SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - July 1, 2009) - Leading global venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and Cisco (
This is the first time the competition was aimed at a global market and hosted in six countries, a milestone made possible by both DFJ's Global Network and Cisco TelePresence™. Cisco TelePresence enables live, face-to-face collaboration through a set of advanced technologies and seamless network communications experience. Sixteen finalist teams across the globe presented business plans from their local TelePresence suite to a panel of San Jose-based judges composed of venture capitalists from DFJ and its Global Network Funds and executives from Cisco's Corporate Development team.
"Our mission at DFJ is to help entrepreneurs change the world. With this competition, we certainly witnessed that entrepreneurship has no borders, and we look forward to expanding it to even more universities worldwide next year," said Tim Draper, managing director, DFJ. "Deciding on just one winner was difficult, especially with this caliber of candidates. We are excited to have chosen Husk Power Systems, which is especially remarkable for its alternative power technology, and we can't wait to see how this team becomes the next game changer."
"This competition demonstrates the tremendous power of collaboration through Cisco TelePresence," said Hilton Romanski, vice president of corporate development for Cisco. "We were able to bring together 16 talented teams from 15 separate schools in six different countries, all in the course of a normal business day. It was exciting to hear from this diverse and visionary group of global entrepreneurs and to learn about their business plans. Given Cisco's focus on emerging countries and the use of innovative technology to provide enhanced essential services, Cisco's investment in Husk Power Systems is a great way for us to accelerate these themes."
The presenting members of the Husk Power Systems team were University of Virginia, Darden School of Business 2009 graduates Chip Ransler and Manoj Sinha. The team started their company in India in 2007.
"We're honored to receive this recognition and opportunity, especially considering the level of competition," said Chip Ransler, chief strategy officer, Husk Power Systems. "We look forward to working with the investment professionals at Cisco and the DFJ Global Network to make Husk Power Systems a pioneer in providing electricity to rural villages in India."
Finalists in the competition were selected and evaluated in the same way that venture capitalists evaluate start-ups. For each company, the judges considered the management teams, addressable market size, competitive positioning, barriers, capital efficiency, and financial projections. In addition to the financial investment awarded to the winner, both DFJ and Cisco will continue to work with the winner and other finalists in leading the next wave of disruptive technologies by providing mentorship and professional assessments regarding their submissions.
Please contact Marta Bulaich at DFJ to see a webcast of the competition.
About Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Draper Fisher Jurvetson ("DFJ") backs extraordinary entrepreneurs everywhere who set out to change the world. DFJ achieves its mission through its DFJ Global Network of Partner Funds. Together, DFJ and the Network manage over $6B and have made more than 600 investments on four continents. With a 24-year history of success across diverse sectors and market conditions, DFJ has led the way investing in emerging technologies, from the Internet and life sciences to clean energy and nanotechnology. DFJ has been proud to back over 500 companies across many sectors including such industry changing successes such as Hotmail (acquired by MSFT), Baidu (BIDU), Skype (acquired by EBAY), United Online (UNTD), Overture (acquired by YHOO), Athenahealth (ATHN), EnerNOC (ENOC), TicketsNow (acquired by TicketMaster), Feedburner (acquired by Google), Interwoven (IWOV), Four11 (acquired by YHOO), Parametric (PMTC), and Digidesign (acquired by AVID). The DFJ Network includes DFJ, DFJ Athena, DFJ Dragon, DFJ Esprit, DFJ FIR, DFJ Frontier, DFJ Gotham, DFJ Growth, DFJ InCube, DFJ Mercury, DFJ Portage, DFJ Tamir Fishman, Draper Triangle, DFJ Vina, DFJ-VTB Aurora, Element Partners, and Epic Ventures. For more information, please go to www.dfj.com.
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Contact Information:
Media Contacts:
Marta Bulaich
DFJ
marta@dfj.com
+1 650-233-9000
Kristin Carvell
Cisco
kcarvell@cisco.com
+1 408 424 0206