Fraunhofer, TechBridge, and Greentown Labs Team Up to PROPEL Cleantech Startups

Posted on July 15, 2015July 15, 2015 by Valentina Rosa

Fraunhofer-Exterior-Night-Small — © Fraunhofer CSE

In the heart of Boston’s Innovation District lies Fraunhoufer’s Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE), Fraunhoufer’s state-of-the-art research and development facility for the commercialization of clean energy technologies. At CSE, labs are ready to develop prototypes and deploy field demonstrations, in addition to providing fellowship and internship opportunities for researchers, entrepreneurs, and young professionals.

TechBridge is a technology commercialization program that Dr. Johanna Wolfson manages. The program strives to help early-stage clean technology startups hit the ground running by proving their value to investors and the industry. In addition to technical help, CSE allows startups to enjoy fundraising support and its vast network of investors and strategic partners—all at no cost.

The CSE building is a 2013 retrofit of a 100 year old building designed and reconstructed by the latest in energy conservation technologies. A couple features worth mentioning are the temperature control system and the “Synergy Elevator.” Passive air conditioning and laminar cooling systems provide a steady, uniform velocity along parallel flow of air to allow people to stay cool without cooling the entire room. The elevator, on the other hand, uses a gearless motor and a highly efficient brake system called “regenerative breaking” that recaptures a lion portion of the power and sends it back to the grid. It also produces less heat compared to conventional elevators.

The building is a wonderful showcase of the latest developments in energy efficiency technologies. More recently, though, Fraunhoufer’s TechBridge teamed up with fellow industry leader Greentown Labs to create PROPEL, a 6-month prototype development program for cleantech startups that utilizes TechBridge’s technology support and Greentown Labs’ incubation space. Greentown Labs, which is the nation’s largest cleantech incubator, additionally allows startups access to equipment, software, and business resources.

The PROPEL program’s mission is to create a more interconnected world through supporting innovations in self-powered Wireless Sensor-Actuator Networks (WSANs). Such startups will develop technologies and prototypes for distributed sensing and actuation networks and customer validation. PROPEL launched in April, 2015 and will use an application and screening process to select up to five teams that will begin working in Greentown Labs in September, 2015. In addition to prototype development, technical guidance, expert feedback from investors and industry partners, and incubation space, accepted companies will receive $10,000 in non-dilutive funding.

As a professional writing services company, TRA360 has been working with cleantech startups since 2011 and entrepreneurs since 1991.

Are you a cleantech professional or services provider? Comment below or let us know on Facebook and Twitter @TRA360!

Introducing Agnitio’s Digital Marketing System Rainmaker

Posted on July 8, 2015July 8, 2015 by Valentina Rosa

The ultimate goal of technical content is to help customers use products most efficiently. This content may also have some persuasive aspects; for example, you may want to justify the new features of a particular product to enhance worker productivity. TRA360 is a professional writing services agency that helps high-tech companies to develop content for a wide range of products and services.

Developing content is the most important part of the communication process. But what if you need to deliver the same message or a customized version of that message to diverse channels and markets? In a webinar hosted by leading CLM software provider Agnitio, most companies tuning in acknowledged that their biggest marketing faux pas was a lack of customer-centric content. In this case, technology is an effective solution. One such example is Rainmaker, Agnitio’s latest CRM system. This is a multichannel communication system that helps healthcare and pharmaceutical companies meet their digital marketing needs through the personalization of content across different markets, languages, cultures, channels, and regulatory environments.

These are just a few of Rainmaker’s most significant features:

Localizations and edits that are fast and easy.
Tailored communication that can be repurposed across different channels.
Utilization of metadata to assign tags and roles to users.
Personalized website, web meeting, and patient app.

Rainmaker also provides a partner app, HCP, that gives healthcare professionals their own remote app so they can access and share relevant materials. The system accepts different file formats and also helps users create and export their content so it fits their specific devices.

At TRA360 we always try to keep current with the latest technologies so we can better serve our customers and community members. Are you a marketing professional in the healthcare industry? Comment below and let us know. Write on our Facebook wall or follow us on Twitter @TRA360!

Introducing Organogenesis and the Apligraf

Posted on October 23, 2013June 10, 2013 by Valentina Rosa

As promised, we’re back with more about Regenerative Medicine. Our first profile is on Organogenesis, a company based in Canton, Massachusetts, who is at the forefront of the field. Their website states that “in the future, regenerative medicine technologies may deliver neural regeneration, islet cells for diabetes, and more substantial heart repair.” For Organogenesis, this process starts with healing chronic wounds.

Organogenesis has a product on the market called the Apligraf. The Apligraf mimics human skin to kick-start the healing process. Imagine living for years with an open wound—if you last this long without having to lose your limb that is. Organogenesis’ Apligraf can save the lives of people doing just that, it can save limbs and lives with the simple regeneration of skin cells. The new skin-like graft is created from donated foreskin from circumcision. That may sound weird, but since the Apligraf was developed it has taken twelve donated foreskins and made enough cell lines to create half a million Apligrafs. They take the foreskin cells, break them down, and then fibroblasts and keratinocytes, a bottom and top layer respectively, are used to create a remarkably skin-like bilayer graft.

This forty-four square centimeter cell culture can be applied to diabetic foot ulcers as well as venous leg ulcers, which makes it unique from any other similar product. It is designed to be applied to the patient’s wound and using the young and healthy cells in the Apligraf stimulate the body to make cells and heal itself. This revolutionizes the healing process for people with chronic wounds and can give them their lives back!

Want to know more about what else Organogenesis is doing? Stay tuned until our next post when we talk about the rest of their technology! Let us know what you think so far at @TRA360!

10 Best Practices for Writing Executive Summaries

Posted on August 30, 2013August 30, 2013 by Valentina Rosa

Start-ups and emerging companies write executive summaries to distill the key facts (business description, products/market fit, business model, etc.) for venture capitalists, angel investors, and others from whom they’re looking for financing. Including all this information in one page, the almost universally-accepted page length, is quite a challenge. What follows are 10 best practices for writing executive summaries.

Don’t start from scratch; use a template.
Many websites such as Entrepreneur.com and Inc.com have executive summary templates and examples. Just Google and you’ll be on your way.
Make the content your own.
Don’t follow the template lockstep. The content and organization of the Executive Summary have to reflect your company first and foremost. Don’t be afraid to make changes to the template if it suits your purpose.
Know your audience.
Create a portrait of the intended audience for the Executive Summary. VCs and potential investors will know very little about your technology and value proposition. They may be familiar with your target markets and competition. Assume the audience knows very little, but don’t “dumb down” the content.
Avoid jargon.
Write in clear, concise language and avoid industry jargon that is unknown to the target audience. Write in the active voice (subject-verb) and in simple, direct sentences.
Introduce objective data.
Including key data points, statistics, or proof points from objective and reliable third-party sources in the Executive Summary can improve the validity of your overall business case. Cite the sources.
Focus on benefits not features.
When describing your technology and special sauce, focus on the benefits to your target markets, not the minutiae of your technological advancement. Most readers of the Executive Summary won’t understand the technical details and they don’t care about them either. They might say ‘So what?’ when they really want to know ‘Are you going to make money?’ ‘When do I get my payoff?’
Stay positive.
Tell the target audience what your company and its products will do. Only state what the company will not do if it clarifies your business model, technologies, and markets.
Be realistic.
Do your homework to determine exactly how and where your company fits into the competitive marketplace, and what your key differentiators are.
Be consistent.
Refer to your company and product names consistently throughout the Executive Summary. If you use a shortened form, use it throughout. For example, if your full company name is Acme Solar Photovoltaic, Inc. and you shorten it to Acme Solar, use the full name on first instance and the shortened name in all other instances.
Proofread the final Executive Summary.
If the founders are writing the Executive Summary, they’re too close to proofread the final content. Have an objective third party who has no prior knowledge of your company do this final review prior to distribution to potential investors.

Have you written an Executive Summary for your business? What were its keys to success?

Let me know, Tim