Gov. Perry Announces TETF Investments in Three Innovative Technology Companies

Gov. Rick Perry has announced three awards from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) to three early stage companies that are developing groundbreaking technologies in Texas.

"From biotechnology to health care to safe and efficient energy production, innovative Texas companies continue to lead the way to the next great breakthroughs in technology," Gov. Perry said. "Investments like these by the Texas Emerging Technology Fund are key to keeping the Lone Star State competitive, and continue to provide the critical, early stage capital that attracts innovative entrepreneurs to develop the next big idea in Texas."

The TETF investments are as follows:

Rebellion Photonics is receiving $250,000 of a committed amount up to $1 million for the development of its novel, Gas Cloud Imager (GCI) device to detect leaks in the oil refining, oil drilling and chemical/petrochemical industries. The company's proprietary snap-shot hyper spectral imaging technology is a revolutionary type of video camera that is able to identify the chemical composition of a gas cloud digital image, in real-time. A start-up out of Rice University in 2010, the company currently focuses on the biomedical research and unmanned aerial vehicles markets for sales of cameras operating in the near infrared, or visible light spectrum.

Vapogenix Inc. is receiving $1 million of a committed amount up to $2 million for the development of its novel, non-opioid analgesics for minor procedures pain management during minor surgical procedures. The company's core technology is licensed from University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, using novel formulations of known medications in different ways to create potent analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs. The lead product, VPX-595, is a compound being developed initially for the treatment of acute pain.

VUV Analytics Inc. is receiving $250,000 of a committed amount up to $1 million for the commercialization of a laboratory-scale Circular Dichroism (CD) instrument for investigating biologically important molecules. The company's instrument will be sensitive, non-destructive, fast and easy to use, providing the faster analysis needed for protein studies. This smaller scale instrument will provide better protein structure data and higher accuracy than current methods. The company will collaborate with the University of Texas at Austin to validate the technology using proteins and protein-complexes.

The TETF is a $200 million initiative created by the Texas Legislature in 2005 at the governor's request, and reauthorized in 2007, 2009 and 2011. A 17-member advisory committee of high-tech leaders, entrepreneurs and research experts reviews potential projects and recommends funding allocations to the governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House. To date, the TETF has allocated more than $194 million in funds to 136 early stage companies, and over $194 million in grant matching and research superiority funds to Texas universities. Additionally, since the inception of the TETF, more than $592 million in additional investment from other non-state sources has followed on to the TETF investment, more than tripling the amount invested by the TETF.

For more information on the TETF, please visit http://www.emergingtechfund.com.