{"333651":{"#nid":"333651","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech helps startups showcase business solutions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELike many small technology firms, StarMobile Inc., a two-year-old startup, doesn\u2019t have a big marketing budget.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Atlanta-based startup\u2019s technology helps large enterprises extend their legacy business applications to their mobile devices \u2014 quicker, simpler and at a lower cost than then any other solution. And by mobilizing those applications \u2014 such as a company\u2019s time management reports \u2014 StarMobile enables employees to work from anywhere thus, increasing productivity and ROI. But for any startup, getting in front of the corporate decision makers who can best understand and more importantly, utilize its services can be a challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThanks to an innovation expo between Georgia Tech\u2019s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) and The Coca-Cola Company, StarMobile and other startup technology firms had an opportunity to present their business solutions to the beverage giant\u2019s top leaders and researchers at the GT Innovation Expo held Sept 25.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Being on a limited budget and with limited resources, events like this are amazing,\u201d said Kristen H. Rachels, StarMobile\u2019s marketing and communications director.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We had the opportunity to put our technology directly into the hands of key decision makers at Coca-Cola today, which allowed them to experience first-hand the benefit that StarMobile can provide for their company.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIncreasingly, major corporations have realized the need to meet these small startups early on through partnerships such as the one between Coca-Cola and EI2, Tech\u2019s chief business outreach and economic development arm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe goal of this \u0022open innovation\u201d trend: see how cutting-edge and external technologies can drive growth in their business.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECoca-Cola launched its global External Technology Acquisition (ETA) program two years ago for that reason and created nine ETA hubs globally, including one in Atlanta with Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Events like this build bridges between our Company and Georgia Tech that facilitate collaborations,\u201d said Dr. Shell Huang, senior director of Coca-Cola\u2019s ETA program. \u0022This adds value to our business by giving us the opportunity to leverage the technology and solutions presented to us. We know that some of the best ideas come from organizations outside of our Company.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETech\u2019s EI2 is tasked with economic development and growth initiatives across the state, including the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), one of the nation\u2019s premier technology startup incubators.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe startups that presented their technologies to Coca-Cola executives and researchers are all based out of ATDC, which, through its Industry Connect program, made the connections with the beverage company.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIndustry Connect, which identified the startups with technologies that could best help Coca-Cola with its operations, bridges angel investors and Fortune 1000 firms with ATDC companies whose technologies best meet their needs. Through Industry Connect, ATDC is working with other multi-national firms for similar innovation expos.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrank Mess (pictured), chief operating officer of Soneter, another ATDC-based startup, said tapping into its resources and corporate connections has been critical to the growth of his company.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESoneter\u2019s technology allows homeowners to detect water leaks and monitor water usage in real-time, without having to cut pipes to install meters. The company, which is projecting a retail launch of its consumer meters by the summer of 2015, is looking at commercial applications of that technology for corporations, including a pilot project at Coca-Cola.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe pilot calls for the installation of Soneter\u2019s meters at a local Coca-Cola production facility to help the company in its goal toward reducing water usage, Mess said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our introduction to Coke came because of an ATDC showcase in 2013 in which senior level operations and R\u0026amp;D [research and development] people from Coke visited the ATDC showcase,\u201d Mess said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022They saw our product and our technology and they were able to see where it might have application within an industrial environment,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u2019re looking forward to ongoing development at EI2,\u201d he said. \u0022All of these opportunities really revolve around us being in the community at ATDC and EI2.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Enterprise Innovation Institute works with Coca-Cola to host Innovation Expo"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThanks to an innovation expo between Georgia Tech\u2019s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) and The Coca-Cola Company, startup technology firms had an opportunity to present their business solutions to the beverage giant\u2019s top leaders and researchers at the GT Innovation Expo held Sept 25.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"ATDC\u0027s Industry Connect program provides opportunities for startups to showcase their technologies."}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2014-10-14 10:11:01","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:15","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"334591":{"id":"334591","type":"image","title":"ATDC assists member startups showcase industry solutions","body":null,"created":"1449245150","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:05:50","changed":"1475895046","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:46","alt":"ATDC assists member startups showcase industry solutions","file":{"fid":"200461","name":"frankmess-soneter_photo.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/frankmess-soneter_photo_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/frankmess-soneter_photo_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1337338,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/frankmess-soneter_photo_0.jpg?itok=01YDrA2M"}}},"media_ids":["334591"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/","title":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/atdc.org\/","title":"Advanced Technology Development Center"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4238","name":"atdc"},{"id":"559","name":"Coca Cola"},{"id":"9040","name":"EI2"},{"id":"3671","name":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"},{"id":"9157","name":"expo"},{"id":"341","name":"innovation"},{"id":"166994","name":"startups"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPeralte Paul, \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:perlate.paul@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eperlate.paul@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}