Ben Lanka reports on the Fort Wayne.com:
David Corcoran, partner and founder of a local business, passionately called to the crowd to support the project. He said his company needs to attract young talent to succeed, and that is difficult because of the lack of an urban life in Fort Wayne. He said the Harrison Square project could be the start of something to create the lifestyle sought after by young professionals.
The local business was identified as TrustBearer Lab, LLC an affiliate of Identity Alliance. According to the Identity Alliance website:
David Corcoran, CEO, TrustBearer Lab: Identity Alliance, a Fort Wayne, Ind., security firm, will receive a special award to further develop its enterprise after winning the third annual Opportunity for Indiana $50,000 Award for Entrepreneurs sponsored by Purdue University and Lilly Endowment.
And Greater Fort Wayne Business writes in its February 16, 2007:
TrustBearer Labs is located in the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center. The company has experience in “smart” cards and other security devices and has worked with well-known companies like Apple Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Xerox Identity Alliance, a Fort Wayne, Ind., security firm, will receive a special award to further develop its enterprise after winning the third annual Opportunity for Indiana $50,000 Award for Entrepreneurs sponsored by Purdue University and Lilly EndowmentCorp.
TrustBearer Labs plans to remain in Fort Wayne as it continues to grow, Corcoran said. The company is an affiliate of Identity Alliance, which was founded in 2003.
The $500,000 was essentially what was needed to begin marketing the software, Corcoran said. He could not talk about who was investing in the company, but he said all of the funding came from the Fort Wayne region. A grant from outside the area also was received as part of the fundraising effort.
An angel network to help startups get off the ground was created in Fort Wayne early last year. Last fall, Ruffolo Benson LLC created the Main Street Venture Fund, which will provide mezzanine and equity capital for investments in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio. It is looking for more-established companies that need additional investment to continue growing.
And a press release from AdVenture:
(Fort Wayne, IN) Imagineer Fund, LLC, a Northeast Indiana equity fund that invests in technology development, announced today that it was placing an investment in Identity Alliance, LLC to develop and market TrustBearer, a software security product.
TrustBearer provides a simple interface for Internet users to protect their personal information such as credit card numbers and passwords. Using TrustBearer, consumers and businesses can conveniently and cost-effectively protect their information with “multi-factor authentication” which is the new standard in information security. Applications range from homeland security to on-line retail.
“We believe that TrustBearer has great potential,” said Donald R. Willis of the Imagineer Fund. “Identity Alliance brings some very talented people to a growing industry.”
“We are excited to work with the Imagineer Fund and its members” said David Corcoran. “It is partnerships like these that will restore Fort Wayne as a technology leader. We have and will continue to hire some of the best talent from across the nation and provide our software and services to some of the most reputable companies in the world. It can be done - and it can be done here.”
Imagineer Fund, LLC, was formed in 2004 with the goal of supporting entrepreneurs in Northeast Indiana who are developing new technology. The fund is comprised of 28 private investors. It is managed by adVenture Management, LLC, a subsidiary of FourthWave, LLC.
For additional information, please contact Karen Goldner, FourthWave, LLC, at (260) 469-4411 or refer to the company’s website at www.adventurefund.net.
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