To help further the business plans of two Upstate companies, the SC Launch program of SCRA Technology Ventures presented checks to CampusConnectr and KIYATEC at Clemson University’s ICAR campus.
Originally announced in November, the ceremony honored the companies and commemorated the investments at a networking event held last week.
The two Upstate businesses are bringing innovative technologies to South Carolina and growing the state’s knowledge economy, said Bill Mahoney, CEO of SCRA.
“We look forward to many future partnerships and successes,” he said.
CampusConnectr addresses student engagement and retention, and was designed “by students for students,” said founder and president John-David McKee. Through two systems, the company allows university students to engage with their institution and with each other. The program provides students with news feeds, campus information and functional apps. Although CampusConnectr is a closed program, it is free to the students and schools they attend.
The $200,000 awarded CampusConnectr enabled the company to rebuild its technology, McKee said. “We’ve built a private social network for college students [called Flock] that is available on any device through responsive design and native apps for Apple iOS and Android, and scalable to any and all higher ed campuses in the US and beyond.”
Flock provides sharing features and in-system apps designed to help the daily life of a college student.
KIYATEC specializes in providing advanced, 3-D cell-based assays and diagnostics with superior physiologic relevance for more accurate predictions of patient response to drugs. KIYATEC’s Greenville offices and labs are co-located with the Institute for Translational Oncology Research (ITOR) Clinical Research Unit on the main campus of the Greenville Health System.
SC Launch’s $250,000 investment will be used to further KIYATEC’s business plan, said CEO Matthew R. Gevaert.
By accurately predicting patient drug response without exposing actual patients to drugs, KIYATEC will create informed drug selection that minimizes clinical trials’ failures and maximizes patient outcomes in the clinic, he said.
