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Corporate Filings 10 Other Side of Zero . . . 18
<br /> LEADINGEDGE
<br /> ■ upstarts 10 Deal Flow 20
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<br /> .■ C-Changes 14
<br /> liCORPORATE FILINGS
<br /> I Updates on featured limns I
<br /> August Technology Corp. Pavers of Speech
<br /> (NASDAQ:AUGT)[CovER,OCTOBER
<br /> 2000]received a merger proposal from K-Netita looks to unlock value of language recognition
<br /> Milpitas,Calif.-based Nanometrics Inc.in
<br /> January for$157 million.Subsequently,
<br /> the Bloomington based semiconductor DEVELOPING SOFTWARE THAT CAN ACCURATELY INTERPRET HUMAN SPEECH
<br /> testing company received a$190 million IS A PROBLEM COMPUTER SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN GRAPPLING WITH FOR YEARS.
<br /> offer from NJ.-based Rudolph It's a problem Knowledgenetica founder Joe Roushar has been working on since 1984.The
<br /> Technologies Inc.and a$205 million bid technology he developed as a solution is the basis for his Elk River-based software firm,
<br /> from KLA-Tencor Corp.,both of which which does business as K-Netica.
<br /> August Technology rebuffed.According "Ours is not speech recognition soft- Joe Roushar s
<br /> to TheDeal.com,August Technology ware, which is only capable of reading
<br /> prefers the Nanometrics'deal because 5
<br /> it will be a merger of equals.Rudolph's lips; our software reads minds," says : k
<br /> Roushar,whose resume includes experi- ' =;
<br /> and KLA-Tencor's bids are considered STM- I
<br /> hostile because they are competitors. ence as a U.S.Army intelligence officer
<br /> www.augusttech.com and IT system architect for companies -= '
<br /> including United HealthGroup, '
<br /> BioE, Inc. [UPSTARTS,SEPTEMBER American Express,HB Fuller and Banta
<br /> 2004]received$8.3 million in its latest Corp."Other,existing solutions are based
<br /> round of private financing,thus bringing on keyword-matching,which will deliver `"
<br /> the total raised by the biotech company to ,:'-i=
<br /> $22 million.The St.Paul-based company some value but will miss tremendous
<br /> is developing antibody-based technology amounts of important information, and• ;�;,
<br /> platforms for therapeutic and diagnostic also produce many false hits." ; �;_
<br /> applications.MedVest Capital helped K-Netica uses access to a massive
<br /> BioE raised the funds from angel database to put speech in context and
<br /> investors.The funds will be used to com- resolve the inherent ambiguity in lan-
<br /> plete pre-market FDA requirements for guage. "It's a large neural network of
<br /> the company's cell separation technology
<br /> real-world knowledge—using a process BIZBRIEFING
<br /> platform,PrepaCyte-CB,and market the
<br /> product to both public and private sectors.
<br /> that's verymuch like the brain." KnowledgeNetica Corporation►Inception:1999 III
<br /> www.t+ioe.Com In developing his software, Roushar Headquarters:Elk River III Revenue:$100,000 II
<br /> Seed Capital:$1.25M■ Venture capital:None■
<br /> says his major breakthrough was Patents:Multiple pending■ Employees:6■
<br /> Lakes Entertainment,Inc. "enabling a process to sift through this Description:Developer of language-recognition soft-
<br /> (NASDAQ:LACO)[COVER,JANUARY massive network of knowledge very ry ware■Web site:www.knetica.com
<br /> 2005]received approval in February for rapidly. Our competition takes hours to
<br /> its proposed casino location in Vicksburg, Management Team► Joe Roushar,Founder,President
<br /> Mississippi,from the Mississippi Gaming process a network of similar size.We do it
<br /> in milliseconds," usinga data base that &CTO II Warren Herreld,Operations III Juan Ramirez,
<br /> Commission.Lakes plans to develop a Business Development■Harlan Jacobs,Finance
<br /> 250-room hotel with 1,500 slot machines includes 14 different languages.
<br /> and 45 game tables on an approximately , K-Netica's primary product to date is ISYL Care,call-center software used to automate
<br /> 160 acre site on the Mississippi River. interactions between callers,Web-surfers,e-mailers and company data systems—with or
<br /> Lakes Entertainment is also 64 percent without an employee involved. Several clients are using the software,including two cus-
<br /> owner of WPT Enterprises(Nasdaq: tomer care-center companies and another that conducts complex online information-
<br /> WPTE),which produces the World searches.Roushar also hopes to gain customers in the managed-care sector,helping answer
<br /> Poker Tour.WPT announced that it
<br /> policyholders'insurance and billing questions.
<br /> would partner with WagerWorks to
<br /> In addition,K-Netica has met with several federal agencies involved in defense,national
<br /> create an online poker site,potentially
<br /> leading to significant expansion in the security and intelligence,including the FBI,who are considering acquiring the software.
<br /> Calif-based company. Founded in 1999, K-Netica operated for the first three years on a self-funded basis
<br /> through consulting revenues,while finishing the logical design and the patent applications
<br /> Dexma Inc. [EMERGING COMPANIES, for the ISYL technology.The firm subsequently received roughly$450,000 in seed funding
<br /> 0 MAY 2004]announced the leadership through a convertible bridge loan,plus a$150,000 SBA loan. The company is planning on
<br /> team for a new joint venture in February raising an additional$250,000 in the near term,and a Series A round in late 2005 or early
<br /> 1006 to raise another$2 to$3 million,according to Roushar.—Dan Emerson
<br /> 10 MinnesotaBusiness ) April 2005
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