Middle Market Deals and how to buy, sell and raise capital from $5 to $500 million

Today I attended the Stoel Rives Innovation Awards luncheon.  Having served as a judge for the competition, it was fun to attend.  Awards were granted to inventors in seven areas.

Prior to the presentation of the awards, Governor Jon Huntsman gave a congratulatory speech, in which he reminded the audience of some of the great Utah Innovations, including television, the artificial heart, and Pong.

Today's keynote speaker was Larry Rigby, one of Utah's great entrepreneurs.  He reviewed the history of innovation from the invention of stone tools 40,000 BC to today's modern innovations, including the Internet and genomics.

Awards were given as follows:

• Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals:  Q Therapeutics, Inc.
• Chemicals/Materials Science: AeroQuest, LLC
• Computer Hardware/Electrical Devices:  Digital Home Communications (AudioShare)
  
• Consumer Software: ClearPlay, Inc.  (see also my post here)
  
• Enterprise B-2-B Software: Symantec Corp. (Altiris Software Virtualization Solution)
  
• Mechanical Devices: Andigen
• Medical Devices: Coherex Medical, Inc.

Kudos to all of the winners. 

The Utah Technology Council was a co-sponsor of the event.