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Q & A with Richard J. Kurtz, Chairman of the Board, LaPolla Industries, Inc.
1) Your last 10Q was for the period ending September 30, 2012. Will you be releasing Quarterly Reports going forward? When will you be releasing your Annual Report?
Our 10-K should be released by April 01, 2013. We have always filed our quarterly reports for the last 14 years.
2) Can you confirm the current number of shares outstanding? Does this include options and warrants? Approximately how much is owned by insiders?
Current shares outstanding and issued – 109,372,266
Options and Warrants – 13,988,407
Insiders Own Approximately – 92,500,000
3) According to the last 10Q LaPolla is operating at a loss. Do you expect profitability in the near future? If so, when and how will it be achieved?
We anticipate profitability in 2013. We are projecting sales above 90M and EBITA 4M+. LaPolla is focused primarily on converting thousands of conventional insulators to Spray Polyurethane Foam. Spray foam is now ready to rapidly accelerate in the insulation market because of high-energy costs, consumer awareness, and LaPolla’s/AirTight’s abilities to successfully transition conventional insulators into the spray foam business.
4) The recent news release regarding 5-year deal with Mark Group Limited is particularly noted for your entrance into the UK markets. What other geographical areas are you looking into? What percentage of total revenue is from foreign sales?
We are currently in the following International Markets: Bahamas, Bermuda, China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Dubai, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Kuwait, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, South Africa, Spain, and United Kingdom.
Percentage of total International revenue will be a minimum of 12%. Could be as high as 20% in 2013. Foreign sales in 2014 could be 40M to 50M.
5) Besides foreign sales, what is your plan for growing the company?
We recently started two programs that you can learn more about on our website. One is the Home Retrofit Program. The other is the AirTight™ Program.
Both programs address the 80 million homes in the United States that need proper insulation. The Home Retrofit Program is aimed at homeowners. The AirTight™ Program is aimed at entrepreneurs who want to own their own business, and insulation professionals who want to partner with LaPolla and take advantage of our training, marketing, and superior products.
6) Could you break down for us LaPolla’s most popular products in terms of sales, margins, and profitability?
Our most popular product is our Spray Polyurethane Foam, which is used for the insulation market and as a roofing system. In addition to manufacturing spray polyurethane foam for insulation and roofing, we also manufacture acrylic roof coatings. Acrylic roof coatings are applied over existing conventional roofs and roofing systems. Acrylic coatings extend the life of roofs and create a “cool roof” in climates of heat.
Our margins range between 20% and 25% (depending on the product).
7) Does LaPolla manufacture its own products? How many total employees?
LaPolla manufactures all products in Houston, Texas. We have 71 employees.
8) Is your business model more business-to-business or business-to-consumer? Can you break down your revenue from each?
Our business model is in most cases business to distributors of our products (25%) and direct business to roofing contractors / foam insulation contractors / builders / general contractors (50%). The balance is in international business and miscellaneous business.
9) Are there any financial incentives, tax incentives, rebates, loans, etc. for homeowners who are on the fence about foam insulation?
Many individual states offer financial and tax incentives to homeowners and commercial building owners in order to save energy. These programs are accelerating throughout the United States.
AirTight™ has its own 100% financing program available to homeowners with proper credit offered through AFC First Financial in Allentown, PA. This just began February 01, 2013.
10) What separates your products from other foam products on the market? Why would a homeowner or insulation company choose LaPolla products?
LaPolla’s main product and future is foam insulation. All foam products are similar in many aspects. Our R Value (Heat Resistance) is excellent; however other companies are similar in R Value.
Our largest competitors are Bayer, DOW and BASF, global companies with strong resources and brand recognition, though their insulation divisions are a very small part of their sales.
The spray foam market is a hands-on, relationship driven industry. Many global chemical suppliers, our competition, are not effectively structured to meet fragmented market demands associated with thousands of small “mom and pop” insulation businesses throughout the United States. LaPolla’s size and flexibility provides the dynamics needed to aggressively pursue and effectively participate in such an environment. We are clearly the more aggressive and innovative company.
11) How do you market your products and services?
We market our products with a sales team of 26 personnel and numerous reps. We have excellent customer service with aggressive techniques in all areas of sales. LaPolla markets its spray polyurethane foam and acrylic coatings to contractors, distributors independent representatives and consumers.
Beginning January 1, 2013 our AirTight™ Home Energy Audit Program was introduced in certain locations throughout the U.S. The introduction of the AirTight™ Energy Auditor Program provides the nation with the largest direct to consumer sales force. AirTight™ anticipates in excess of 1,000 Energy Auditors becoming independent sales representatives in 2013 and 2014. This number will accelerate to 5,000 within the next five years.
The Energy Auditor will first audit all utility and electric bills of the homeowner. After a complete inspection and utilizing their building science training, they will be able to determine the air loss in the home and present the AirTight™ Home Retrofit to address the issues uncovered during the audit. AirTight™ will review with the Energy Auditor the various steps to be taken in order to insulate the home with foam insulation. Foam insulation will be recommended in the attic, various walls, and crawl spaces of the home.
Through AirTight’s financing ability, the homeowner will be able to finance all costs of the Energy Savings Package. It is anticipated that the cost savings of the homeowner’s utility bills will offset most or all of their monthly financing charges. In most cases, AirTight™ will be able to facilitate 100% financing with respect to this program.
The Department of Energy estimates that some 80 million single-family owner occupied homes in the U.S. are in need of being retrofit. AirTight’s Home Energy Audit Program will provide homeowners with a one-source solution to make their upgrades.
12) How is spray foam insulation different from regular insulation in terms of energy and dollar savings? You’ve said that foam insulation even competes favorably with solar energy from rooftop panels, could you elaborate?
It is common knowledge that spray foam insulation is more beneficial then the current “fiberglass insulation” that has been used in homes and buildings for the past 75 years. (Fiberglass insulation was invented in 1938 by the Owens Corning Company.)
There is factual data that we have, showing savings from 35% to 45% in homes and multi-family unit buildings. My colleague, Rob Petersen, CFO of The Kamson Corporation, installed spray foam insulation 2 ½ years ago in his 3,200 square foot home located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. His savings in gas and electric is conservatively 35%.
The same energy savings have taken place in other apartment building complexes owned by The Kamson Corporation. One example is the Dahnert Park Apartments in Garfield, New Jersey. In late 2010, the entire attics and crawl spaces of this apartment complex had spray foam insulation installed.
In 2010, (entire 12 months) gas costs equaled $20,011.17
In 2012, (entire 12 months) gas costs equaled $11,054.13
Depending on location, the construction, and design of the home or commercial structure, the return of your investment of spray foam insulation can be between three and five years.
The cost of solar energy with roof panels is substantially greater. The objective of solar energy is to create less expensive energy at unfortunately a very high cost in investment. Spray foam insulation “contains” energy within the building envelope. The investment to do this savings of energy is probably one-tenth the cost of the investment to create solar energy.
Energy savings is beginning to accelerate within the United States and even greater throughout the world. We believe LaPolla is very well positioned for this acceleration.
Thank you Richard for taking the time in answering these questions. We look forward to LaPolla’s continued growth and progress and wish you great success.
George Pessin, Pennyheaven.com
(Disclosure: I am long LPAD)
For more information see:
LaPolla Industries website:
http://www.lapolla.com/
AirTight™ Spray Foam Insulation by LaPolla: http://www.airtightinsulation.com/
LaPolla YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/lapollaindustries
Accelerize New Media, Inc. Reports Record Revenues & Profits in 2012
Company Achieves Full Year Profitability With Triple Digit Revenue Growth in FY 2012
NEWPORT BEACH, CA–(Marketwire – Mar 7, 2013) – Accelerize New Media Inc. ( OTCBB : ACLZ ), owner and operator of Cake Marketing(www.cakemarketing.com), a highly scalable SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform providing a comprehensive and complete online tracking solution for advertisers — from acquisition through conversion, today announced financial results for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2012.
“Growing industry demand for our innovative SaaS platform and capitalizing on the true power of our recurring revenue business model enabled Accelerize to achieve its first full year of profitability, with record revenues that grew 146% year over year,” said Accelerize New Media Inc. Chairman and CEO Brian Ross. “Given the increased number of new clients and greater usage among existing clients, we fully expect this momentum to continue through 2013 as we continue to scale our business both domestically and internationally.”
“Reaching profitability was an important milestone, providing validation for our business model and enabling us to prudently reinvest in R&D and build shareholder value,” added Mr. Ross. “With advertisers demanding a measurable return on investment for their marketing initiatives, we are confident that the R&D investments we have made and continue to make will result in ongoing and significant market share gains as the industry embraces performance-based marketing.”
Financial Highlights for FY 2012
Revenues: Total revenues increased 146% from $2,363,073 to $5,800,622 year over year, driven organically by a 117% increase in the average number of clients and a 13% increase in the average usage fees charged per client. We expect future revenues to be driven by ongoing organic growth, international expansion, and increased sales efforts.
Operating Income: Operating income reached $380,937, compared to an operating loss of $(853,881) year-over-year, due to higher revenues and contained expenses. We plan to continue managing our costs and scaling revenues to improve operating margins.
Net Income: Net income increased to $492,948, compared to a loss of $(1,177,095), during the prior year period, due to revenues that grew faster than expenses.
Cash Flow: Cash provided by operations increased to $166,059 compared to cash used in operations of $(648,137) a year ago. Approximately $933,034 was invested in research and development. We continued to increase our expenditures to support our additional customers and the scope of our activities, which increased our total operating expenses from $3,216,954 in 2011 to $5,419,685 in 2012. Free cash flow, which amounts to cash flows from operations less capital expenditures, totaled $124,289 for 2012.
About Accelerize New Media, Inc.
Accelerize New Media, Inc. owns and operates Cake Marketing, a highly scalable SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform providing a comprehensive and complete online tracking solution for advertisers — from acquisition through conversion. Easy-to-use wizards and real-time reporting guide users through every step of managing and optimizing campaigns. From traffic providers to advertisers, tracking to data distribution, Cake Marketing offers the most robust platform to manage your business and analyze the performance of your marketing relationships. Seamless integration with other services through a developed API eliminates bottlenecks while increasing ROI for advertisers.
Use of Forward-looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements from Accelerize New Media, Inc. within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and federal securities laws. For example, when we describe our momentum moving into 2013, industry demand for the Cake Marketing platform, our ongoing and significant market share gains, and our future revenues, we are using forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the management of Accelerize New Media only, and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: changes in technology and market requirements; our technology may not be validated as we progress further; we may be unable to retain or attract key employees whose knowledge is essential to the development of our products and services; unforeseen market and technological difficulties may develop with our products and services; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; loss of market share and pressure on pricing resulting from competition, which could cause the actual results or performance of Accelerize New Media to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by law, Accelerize New Media undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. For a more detailed description of the risk and uncertainties affecting Accelerize New Media, reference is made to Accelerize New Media’s reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
OPEL Technologies Inc. Announces New Laser by ODIS Subsidiary as Key Achievement in POET Monolithic Optoelectronic Platform
TORONTO, ONTARIO and STORRS, CONNECTICUT–(Marketwire – Dec 4, 2012) – OPEL Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE:OPL)(OPELF) (“OPEL” or “the Company”) today announced that its U.S. affiliate, ODIS Inc. has successfully produced an integrated laser device, thereby achieving a key milestone in its Planar Optoelectronic Technology (“POET”) process, that enables high-performance devices fusing optical and electronic devices together on a single chip.
By allowing the production of components with increased speed, density, reliability, and lower costs, POET offers the semiconductor industry the ability to push Moore”s Law to the next cadence level, overcoming current silicon-based bottlenecks, and potentially changing the roadmap for a broad range of applications, such as smartphones, tablet and wearable computers.
After years of increasingly successful development, the fabrication of the first Vertical Cavity Laser (VCL) utilizing ODIS”s patented POET GaAs III-V technology is a significant success. Incremental progress over the years has led to what many consider to be the next phase of semiconductor development which is to surpass the capabilities of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology for the next generation of high speed low power applications. It is now widely believed that CMOS technology advances have reached a saturation point.
The new laser serves as the basis for chip-to-chip interconnection, and complements numerous other optoelectronic devices already demonstrated by ODIS – including heterostructure field effect transistors (HFETs), optical thyristors, pulsed lasers, and super-radiant light emitting devices – all able to be monolithically fabricated via the POET process.
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Enable IPC Issues Update on Its Third Consecutive Profitable Quarter, New RFID Products, the UWAMIC’s Annual Meeting and the Energy Summit 2012
VALENCIA, CA–(Marketwire – Sep 25, 2012) – Enable IPC Corporation ( PINKSHEETS : EIPC ) today issued an update to stockholders and interested parties regarding its quarterly financial report for the period ending September 30, 2012 discussing what the Company expects will be its third consecutive profitable quarter. The Company also provided updates on its nanoparticle solution for lithium ion battery cathodes, two new RFID-related products to be introduced in the coming months and the upcoming Energy Summit 2012.
Enable IPC Expects a Third Consecutive Profitable Quarter
As Enable IPC continues efforts to develop and commercialize its S/Cap® RFID tag product line, AAO nanopore templates, ultracapacitors and lithium ion battery cathode coating technologies, the Company expects to post its third consecutive profitable quarter, which will end September 30, 2012. Financial results are due to be announced formally on or before November 14, 2012. With continued product and technology development, the Company expects steady growth to continue.
NSF Program Update
After successfully completing a Phase I grant, Enable IPC’s subsidiary SolRayo was awarded a Phase II National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Technology Transfer grant in order to commercialize the Company’s nanoparticle solution which has been shown to enhance the performance of lithium ion batteries.
“It should be understood that, according to the NSF, only 3% of the proposals it receives during the initial cycle get funded at this level,” said Dr. Mark Daugherty, SolRayo’s CEO. ”To me, this is not only a validation of the technology, but also of SolRayo’s and Enable’s proven ability to successfully commercialize products.”
Enable IPC to Release Additional RFID-Based Products
The Company expects to release two additional RFID-based products near the end of the year. While details will not be announced for some time, the Company has indicated that these new products will expand the Company’s reach into additional RFID-related markets.
University of Wisconsin’s Advanced Materials Consortium’s Annual Meeting
Enable IPC/SolRayo’s Director of Battery R&D, Dr. Walter Zeltner, will be speaking at the University of Wisconsin’s Advanced Materials Industrial Consortium’s (UWAMIC) annual meeting on October 11th. Dr. Zeltner’s lecture will be on “Energy Through Nanotechnology” and will be held on campus at the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s School of Engineering. SolRayo is a member of the UWAMIC which facilitates technology transfer, information exchange and interaction between the University and the Consortium’s commercial partners.
Energy Summit 2012
Enable IPC/SolRayo’s David Walker will be one of four panelists discussing the topic of “Ideas to Marketplace” at the Energy Summit 2012 at the Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin on October 30th. Mr. Walker was invited to discuss the process of getting innovative energy ideas to the marketplace — from basic research to start-up businesses to established commercial entities. The discussion will center around what it takes to start and expand a company which intends to provide solutions for a more sustainable use of energy. Summit organizers consider SolRayo a perfect example of this process and have invited Mr. Walker to discuss his experiences in going from the lab to a growing company.
Since 2008, the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative (WBI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has hosted this annual Energy Summit in order to engage and connect bioenergy stakeholders, the general public and students with research and development updates. Early bird registration ($39 for the general public) ends October 19th. Additional information about the Summit can be found here:
http://www.energy.wisc.edu/news-events/energy-summit-2012/
Follow Enable IPC:
To keep up to date with Enable IPC, please follow the Company via any of the following sites:
Enable IPC Website: http://www.enableipc.com
Enable IPC Blog: http://enableipc.blogspot.com/
Enable IPC on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/enableipc
Enable IPC on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/enableipc
Enable IPC on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Enable-IPC/140064176054394
About Enable IPC Corp. (Intellectual Property Commercialization)
Enable IPC (http://www.enableipc.com) provides efficient, streamlined strategies for turning technologies into products and bringing them to market. The company seeks to turn technologies into products and is a transparent, fair turnkey partner for sub-licensing and joint development with other companies.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements, such as “plans,” “expects,” “believes” and similar terminology that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause a company’s actual results in the future to differ materially from forecasted results. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the ability to secure additional financing for the company, changing economic conditions, business conditions, and the risks inherent in the operations of a company.
CrowdGather Reports Record Financial Results, Appears Undervalued
CrowdGather (CRWG) Reports Record Financial Results, Appears Undervalued (via The OTC Investor)
Many internet companies have the same M.O.: They develop a product that reaches a lot of users, undergo an IPO when the market is hot, and then focus on monetizing their users after the fact. Unfortunately, this strategy is still questionable for social media companies like Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB…
Penny Stocks – A Simple Definition for Beginners
Essentially, a penny stock is one that trades for pennies. It can be an extremely volatile market, as investors expect a large return for a small amount of input. These types of stocks lack liquidity, have limited following and disclosure, small capitalization and also have large bid-ask spreads. However if you do it right, you can reap the rewards and they tend to be traded over the counter, using pink sheets and OTCBB. Penny stocks are usually traded outside of the major market exchanges, due to the small amounts that they trade with and it takes a lot of research and education in the subject to really become knowledgeable about them.
In some countries, penny stocks are also known as cent stock. While there is really no definition of the penny stock that is accepted all over the world, the definition above is pretty standard. Many people put money into penny stocks, as well as other opportunities such as Bullion Vault. With any investment opportunity, it is important to make sure that you have as many facts as possible before making a decision. If you get it right, there can be good rewards, however it is definitely worth making sure that the opposite does not happen.
The OTCBB, or the OTC Bulletin Board provides over-the-counter equity securities and services to their members. To become a member, you must subscribe and then you can enjoy all the benefits that will be available to you. The equity securities that the OTCBB provides, are not available on the NASDAQ or national stock exchange, so are therefore unique to subscribing customers. Penny stocks tend to have limited listing requirements and not very many regulatory and fulling standards. They usually belong to small companies with speculative shares that are not liquid.
ODIS Inc. Progresses Toward a POET Technology Roadmap
(Marketwire – March 28, 2012) – OPEL Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE:OPL)(OPELF.pk) and ODIS Inc. (collectively “OPEL” or “the Company”), a semiconductor device and process developer and, a leading global supplier of solar tracker systems and other solar related products, are pleased to announce significant progress made this quarter by ODIS Inc., a U.S. Company, regarding POET as it pertains to its advancements in Optical Interconnection of High Speed Circuits. ODIS’ recent Milestone achievements when successfully added to the POET platform under development, will make it possible for the first time to implement an optical interface as a single chip to connect existing CMOS processors.
The advancements are significant and ongoing steps in the POET technology development that have made it possible to produce a well defined military and commercial roadmap for POET.
ODIS’s optical interface chip will integrate a Laser, Optical Modulator, Modulator Driver, Detector, Receiver Amplifiers, SerDes, CDR and PLL circuits monolithically on a single chip. This breakthrough advancement utilizing III-V Gallium Arsenide technology is the first step in achieving a single device capable of interconnecting multiple processors by waveguide and/or fiber to transport ultra-high speed signals. This advancement substantially simplifies chip packaging while the optical interface chip bandwidth supports the very large data rates (>100Gb/s) for CMOS processor interconnect without the additional power otherwise required with conventional electrical i/o (input/output). The new roadmap will outline the process for speed-to-market devices, capital requirements and monetization opportunities in the commercial and defense technology markets.
The optical advancements that OPEL announces directly impact the generic optical interconnect application thus serving several of the markets that were researched in the Pellegrino & Associates valuation report dated March 2, 2011. More specifically, the valuation report provided an appraisal of POET intellectual property in the general computer market, the defense contractor market and the smartphone market. The Company will post a more in-depth summary of these recent POET accomplishments, market analysis and direction, on the OPEL Technologies and the ODIS Inc. websites.
About OPEL Technologies Inc., OPEL Solar, Inc. and ODIS Inc.
With operations in Shelton, CT and head office in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the Company, through OPEL Solar, Inc., designs, manufactures and markets dual- and single-axis trackers and other solar related products for CPV and PV systems for energy applications worldwide. The Company, through ODIS Inc., a U.S. company, designs III-V semiconductor devices for military, industrial and commercial applications, including infrared sensor arrays and ultra-low-power random access memory. The Company has 36 patents issued and 14 patents pending in PV systems technologies and for its semiconductor POET process. The POET process enables the monolithic fabrication of integrated circuits containing both electronic and optical elements, with potential high-speed and power-efficient applications in devices such as servers, tablet computers and smartphones. OPEL’s common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “OPL”. For more information about OPEL, please visit our websites at www.opelsolar.com; and www.opeltechinc.com; and for ODIS at www.odisinc.com.
Profire Energy, Inc. Announces Record Revenue Results for the 2012 Third Fiscal Quarter
Profire Energy, Inc. (OTCBB: PFIE) reported net income before income taxes for the quarter ending December 31, 2011 of $1,245,322 on total revenues of $5,068,983. By comparison, during the Company’s prior-year third fiscal quarter, it realized net income before income taxes of $846,878 on total revenues of $2,696,417. Earnings per share for the third fiscal quarter 2012 were $.02. Year-over-year revenue and net income growth were 88% and 44%, respectively.
Total revenue for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2011 was $12,275,228 compared to $5,605,063 for the comparable prior year period, a 119% increase. For the same period, net income before income taxes totaled $3,960,607 compared to $1,604,175, a 147% increase. On a per share basis the Company earned $.06 for the nine-month period December 31, 2011, a 200% increase over the nine month period ended December 31, 2010.
“Revenue results for the quarter represent the best ever for the Company. We attribute this to the expansion of our market in the United States, the growth of our sales team and the increase in general activity in energy throughout North America. We have invested heavily in personnel and facilities to accommodate this growth and will continue to do so as we seek to add value through the development and sale of our technologies,” stated Andrew Limpert, CFO of Profire Energy, Inc.
About Profire Energy, Inc.
Profire Energy, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and installer of oilfield combustion management systems and related burner products. Our products and services assist energy production companies in the safe and efficient transportation, refinement and production of oil and natural gas. The Company’s lead products are the Profire 2100 and the Profire 1100, which are burner management systems that oil and gas producers rely on to provide reliable management and ignition of combustion burners and associated vessels such as separators, dehydrators, line heaters, incinerators, etc.
To learn more about Profire Energy’s products and services, please visit www.profireenergy.com. Profire has offices in Lindon, Utah, U.S.A and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Enable IPC Issues Update on Its New S/Cap RFID Tag, Upcoming RFID Products, and Phase II Proposal for the National Science Foundation’s STTR Grant
Enable IPC Corporation (Pinksheets: EIPC.PK – News) today issued an update to shareholders on initial developments of its recently launched rugged solar powered S/Cap RFID tag, upcoming additional versions of the product, and completion of the Company’s proposal for Phase II funding from the National Science Foundation’s STTR Grant.
Since the launch of the ruggedized S/Cap RFID tag in June of this year, Enable IPC has made initial, pilot sales of the tag to customers interested in testing the products within their own operations. Additionally, Enable is working to secure distribution agreements to broaden the sales channels for the S/Cap RFID tag. The Company previously announced an agreement with RFCamp Ltd., for non-exclusive rights to resell and distribute Enable IPC S/Cap RFID tags in South Korea and the Pacific Rim. Enable is negotiating agreements with other potential distributors and expects to make further announcements in the coming weeks.
In addition, product development is underway on the Company’s new on-metal and livestock versions of the S/Cap RFID tag. The on-metal version, along with the recently released S/Cap RFID Tag, is designed to target outdoor asset tracking applications where durable, long lasting tags with long read ranges would be ideal. Potential applications are expected to include oil rigs, transportation, sports, equipment tracking, aerospace, DoD compliance (the largest user of RFID) and much more.
The RFID market is forecast by IDTechEx to reach $5.84 billion in 2011 and livestock tracking is expected to become the largest segment forecasted by IDTechEx to reach nearly $6.5 billion by 2017. To address this growing market Enable is beginning product development on a livestock tracking version of the S/Cap RFID tag. The new product should allow easier and more accurate tracking of livestock and livestock products for more efficient recalls and more efficient farm management.
National Science Foundation Phase II Application Completed
SolRayo, Inc., a subsidiary of Enable IPC Corporation, recently announced completion of Phase I of its Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Under the $150K grant, SolRayo developed a new nanoparticulate based technology to address an issue concerning the degradation of performance of certain lithium-ion (“Li-ion”) batteries, particularly in high temperature applications. SolRayo has recently submitted its proposal for Phase II funding which, if approved, will provide an additional $500,000 of funding for two years beginning in 2012. This funding will be aimed at commercializing the technology. The Company expects to hear the results of its application by the end of 2011.
One reason for the rapid growth in portable electronics over the past few decades has been the availability of rechargeable Li-ion batteries that provide the required high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities. One of the problems with this technology, however, is the relatively high expense of cathode materials compared to other types of rechargeable batteries (like nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride). While the Li-ion industry has grown exponentially over the past 20 years to be valued by Frost & Sullivan at approximately $8.4 billion in 2010, its growth has been mitigated by its relatively high expense. It is hoped that SolRayo’s technology could allow for lower cost cathode materials for Li-ion batteries, making Li-ion price-competitive with other battery technologies and leading to further exponential growth for the industry.
About Enable IPC Corp. (Intellectual Property Commercialization)
Enable IPC (www.enableipc.com) provides efficient, streamlined strategies for turning technologies into products and bringing them to market. The company seeks to turn technologies into products and is a transparent, fair turnkey partner for sub-licensing and joint development with other companies.
Mad Catz® Announces Inclusion in Russell Microcap® Index
SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (“Mad Catz”) (AMEX/TSX: MCZ) announced today its stock was added to the Russell Microcap® Index, a subset of the Russell 3000® Index, effective after the market close on Friday, June 24, 2011.
“Mad Catz’ inclusion in the Russell Microcap Index reflects both our continued positive business momentum and tangible progress over the past year in creating enhanced shareholder value,” said Darren Richardson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. “We expect this development to increase our visibility with investors and institutions, particularly those that utilize Russell indexes in their investment strategy. We welcome our new Russell Index investors and remain focused on executing our long-term strategic growth initiatives in fiscal 2012.”
The Russell 3000 index and Russell 2000® index measure the performance of the largest companies in the U.S. equity market. The Russell Microcap Index, a subset of the Russell 3000 and Russell 2000 indices, measures the performance of the microcap segment of the U.S. equity market. It includes 1,000 of the smallest securities in the small-cap Russell 2000 Index based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership as well as the next 1,000 securities. These indices are widely used by investment managers and investors for various investment strategies and provide a comprehensive benchmark for evaluating small-cap stock performance in the U.S. equity markets.
About Mad Catz
Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX: MCZ) is a global provider of innovative interactive entertainment products marketed primarily under its Mad Catz® (casual gaming), Cyborg™ (pro gaming), Tritton® (gaming audio), Saitek® (simulation), and Eclipse™ (home and office) brands. Mad Catz also develops flight simulation software through its internal ThunderHawk Studios™; operates flight simulation centers under its Saitek brand; operates a videogame content website under its GameShark® brand; publishes games under its Mad Catz brand; and distributes games and videogame products for third parties. Mad Catz distributes its products through most leading retailers offering interactive entertainment products and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For additional information please go to www.madcatz.com.
