![\"Tatjana](\"http:\/\/www.financenewmexico.org\/userfiles\/Tania%2014.JPG\")
Tatjana Rosev, Los Alamos National Laboratory Communications Office<\/p><\/div>\n
The gap between the early stage funding needs of a startup company and the expectations of a typical venture-capital firm can prevent many innovations from growing beyond a concept into a commercial commodity.\u00a0Because venture capitalists and angel investors tend to support products and services in intermediate, less-risky stages of development, numerous government and academic institutions have created \u201cpre-seed\u201d or gap funds to accelerate the creation of new companies and sustain developing companies through the research phase so their owners can focus on preparing their businesses for later-stage equity investments.<\/p>\n
Los Alamos National Security, the public-private partnership that runs Los Alamos National Laboratory, sponsors the Northern New Mexico Connect Venture Acceleration Fund to support businesses with lab affiliations. While such funding is rarely enough to carry a company all the way to profitability, it bestows credibility, public exposure and access to venture firms and allows an entrepreneur to reach critical commercial milestones that demonstrate to a potential backer how the company plans to deliver an attractive return on an investment.
\n<\/p>\n
Taking technology to the people<\/strong><\/p>\n Administered through Los Alamos National Security\u2019s Northern New Mexico Connect program, the Venture Acceleration Fund invests up to $100,000 in projects that find commercial uses for technological innovations and that create or develop regional businesses. The Northern New Mexico Connect program\u2019s mission is connecting entrepreneurs with customized resources to accelerate growth of Northern New Mexico companies.\u00a0Since the Venture Acceleration Fund began in 2006, the fund has awarded $600,000 to six northern New Mexico startups that use LANL-licensed technology, including biotech, plasma and computer-modeling applications.<\/p>\n One startup, Los Alamos-based Acoustic Cytometry Systems, is developing a commercially marketable version of a portable, hand-held acoustic-flow cytometer invented at LANL. The apparatus counts and measures cells using acoustic waves that concentrate the cells into a stream for laser analysis. Money from the Venture Acceleration Fund allowed the company to produce a prototype cytometer that is more sensitive, compact, and rugged \u2014 and less expensive to make \u2014 than a conventional cytometer, and these improvements make the instrument ideal for medical research in less developed parts of the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe technical success of the project has enabled ACS to grow to eight employees in less than a year and to secure critical seed funding from private seed investors,\u201d said John Elling, the company\u2019s founder, president and CEO.<\/p>\n The other five startups supported by the fund are:<\/p>\n Every July the Venture Acceleration Fund prepares for a new round of investment in projects that capitalize on technological advances being made at LANL. \u00a0Read more about the Venture Acceleration Fund<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Download 41_Speeding Up Startups in Northern New Mexico PDF<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Venture Acceleration Fund, which supports businesses affiliated with Los Alamos National Laboratory, is explained in detail, with examples of businesses that have benefitted. Continue reading \n