As the Spring growing season hits the Mid-Atlantic region, the agricultural community knows what to do and how to make their business flourish - they plant high quality seeds.

The same is true for new entrepreneurs who are starting businesses. The first step in their growth cycle is to raise the initial resources to organize both their business and technological assets. These funds are commonly called Seed Capital.

The problem for these emerging businesses is finding these seed resources. According to Michael Borrus, Founding General Partner of X/Seed Capital in his February 15, 2007 testimony before the U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, these resources are hard to find.

He states, "However, there is too little venture capital available for the riskiest, de novo start-up phase of a new venture's life. That 'seed' stage-when an entrepreneur may have a good idea, some scientific validation and at best only a rudimentary technology - is typically when potential innovations are transitioned out of the lab and toward the commercial marketplace. It is when they must navigate the gap in seed-stage funding dubbed by many analysts as the 'valley of death' - a classic market failure in early stage innovation."

Many states are assisting the private sector in the development of seed stage funds, including the recently enacting legislation that created the $40 million Arkansas Risk Capital Matching Fund, to provide financing to knowledge-based companies throughout Arkansas in early stages of development.

The availability of seed stage capital is critical to the long-term success of MATRIC since our business model is to create a commercial intellectual property through either licenses with existing businesses or the start-up of new entities. To date, MATRIC has started three businesses, including:

1. Transparent Armor, LLC, to commercialize a new optically transparent, bullet-resistant polymer material,
2. Mountaineer Biofuels, LLC, to construct one or more biodiesel facilities using innovative continuous processing technology created for BEST Energies, and
3. NG Innovations, LLC, to commercialize chemical purification technology for natural gas at or near well-heads.

Each of these businesses has had to go through the process of raising seed capital, which has been a significant barrier to rapidly advancing into the marketplace.

Our hope as we move forward with marketable technology advances that produce economic growth in the region is that seed capital will become more accessible, thereby promoting more growth.

As everyone knows, you can't reap a harvest without planting seeds. If you are interested in investment opportunities please contact me.

web: http://www.matricresearch.com