There's so many people I'd like to thank

Written by Aaron Kremer

Thursday, 30 October 2008 11:14

Ten local start-ups were knighted "companies to watch" last night by the Venture Forum, a group that promotes entrepreneurship in Central Virginia. Around 300 people attended the event, which was held at Toad's Place.

The winners:

Gallium Technologies: Gallium offers a comprehensive, software-based solution to companies such as FedEx, Ryder and UPS for managing credit and collection processes.

Live Well Financial Inc. Live Well markets reverse mortgages direct to consumers through proprietary, differentiated programs. The company's main clients, according to the website, are senior citizens.

Marz Industries: Marz manufactures hydrogen fuel cell systems that provide air conditioning, heating and electric power for idle or idling long-haul trucks.

MedVirginia: MedVirginia provides electronic health information exchange services for more than 300 physicians, 100 medical practices and 500,000 patients.

Midwest Proteomics: Midwest provides preclinical/diagnostic research companies a faster and less expensive way to identify promising drugs by quickly identifying unanticipated toxic interactions using their proprietary computational platform.

nHealth Inc.: nHealth provides a health insurance for small-to-mid-size companies by combining the benefits of health savings accounts and catastrophic policies to provide health insurance at lower costs. The plans use what are called high-deductible plans and let employees save for routine care in dedicated accounts that are like 401(k)s for health care costs. BizSense wrote about nHealth in June.

Romp n' Roll: Romp n' Roll is a rapidly growing franchiser of locations offering classes, camps, parties and programs (gym, art, music, science and language) for young children.

Smash Direct: One of the eBay's Top 50 resellers, Smash Direct buys and sells preowned camera gear and musical instruments online.

Taradel: Taradel is a direct marketing company leveraging technology in new ways to provide design, print and distribution solutions to small businesses without the use of advertising agencies.

TESLA Inc. TESLA enables utilities, energy trading companies and energy transmission companies to save significant expenses by providing electricity, gas and direct heat demand forecasting.

Last year's winners:

Adaptive Inc., a Chesterfield County company that makes software to manage, monitor and report on corporate governance. Clients include Best Buy and John Deere.

AdvanceTEC, a Chesterfield builder of clean rooms and labs for nanotechnology, semiconductor, biotechnology and other high-tech trades.

Intrinergy, an Ashland provider of renewable energy to industrial customers that converts recycled materials into a clean-burning gas that can be used to generate heat, steam and electricity.

Ion Healthcare, a Richmond company that uses Internet-based technology to manage apnea, the temporary breathing interruptions during sleep.

Old Dominion Security, a Richmond-based security firm for companies in Virginia and North Carolina. Founded in 1997, it has more than 600 guards

PartnerMD, a Richmond firm that charges a higher fee than family practices but offers a higher level of individual attention from doctors. It has 2,000 members.

Spec Ops Inc., an Ashland firm that provides equipment to rapidly set up tactical operations centers for military, defense and emergency groups. Its equipment is being used in several Army divisions.

SubMachine Corp., a Henrico County company that has created low-cost miniature pumps to cool components in computers and servers. Its products have applications in the defense and medical fields.

Velocity Micro, a Chesterfield company that makes and sells high-speed video-game computers.

Worth Home Products, a Henrico company that makes air vents for homes and quick-installing chic ceiling lamps. Its products are sold in Lowe's hardware stores and other retail outlets.

Xymid LLC, a Midlothian company founded by former DuPont executives to make proprietary fibers and composites. Its fabrics are used in bedding and thermal protection, and it has commercial and military customers.