Arlington, Va. (PRWEB) October 13, 2009 -- On Columbus Day, Richard C. Litman, the Founder of the Global Academic Innovation Network (GAIN), announced GAIN's 2020 plan to help universities and businesses in emerging countries connect with their counterparts in more developed parts of the world.

Global circumstances have shifted in the last 500 years so that the New World and the Old World have become one world united by a more ancient type of discovery -- innovation. Twenty-first century explorers are not found on ships like the Nina, Piñta or Santa Maria, but are steering through uncharted waters in laboratories at universities and research centers, and at spin-off companies in business incubators and technology parks. In the current era, the quest for technology and entrepreneurship is more important than staking a claim to new territories.

The University of Michigan is among the nation's leaders in creating startup ventures based on university technology. To build on that success, UM technology transfer officials have created the new Michigan Venture Center, a one-stop hub for entrepreneurs, investors and faculty inventors.

The center will help faculty inventors create business plans, assess a technology's commercialization potential, deal with intellectual property issues, attract investors, and acquire gap funding to enhance the market appeal of a new technology.

Even in the best of times, venture capital was a dream for most small businesses, especially startups. Now it has dried up for almost everyone, so yes it is a pipe dream.

Angel investors are more interesting. Angel investors differ from venture capitalists because they are individual investors instead of a group, they invest their own money, and they can be more willing to take a flier on small and microbusinesses. Angels are people who invest in your business for a hefty piece of ownership. They do it usually because they are looking for a higher return on their money than they can get elsewhere, because they are interested in helping small businesses grow, or because they are looking for something interesting to do.

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- House Democrats plan a renewed push to raise taxes on executives at private-equity and venture- capital firms to help pay for year-end economic recovery legislation, a top congressional aide said.

Matthew Beck, a spokesman for the House Ways and Means Committee, said the panel will revive an effort to raise the 15 percent tax rate on “carried interest,” a term for the share of a fund’s profit that is paid as compensation to executives.

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Venture-capital firms raised the smallest number of funds in 15 years in the third quarter, weighed down by the credit crisis.

Firms raised 17 funds, the same number as in the third quarter of 1994, according to a report by the National Venture Capital Association and Thompson Reuters(TRI Quote). Venture-capital firms gathered $1.6 billion, the least since the first quarter of 2003, when they managed to raise only $938 million. So far in 2009, firms have collected $8.4 billion, compared with $28.6 billion for all of 2008.

"Many limited partners are still determining their long-term strategies in the wake of the past year's financial crisis, and that slows the process down considerably," said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA, in a statement. "We expect commitment levels to remain modest for the remainder of 2009, with gradual increases beginning in 2010."

Abu Dhabi, UAE - Growing businesses in a complex environment, leading enterprises to innovate and using technology for innovation were the key themes of discussion at Frost & Sullivan's flagship event -GIL 2009: Middle East- Growth, Innovation and Leadership: A Frost & Sullivan Global Congress on Corporate Growth. Held on 7th October 2009 at Hotel Beach Rotana, Abu Dhabi, UAE for the first time in the Middle East, the Congress saw attendance from senior dignitaries across industries at a single venue.

The highlight of the Congress was its keynote presentation, 'The CEO's Perspective on Growth in a Complex Business Environment' by David Frigstad, Chairman, Frost & Sullivan. Elaborating on the CEO's perspective of growth, Frigstad said, "Now more than ever, CEOs need a 360-degree overview of the business for making decisions. Through this powerful Congress, Frost & Sullivan offers insights to grow and sustain business in the current economic environment, seize opportunities for networking and forge new partnerships."

In a classic episode of “The Simpsons,” the owner of convenience store Kwik-E-Mart, Apu, is being held up at gunpoint and shouts to a policeman in the store for help. The cop, Chief Wiggum, retorts, “Hey, I got problems of my own right now,” as his tie is pulled slowly into a hot dog rotating machine.

”Oh boy, this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” Chief Wiggum dejectedly declares.

I couldn’t help but think of that line this morning while listening to several veteran venture capitalists discuss the unsettling state of the venture industry in front of dozens of hopeful start-up CEOs at today’s VentureWire Technology Showcase.

The government this week announced plans to invest more than £80 million to encourage greater development of innovative technology in the UK.

In addition to a £82.5 million funding injection into the cause by the Technology Strategy Board, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, Lord Mandelson used yesterday’s Innovate09 conference to call on businesses to continue to be innovative even during the downturn.

Strengthening Europe’s Innovation Performance

Brussels: 12 to 14 October 2009

The 1 st European Innovation Summit is underway at the European Parliament. The summit has been organised by the Knoweldge4Innovation (K4I) – The Lisbon Forum.

I regularly teach classes on entrepreneurship and new venture development, and more than occasionally drop in to provide my perspective on topics of interest to those forming or funding technology-driven, high-growth companies. Since I have been spending a lot more time up in front of students (and, thus, getting peppered with great questions), I have been giving a lot of thought to what passes for “entrepreneurial strategy” courses (or sections of courses). To me, it seems that the bulk of entrepreneurship pedagogy has, in a relatively brutish way, simply ported over the issues relevant in a typical strategic management class and attempted to convert those topics into material appropriate to the new venture setting. The more I think about it, the less persuaded I am that this is helpful for students; and I continue to have my suspicions that this approach forwards the research frontier.

There is no better example of the benefits afforded by federal funding in the fields of science and technology than the recent near sweep of the Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics, and physiology or medicine by Americans, the majority of who relied upon substantial public support to make the breakthroughs that are today benefiting the nation and the world.

Of the nine Nobel winners in chemistry, physics, and physiology or medicine, eight are U.S. citizens and at least six of those leveraged federal research dollars to reach their pinnacles of success.

If you want a Small Business Administration loan, you better act fast -- in a couple of months, the agency will run out of the $375 million in economic stimulus funds that made the program more attractive to lenders.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enabled the SBA to increase its guarantee on 7(a) business loans to 90 percent, up from its usual 75 percent to 85 percent. The stimulus bill also allowed the SBA to reduce or eliminate fees on 7(a) loans and its 504 loans, which are primarily used for real estate.

Some prominent economists tell us we are starting to come out of the worst recession since the Great Depression, but many worry the uptick won’t last.

Since December 2007, Americans lost $13 trillion in household wealth, and our country is swimming in red ink. Today, the federal debt is $11.4 trillion and growing because of a new round of federal spending. Some economists project it could reach $17 trillion in the next decade if Congress and President Obama continue at their current pace.

Fifteen invited university teams, representing four continents and eight countries, will descend upon Austin on October 30-31st for the 7th Annual Idea to Product Global Competition. The teams will present their breakthrough technology commercialization plans and compete for over $52,500 in cash prizes that may be used to advance their innovations, as well as a chance to enter the Global MOOTCORP® competition. Each year, the competition draws a large audience from Austin’s technology and entrepreneurial community. The even is in the AT&T Conference Center.

The competition will debut three themed championship tracks and a technology showcase where you can see the teams’ innovative technologies. Which technologies will become the next cure for cancer? Which technologies have a potential to revolutionize the battery technology? What technology will answer the world’s changing energy demands? What technology will drastically improve quality of life for less-privileged communities around the world?

Hassina Syed talks about how she finds opportunity in a war-torn country and why ''if a male businessman can do it, so can a woman.''

Ever since the collapse of the Taliban regime in the fall of 2001, Afghanistan's over-$20 billion recovery effort has been undermined by worsening security, corruption and mixed agendas by the international community. This, however, hasn't prevented a growing number of Afghan entrepreneurs from investing in ways that could be among the most effective tools for bringing peace to their country.

One of these is Hassina Syed, an outspoken 30-year-old former refugee and mother of two. Despite numerous obstacles, including threats by warlords, government officials and rival male interests who deeply resent a female in their presence, Hassina now ranks as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Afghanistan.

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Venture-capital fundraising dropped to its lowest point in six years during the third quarter as financial turmoil continued to curb universities and pension funds’ investments in startup companies.

Venture firms raised $1.56 billion in the quarter, the National Venture Capital Association said in a statement. The number of dollars committed was the lowest since the first quarter of 2003, while the 17 investment pools raised were the fewest since the third quarter of 1994.

Tom Koulopoulos, president and co-founder of Delphi Group, here addresses the European Parliament. He highlights what he calls the “perfect storm” of opportunity for innovation today, consisting of:

“placeless work,” where work and knowledge know no geographical boundaries

“ageless work,” consisting of a multigenerational mash-up of available workers; and

“weightless work,” where electricity and phone service are the only requirements for work to begin.

DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ford announced today that it has broadened its Advanced Research and Innovation community through open collaboration with local university professors and students on its industry-leading in-vehicle connectivity system, Ford SYNC.

Through the open innovation model, Ford is deepening its collaboration efforts in high-impact research with academia's brightest minds. As part of this initiative, Ford will receive strategic insight that will enhance the in-car experience for drivers, and drive demand for new features in Ford vehicles.

Oprah has over 2.3 million followers on social networking service Twitter. Steve Jobs? Zero. And yet, in a recent poll by youth organization Junior Achievement, the Apple CEO topped the talk show maven by a hefty margin as the entrepreneur that teens most admired.

It makes perfect sense, really. I mean, sure, Oprah once gave her entire studio audience free cars, but Steve Jobs has given the whole world the iPod and iPhone. I mean, granted, they have to pay for them, but come on--that's what entrepreneurship is really about, right?