SC Launch helps companies get off ground
BYLINE: Rudolph Bell
BUSINESS WRITER
Brian Morin worked nine years as a research scientist for Milliken & Co., the Spartanburg-based textiles and chemicals company, before leaving in 2004 to launch his own plastic fiber company with $50,000 of his own money.
Today, Morin's company, Innegrity LLC, employs 15 and is making about $100,000 worth of product a month in a small plant near the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport.
"A year from now, we're going to try to be doing $500,000 a month," Morin said.
Innegrity is one of 28 startup companies across South Carolina that, as of June 30, had received investment dollars -- so-called "seed money" -- from SC Launch, an arm of the South Carolina Research Authority created a year and a half ago to nurture entrepreneurship.
SC Launch officially announced its $200,000 in cash support for Innegrity during a "big check" ceremony Thursday at the High Cotton restaurant in downtown Greenville.
The $200,000 -- the maximum amount that SC Launch invests in any one company -- isn't a lot of money, compared to what's typically needed to build a high-impact company from scratch. But the funding provides credibility that may make venture capital firms take a startup more seriously, said Caron St. John, director of the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Clemson University.
"SC Launch does a thorough due dilligence process, and follow-on money is more likely to pay attention if they know an organization has been vetted already by people who know what to look for in an investment deal," said St. John, a member of Innegrity's advisory board.
Brenda Laakso, vice president of entrepreneurship and small business at the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, agreed.
"It's equivalent to the Good Housekeeping stamp of approval," she said.
SCRA, created by the state Legislature in 1983, is a nonprofit organization that sells research and commercialization services. Bill Mahoney, SCRA's chief executive officer, said SC Launch's work developing a "pipeline" of startup companies in South Carolina is starting to catch the attention of big, out-of-state venture capital firms. Venture capital firms have invested a total of $40 million in six of the 28 startup companies that have gotten seed money from SC Launch, he said.
"I think the results we've put forth have indicated to some pretty grandaddy venture capital firms that we've got a form of greenfield market (in South Carolina) that isn't heavily penetrated, and it's good for their business to be aware of and active in South Carolina," Mahoney said.
SC Launch also provides a variety of services to entrepreneurs and startup companies and funds technology demonstration projects.
Innegrity's fibers go into composite materials to make them tougher and lighter. The materials can then be used in various products such as aircraft bodies, boat hulls, circuit boards, fishing poles or kayaks.
Morin, who has a doctorate in polymer physics from Ohio State University, said he's raised nearly $5 million for Innegrity from a variety of sources.
Other Greenville startups that have received funding from SC Launch include CreatiVasc Medical LLC, Selah Technologies LLC, Zipit Wireless Inc., Q Tires Inc. and PromoPipeline LLC. Zipit this summer announced $4.5 million in funding from Windspeed Ventures, SunBridge Partners and Meritus Ventures LP.