CYTHEREAL participated in the Delta-area entrepreneurial training program

Six entrepreneurs and support organizations from Louisiana are among 36 selected for a Delta Entrepreneurship Network fellowship to receive intensive training to help grow their ventures, the Delta Regional Authority announced.

They are:

COVERSIX: The Church Point firm educates and trains companies on how to deal with the threat of an active shooter.

CYTHEREAL: The Lafayette firm plans bring to market Cy/Malweb, which will extract intelligence from malware quarantined by anti-malware systems to help identify targeted cyber attacks. Cythereal detects evolutionary trends in malware that are indicators of a persistent adversary attempting to beat a system’s defenses.

PREP TECH LLC: The West Lake firm is a new medical device that allows for pre-surgical skin preparation before a patient enters the operating room, eliminating minutes of valuable operating room and anesthesia time. At present, the skin prep doesn’t take place until after the patient is anesthetized.

VIPER DRILL: The Lake Charles firm improves the profitability and value of oil and gas wells by increasing the production from those wells with the use of government-sponsored research that predicts hydrocarbon recovery and the acceleration of that recovery.

LBTC: Louisiana Business & Technology Center is a 27-year-old business incubator and management assistance office operated by LSU in Baton Rouge. It provides incubator space, entrepreneurial training, management assistance, prototype development, business counseling, access to capital and access to LSU’s resources to small business owners, entrepreneurs and innovators.

PROPELLER: The company operates a social impact accelerator in New Orleans. It provides mentorship, technical assistance, access to networks, customers and financing, and a curriculum designed to connect local innovators with the resources they need to build sustainable businesses that can have a social impact in the areas of water, food, health care and education.

Participants were selected from within the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt regions of the country. Twenty-two entrepreneurs were chosen through a series of six pitch competitions. Fourteen entrepreneurship support organizations were picked through a competitive application process. “These fellows represent some of the brightest entrepreneurial minds in our region, whether using their knowledge to advance their own business idea or helping others pursue their entrepreneurial dreams,” federal co-chairman Chris Masingill said.

Fellows will receive training on business development and participate in entrepreneurial discussions. They also will take part in a special segment of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week — hosted by The Idea Village on March 11-18 — by showcasing ideas to investors, participating in workshops and connecting with fellow entrepreneurs, industry experts and mentors.

“Our hope and expectation is that with the skills, training and network that fellows will gain from the next year of engagement, the DEN fellows will be better poised to go back to their communities and create even more opportunities for themselves and other entrepreneurs in the Delta,” Masingill said.

The Delta Regional Authority is a federal-state partnership created by Congress in 2000 to help create jobs, build communities and improve lives through investments in economic development in 252 counties and parishes across eight states.

The Advocate | Staff Report | DEC 19, 2015 - 2:46 PM

Article Link: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/article_5c5fda9d-538f-5d31-a9ef-d0162218f57a.html