 of its Marketing and Services customer intelligence solutions for brick-and-mortar stores. The new versions offer enhanced customer insight and more powerful information sharing.
http://www.brickstream.com

(Reston, VA) Cyracle Technologies released Version 3.5 of its Cyracle Web Service for providing online customer support. Enhancements include the eForum module, a threaded discussion board where members of a customer or employee community can support each other with suggestions, advice and solutions.
http://www.cyracle.com

(Reston, VA) Communique Conferencing released enhanced Web conferencing features, including capabilities that enable multiple presentation sharing, PowerPoint animation support, enhanced Web content sharing, and conference recording capabilities.
http://www.communiqueconferencing.com

(Baltimore, MD) The Berndt Group created the website for Service Photo, a retail photography store.
http://www.servicephoto.com
http://www.berndtgroup.net


|||||||||||||||||| 3. Funding & Finance News ||||||||||||||||||

3.1 DOUGH RAISE ME

$4 million for Chantilly-based SevenSpace, an IT outsourcing firm. The round includes existing investors Forsythe Technology, Trinity Ventures, Greenbridge Capital, and Lehman Brothers Communications Fund. SevenSpace also announced positive EBITDA for Q4 2002 and that it closed out the year with an 800% increase in revenues over 2001.
http://sevenspace.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3.2 LIFE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

-- E-centives Acquires ConsumerREVIEW.com
(Bethesda, MD) E-centives, a provider of interactive direct marketing technologies and services, announced that it has completed its acquisition of the assets of Foster City, CA-based Consumer Review (CR), a source for consumer product reviews and information on the Web. CR will be run as a separate business unit of E-centives and is projected to generate approximately $2.5-$3 million in annualized revenues for E-centives this year. Currently, 11 websites make up the CR network of vertical online communities, including ComputingREVIEW.com, AudioREVIEW.com, and PhotographyREVIEW.com.
http://e-centives.com
http://www.consumerreview.com

-- Neometrix Acquires Kinetic Group
(Reston, VA) Neometrix has signed a definitive letter of intent to acquire Detroit-based Kinetic Group, developer of a fingerprint scanning technology for network and individual PC security. The company's product line also includes radio frequency-based technologies for use in military and public safety applications.
http://neosphere.com

-- IMC Acquires KEVRIC
(McLean, VA) Information Management Consultants (IMC), an IT solutions provider, announced that it has acquired The KEVRIC Company, a Silver Spring, MD-based provider of management, technical, and scientific support services to private and public sector organizations. The companies cite several areas of synergies, particularly in the life sciences and environmental engineering services. IMC has a growing practice in bioinformatics that emphasizes data warehousing and data mining, electronic document management, workflow, and systems integration.
http://www.imc.com
http://www.kevric.com

-- DSL.net Acquires Network Access Solutions
(Herndon, VA) New Haven, CT-based DSL.net, a provider of broadband communications services to businesses, completed its acquisition of the network assets and associated subscriber lines of Network Access Solutions, which filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in June of last year. The acquired network extends from Virginia to Massachusetts and includes more than 300 central offices in major metropolitan areas.
http://www.dsl.net


|||||||||||||||||| 4. Regional News ||||||||||||||||||

4.1 VIRGINIA MAKES INCUBATOR GRANTS
(Richmond, VA) The Virginia Small Business Incubator Program (VSBIP) awarded grants totaling $292,500 to nine organizations across the Commonwealth for the purpose of creating or strengthening small business incubators. The awards include $10,000 for a feasibility study grant to the Radford University Business Assistance Center, $25,000 to the Nottoway Incubator at Fort Pickett, $30,000 to the Orange Business Incubator, $45,000 to the Richmond International Business Center, $42,500 to The Highlands Center in Monterey, $45,000 to The Jacksonville Center in Floyd County, $30,000 to the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park Incubator in Richmond, $40,000 to the West Piedmont Business Development Center in Martinsville, and $25,000 to the Winchester Incubation Regional Enterprise. The number of publicly-supported or nonprofit incubators throughout Virginia has grown from two to 27 since 1998. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance (DBA) is the state agency devoted to the growth of the Commonwealth's existing business community.
http://www.dba.state.va.us


|||||||||||||||||| 5. Who'sWare ||||||||||||||||||

(Lawrenceville, NJ) Edison Venture Fund, an active investor in expansion stage IT businesses in the Mid-Atlantic region, including 21 Maryland and Virginia companies, promoted Michael Helmicki to Principal. Operating from Edison's McLean, VA office, Helmicki specializes in security and storage management software.
http://www.edisonventure.com

(Falls Church, VA) Milestone Equity Partners Northern Virginia, an investor in early stage technology companies, named Peter Bianco as Senior Partner. He is a serial entrepreneur who was most recently founder and CEO of BioNetrix.
http://www.milestone-ep.com

(Germantown, MD) Megisto Systems, a developer of mobile services infrastructure, named Joel Halpern as CTO. He was formerly CTO and VP of Engineering at Longitude Systems.
http://www.megisto.com

(Alexandria, VA) Comtex News Network added two new members to its Board of Directors: Robert Lynch, President of investment firm American & Foreign Enterprises, and William Howard, President of Discovery Tours LLC.
http://www.comtexnews.net

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