Cenetec Gains Equity Investment from Leading Florida VCs
BOCA RATON – May 4, 2000 – Cenetec, (www.cenetec.com), the Technology Accelerator Company founded by Internet entrepreneur Scott Adams, today announced it has received private equity investment from four of Florida’s leading venture capital firms.
Led by Rock Creek Capital of Jacksonville, the group includes HIG Ventures of Miami, Interprise Technology Partners of Miami and Sun Capital Partners of Boca Raton. Cenetec is launching a series of fast-track business incubators beginning with two located along the InternetCoast. One is now open at Boca Raton’s Blue Lake Corporate Center and a second will open in Miami in June. “Having four of the state’s preeminent venture capital firms join forces with us is important market confirmation of Cenetec’s approach and the depth of our executive team,” said Adams. “It’s the first stage in long-term relationships that will benefit not only Cenetec, but the start-up companies we’ll be accelerating to market.”
Adams said securing the relationships is part of building Cenetec’s “infrastructure.” Cenetec will benefit from the VCs’ deal flow, gaining the opportunity to identify promising accelerator candidates that may not be ready for full venture capital funding. The VCs will get a first look at companies exiting the incubator and ready to move to market. In return for equity, Cenetec provides all core services to the start-ups and a pool of seed capital. Adams said having the VC partner relationships in place will boost companies’ chances of receiving funding when they successfully graduate from the accelerator.
Peter Collins, partner with Rock Creek Capital, said the venture capital group initially planned to establish its own incubator, but chose instead to partner with Cenetec. “Scott has a proven track record. He has assembled an exceptional, Internet-savvy team to implement a solid business plan that we’re confident will make Cenetec a leader in this industry,” he said. Adams built Hiway Technologies into the world’s largest webhosting company before selling it to Verio and focusing on the technology accelerator. Cenetec’s technology accelerator is designed to speed Internet entrepreneurs to market and create aggressive growth companies. Comprehensive on-site resources, technology expertise and capital access converge to move entrepreneurs along disciplined incubation tracks. The fertile, intensive environment is focused on helping companies accomplish in six months what might typically take two to three years, Cenetec President Adams said.
Adams also is a founder of the InternetCoast initiative and provided the seed money for a new Internet Institute at Florida Atlantic University. He co-founded Cenetec with Bill Hager, Chief Executive Officer. A veteran information technologies executive, Hager, as CEO of the National Council On Compensation Insurance, led one of the nation’s top industry database companies through a highly successful technology transformation.
The top management team also includes general counsel Robert White, a leading technology and e-commerce attorney who was formerly partner at the national law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, LLP; chief technology officer Dr. Richard Ford, a nationally regarded Internet architecture expert who was senior architect for the world’s largest webhosting platform and director of research for the National Computer Security Association; and Jeffrey Rubenstein, Esq., chief strategic consultant, and president and COO of CyberGate & ValueWeb, an international ISP and webhosting enterprise. Cenetec is located at 4950 Blue Lake Drive, Suite 900, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, 561/981-0200 and can be reached at www.cenetec.com for accelerator applications and employment opportunities.