For further details on the conference see the following link. Energy Investment Forum

Michael was among a group of Angel Investors and CEOs/Founders who spoke about Angel Investing in Chicago. For more details on the event and future Efactor events please follow the link. Efactor Presents : Angel Investing

EFactor, the world’s largest entrepreneurial community, provides resources that every small business owner needs: funding, knowledge, gain revenue and save cost. At EFactor, entrepreneurs exchange ideas with experts, receive exclusive discounts on business tools, interact with potential partners or clients, and discover funding for their startups.

According to Independence Equity Partner Laurence Hayward, “Corrosion costs society in excess of 500 Billion dollars annually.  While coatings have improved significantly, they ultimately fail when damaged, which exposes the underlying substrate to the elements.  AMI is commercializing the first truly self-healing coating technology that addresses this issue.  The potential benefits include reduction in material waste, safer structures and less frequent reapplications and maintenance.”

AMI’s products are based on extensive research from the Autonomous Materials Systems (AMS) Group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Group developed and patented technologies for the production of self-healing polymer systems. AMI’s technology adds protection to high-value structures which are exposed to environmental stresses. Their systems are engineered to lengthen coating lifetimes, thereby reducing the costs (principally labor) and disruption associated with the recoating of surfaces.

AMI is currently working with more than a dozen potential customers and product specifiers, which include major coatings producers and end-users.

About Independence Equity: Independence Equity I, LP is an early-stage venture capital fund focused on technologies that improve resource utilization.  These include technologies that reduce input costs such as raw materials, energy and labor, improve yield in production processes, or decrease waste or scrap. The fund’s interests comprise sectors such as material science, industrial innovation, and clean technologies (“cleantech”).

Contact: Laurence K. Hayward, 847.739.0100

The Founder Institute is a global network of startups and mentors that helps entrepreneurs launch meaningful and enduring technology companies. Through their four month pre-seed incubator program, entrepreneurs can launch their company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs, while not being required to quit their day jobs. Their unique Bonus Pool also shares equity upside with all participants, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where great startups can flourish. More information on the program is available here.

The Founder Institute carefully recruits approximately 25 Mentors per Semester, who are normally the CEO or founder of a successful startup. The Mentors are selected based on their ability to convey lessons learned on a topic in the curriculum and help participating Founders by sharing their relevant experiences. Mentors are accessible to Founders in the program during the sessions and through email. The shared equity upside of each Semester encourages supportive and collaborative relationships with the Mentors.

Organized by the Opal Financial Group, the private equity conference investigated a variety of investment avenues and the most effective strategies for investing in each by calling upon leaders across the industry from investment advisory firms, private equity funds and PE advisors within institutions. Larry Hayward spoke about the various financing techniques available to small businesses, including sources, tactics and methods.

For more information on this event, click here.

• Hot areas of investment
• What has gone out of favor
• Activity across the whole Capital Markets space (PE/VC/Angel)
• Outlook for Government support

For more information on the event and registration as well as information on ACG Chicago please follow the link. Registration for Event

Contact: Michael Gruber, 847.739.0100, mgruber@independence-equity.com

Organized by the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation (TTDC), the conference, previously known as the Tennessee Innovation Conference & Venture Showcase, is the state’s premier event focusing on technology-based economic development. Tennessee NEXT provided attendees with a unique perspective on Tennessee’s economic future from some of the most influential technology innovators, entrepreneurs, investment executives and business leaders.

For more information on this event, click here.

The Fund’s principals define resource utilization as the use or consumption of resources such as raw materials and labor. The objective is to identify innovations in business processes and technologies that reduce raw material consumption, improve yield/performance, increase labor efficiency or enable point-of-use production. The principals believe technologies such as these enable the United States to strengthen its manufacturing base even amidst lower wage global competition. Key sectors include material science, industrial innovation and clean technologies.

The Fund, based in Northbrook, IL, will focus primarily, though not exclusively, on companies located in the greater Midwestern United States, which traditionally have had more difficulty attracting venture capital. According to the Fund’s principals, “2011 has the markings of a vintage year with excellent potential. Valuations are attractive; the recession has distinguished the strongest entrepreneurs; and innovation is prevalent in the Midwest where there is a relatively limited supply of early stage venture capital. With the Fund in place, we have an opportunity to invest and help build the next generation of great companies.”

There are four managing principals of the Fund: Donald Sackman, Michael McCullough, Laurence Hayward and Michael Gruber. The principals have advised and invested in early-stage companies through multiple market cycles.

For further comments or questions, please contact Independence Equity Management at 847-739-0100 or its principals at the following email addresses:

Donald Sackman, dsackman@independence-equity.com

Mike McCullough, mmccullough@independence-equity.com

Laurence K. Hayward, lhayward@independence-equity.com

Michael C. Gruber, mgruber@independence-equity.com