ACBJ : Austin : Archive : 2000 : March : Week of March 27, 2000 : Leading Stories
  Week of
March 27, 2000
  Daily Edition
  Leading Stories
  Small Business Strategies
  Focus: Tech Austin
  Commentary
  Other Features
  Leading Stories
  Industrial space on the way
  Sportsplex may be razed
  Biotech firm to hatch here
  Saratoga fights former exec
  Firm finds its tonic
  Firm forms new unit
  ABIA's success takes off
  Unit of giant Fujitsu to open design center here

AllBusiness.com
 

Leading Stories


Biotech firm to hatch here

Amanda Bronstad   Austin Business Journal

A Florida incubator firm whose majority owner is a TL Ventures investor is launching a medical diagnostic company in Austin with an initial investment of about $5 million in convertible debt.

Executives at the XL Vision Inc. incubator envision the new company, tentatively called LabVision, could reach a $1 billion market capitalization and employ up to 200 people. XL Vision plans to pump $20 million in equity into LabVision, with an eye toward taking the startup public.

Sebastian, Fla.-based XL Vision, which bills itself as an "incuvator," is teaming up with chemistry professors at the University of Texas to create LabVision. The new company, set to open within a month, plans to lease 12,000 square feet at the Monterrey Oaks office park in South Austin and move in by mid-June, says Mike Otworth, interim CEO of LabVision.

Privately owned XL Vision, which has launched four other companies in three cities outside Florida, will provide capital as well as human resources, marketing and other services for LabVision, Otworth says. This will be XL Vision's first company in Austin.

"A lot of incubators don't go to the degree we do," Otworth says. "Some provide you with office space and combine you with other people who are developing other technologies and companies. We have people here who have experienced development strategies for a startup."

Otworth says he expects the Austin company to employ 15 people by this summer, between 25 and 40 in its first six months and up to 200 within two years.

John McDevitt, a UT chemistry professor leading the university's side of the company's development, couldn't be reached for comment.

XL Vision expects LabVision, which will adopt a new name in a month, to go public within two or three years, Otworth says.

Two of XL Vision's startups already have gone public: eMerge Interactive Inc., a Sebastian, Fla.-based online marketplace for the beef production industry, and ChromaVision Medical Systems Inc., a San Juan Capistrano, Calif.-based manufacturer of imaging systems to diagnose and treat cellular diseases.

Otworth was mum about the particulars of LabVision's technology, saying only that it will be used for "medical diagnostics for human and veterinary science applications." But he says XL Vision's long-term goal is to take all its startups public, including LabVision.

"When we look at business opportunities, we look at things with big market opportunities," he says. "We're not interested in incremental changes -- we try to bring revolutionary changes to the market."

Safeguard Scientifics Inc., which invests in more than 200 companies nationwide, owns 55 percent of XL Vision, says Richard Jacobs, first vice president in research at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. Wayne, Pa.-based Safeguard posted revenue of $2.33 billion for the nine months ended Sept. 30.

Safeguard's investments in companies with an Austin presence include TL Ventures, which is based at Safeguard's campus, and New York-based TechSpace LLC, which is seeking to incubate 50 high tech startups with a new center here.

AMANDA BRONSTAD can be reached by email at (abronstad@amcity.com).


Top of the page
Home | This Week's Contents | Daily Edition | Search/Archive | Extra Edge | Contact Us | Other Journals
All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
At present, there is no charge for access to any sites maintained by American City Business Journals.
Austin Business Journal email: austin@amcity.com
Privacy Policy | User Agreement