Ephibian Pioneers "Venture Technology"
Concept By Sandra
Helsel
Ephibian is an Internet services firm
specializing in infrastructure, application development and
management services for Fortune 1000 corporations and technology
startups. Founded in 1996, Ephibian maintains a development center
in Tucson and operates business development centers in San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Boston, Chicago and New York.
Ephibian maintains a strict focus on the back-end issues for client
companies that compete in the Internet marketplace.
Two years ago, CEO Teri Spencer developed the novel concept of
"venture technology," which is the acceptance of equity in exchange
for deferring or reducing fees for technology development. The cost
of quality back-end web development in today's market is expensive
and out of reach for many technology startups who have not secured
funding at the venture capital or institutional level. In addition,
many promising startups have reported that the recent market
correction has led many venture firms to demand to see at least some
technology development before considering making an investment.
Since having just a business plan isn't enough anymore, many
startups find themselves in a "chicken and egg" dilemma - unable to
raise money because their technology isn't developed, and unable to
develop their technology without the cash to pay for it. These needs
combined with the potential upside associated with an IPO or
acquisition, led Ephibian to develop the venture technology model.
Similar services for equity models exist in other industries.
Ephibian's first venture technology company, Fitrex was acquired
by a leading health and fitness portal Asimba. Other Ephibian
venture technology partners include contest and sweepstakes portal
Contest.com, retirement plan management company Decimal, Inc., and
web based fuel management company
TeamFuel.com.
November 17, 2000
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