Private Equity/Venture Services

We started 2011 with news around the proverbial water cooler focused on Facebook's $50 billion valuation.  According to the Associated Press, the social networking site's value is about equal to the open market value of more well-established companies like Boeing and Kraft.  The blogosphere has been ablaze with some calling the deal "genius" while others calling for greater Securities and Exchange Commission scrutiny of these types of secondary market transactions.  While the terms of the deal may be subject to interpretation, there is little doubt that companies in the tech sector will continue to make front page headlines in 2011.

Recently, we've seen a number of Indiana's tech companies rise in prominence.  In fact, in December 2010, Lead411 announced its list of the Technology 500. To be eligible, companies must be privately held, headquartered in the United States with over $1 million in revenue in 2009.  The rankings were determined by calculating the highest percentage revenue growth between 2007 and 2009.  Seven Indiana companies made the list to include Scale Computing (ranking an impressive second overall), BlueLock, Vontoo, Iasta, ExactTarget, Angie's List and Delivra.  Indiana is home to more companies on the list than Massachusetts, New York or Texas.

So, what makes the Crossroads of America so attractive to emerging tech companies and what drives their growth?  Some of the contributing factors are access to capital, competitive tax credits/incentives and a commitment to develop and commercialize advanced technologies in Indiana.

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