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5 Tech Startups To Watch
Sacramento Business Journal - June 1, 2007
by Melanie Turner Staff writer
The votes are in: A dozen people plugged into the regional tech market have found some consensus on a handful of startups likely to succeed
Many tech companies launch with the dream of becoming the next Google, Intel or Hewlett-Packard. And fortunately for all the Sacramento-area techies, there's no hard and fast rule that says they have to be from Silicon Valley.
But shy of those lofty goals, simply contributing to the Sacramento region's tech growth works, too.
The Business Journal last month conducted an informal survey of area venture capitalists and investors, business owners and other industry watchers to determine which companies the insiders are betting will rise to success.
We asked for companies that, in time, might become the next Sierra Logic Inc. or International DisplayWorks Inc., for example. The Roseville companies sold for a combined half-billion dollars last year. Such sales can inject money into the economy as companies grow and more wealth is created for local entrepreneurs and investors.
Of the three dozen people surveyed, 13 responded. The following five companies -- two software companies, a couple of chip designers and one startup focused on wireless technology -- received the most mentions, topping our list of companies to watch: SynapSense, KeyEye Communications Inc., Revionics Inc., Freepath Inc. and Akros Silicon Inc.
SynapSense
This Folsom startup, founded in 2006, is developing hardware and software for a wireless technology that aims to help data centers and factories reduce downtime and save energy. The technology makes it easier and less expensive to build, deploy and manage systems that track what machines are doing.
Workers are "running blind" in data centers now, since only about 15 percent of machines are wired to measure and control environmental conditions, such as temperature and pressure, said chief executive officer Peter Van Deventer.
It's too expensive to install such equipment and wiring for entire factories, what with the high cost of wire, cable, conduit and labor. Running cable and conduit also can be impractical and cause disruption to factory operations, Van Deventer said.
SynapSense is developing software applications and wireless devices with sensors attached to them that enable companies to monitor a wide variety of actions and conditions. In an industrial application, for instance, sensors could be used to monitor pipelines for leaks.
SynapSense has an "extensive list" of customers, both potential and real, though the company remains secretive about them, its revenue and employee count. SynapSense is focused on data centers and technology equipment manufacturers. However, it also is talking to a major grocery company.
Founded a year ago by Van Deventer, a 10-year veteran of Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), and Raju Pandy, a computer scientist at University of California Davis, SynapSense is backed by local venture capital investments.