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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Alan Fogg
Communications Director
703-790-0600; 703-845-8500
afogg@fceda.org
Mark Fedeli
eIncubator
mark@eincubator.net
Dr. Burkhard Koch
IQ International Incubator
+44 (0) 121 359 0981; +49 (0) 30 29 36 31 60
info@iqberlin.com
Fairfax County/eIncubator Technology Center to Ink Partnership with German Tech Incubator
eIncubator also to launch competition for U.K. firms eyeing U.S., FCEDA says
Fairfax County, Virginia, February 6, 2001 — The Fairfax County/eIncubator Technology Center has crafted an agreement with IQ International Incubator AG in Berlin, Germany, to work with German technology companies that want to expand into the U.S. market and American firms that want to expand into Germany, according to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. The partnership will be signed at a February 8 ceremony at the IQ Incubator headquarters.
The Technology Center also is set to announce a competition among British technology companies to win office space and eIncubator's customized set of business services. The competition will be detailed at a February 13 breakfast in London.
The eIncubator-IQ International partnership
The Fairfax County/eIncubator Technology Center, in the Baileys Crossroads section of Fairfax County, Virginia, is a public/private partnership between the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA, www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org) and eIncubator Inc (www.eincubator.net). The FCEDA is investing $1.2 million in the incubator over three years to help eIncubator manage the center. eIncubator delivers a process for accelerating the growth of early-stage technology companies.
IQ International (www.iqberlin.com), in the Oberbaum City district of Berlin, assists technology companies that are successful domestically and are beginning the transformation from national supplier to global player.
Through the partnership to be signed in Berlin, IQ International will select German companies to locate to the Fairfax County/eIncubator Technology Center or other suitable office space located in Fairfax County for entry into the U.S. market. eIncubator will select U.S. companies to IQ's Berlin office, or other suitable office space in Germany, for acceleration into the European market.
eIncubator and IQ International will provide foreign-based companies with services such as management team development, corporate infrastructure, business plan preparation, market analysis, venture financing, channel sales, and strategic marketing. The companies also will establish relationships with the incubators' service partners that provide legal, accounting, public relations, marketing, real estate and technical assistance and access to funding sources.
eIncubator will receive compensation in the form of equity and/or consulting fees from the German companies sent by IQ. IQ will receive compensation in the form of equity and/or consulting fees from the U.S. companies sent by eIncubator.
Representatives of Insight, a German software company that is planning to expand into the U.S., will attend the signing ceremony. So will representatives of Kirloskar Multimedia (www.kirloskar-multimedia.com), the American subsidiary of an Indian company that is interested in expansion into Germany. Kirloskar Multimedia has offices in Fairfax and is part of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce incubation program.
In addition to the signing ceremony, a press-only briefing will be held at IQ International on February 9.
The U.K. competition
Through the competition to be announced in London, a British technology company will have the opportunity to open office space in eIncubator, where it will receive the coaching and professional support needed to expand into the U.S. market, including eligibility for seed-stage funding through the HFS venture capital fund in Fairfax County. In addition to eIncubator and the FCEDA, the United Kingdom Science Parks Association (www.ukspa.org.uk) and BritishAmerican Business Inc. (Web site under development) are co-sponsoring the competition.
The competition will be limited to BritishAmerica Business Inc. (BABi) members and companies in UKSPA science parks and technology centres. Fifty-nine science parks, including those at Cambridge, Oxford, Surrey, Warwick, Manchester and Aston, are members of the UKSPA.
Due diligence will be carried out on each competitor to ensure the credibility and viability of the company, its leadership team and its product. An exclusive advisory panel of UK and US experts will help eIncubator officials narrow the initial submissions down to a short-list. eIncubator officials will make the final choice.
"We know many exciting technology companies have sprung up in Germany and the UK, and we look forward to opening doors here for British and German companies and to helping companies from here establish themselves overseas," said Eric Dahler, President of eIncubator. eIncubator is pursuing similar opportunities in Asia.
"Fairfax County is the melting pot of the 21st century, and the partnership with IQ incubator in Berlin and the British competition are a terrific way to carry out the FCEDA's mission to bring foreign-owned companies here," said Dr. Gerald L. Gordon, president of the FCEDA. "The services they will get here will add value to any company that wants to expand into the U.S. market. Companies will be supported until they can stand on their own in a highly competitive business environment."
Support from Germany and Britain
"The partnership is mutually beneficial as it will strengthen and expand trans-Atlantic networks," said Professor Burkhard Koch, CEO of IQ International. "IQ's overseas connection will guarantee continued support for IQ's German clients as they enter the US market. The direct interchange of clients will provide that eIncubator likewise refers clients ready to enter the European market to IQ. The location is especially attractive as the partnership connects Fairfax County and Berlin, two booming, high-tech metropolises, and Fairfax County presents an optimal gateway to the US market for our German clients."
In London, UK Science Parks Association CEO Alan Mason said the incubator competition holds great potential for British technology companies and increases the value the UKSPA can offer tenant companies. "It's a great opportunity for companies in these science parks to expand into a huge new market. In the long run it also means more jobs here at home for innovative, high-growth, knowledge-based UK companies," Mason said.
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