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Peter Schnitzler

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VIDEO GAME with a message: Local game designer Gabriel Entertainment mixes health education with virtual fun

VIDE GAME with a message Local game designer Gabriel Entertainment mixes health education with virtual fun Few teen-agers would thrill at the prospect of an anti-smoking lecture. But if the same message were embedded in a video game, they might perk up and take notice. Indianapolis-based Gabriel Entertainment is counting on it. The company is just a few weeks away from completing the prototype of its new title, “Ocean Secret.” Aimed at pre-teen and teenage girls, the game is a…

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PAN deal lucrative for owners: Small number of investors share $75 million bounty from Carmel IT firm’s sale

It’s the scenario entrepreneurs dream about. After just over five years in business, the founders of Carmel-based Performance Assessment Network Inc. have sold their company to a publicly traded St. Louis firm for $75 million in cash. Since PAN had only a handful of investors, its backers’ profits are enormous. What’s more, they can enjoy their payday with a clear conscience. Although PAN’s acquirer is headquartered outside state lines, TALX Corp. plans to keep growing the operation here. PAN’s executives…

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Repairs to tower may take months: Tenants scramble for other arrangements

It was a symbol of his success. For the last three years, environmental attorney Robert Clark has relished the view from his corner office in One Indiana Square, high above the streets of Indianapolis. But on Sunday, April 2, tornadoforce winds left it in tatters. His family photos are gone. Likewise his case files and the many gifts he’d received over the years from friends or clients. “I understand there are no exterior walls,” he said. “My desk is still…

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Indiana to alter Web site: Small IT firms aren’t thrilled with contract requirements

For the first time in more than a decade, Indiana is shopping for a Web portal manager. Indiana Office of Technology CIO Karl Browning is attempting to make the state’s award-winning Internet gateway even better. The hunt will also test Gov. Mitch Daniels’ “Buy Indiana” initiative, which aims to give local companies a leg up in competition for state contracts. The larger players in Indiana’s IT community say they’re pleased with the new process. But some smaller firms complain it’s…

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New Rose-Hulman chief a contrast to predecessor: Arizona academic takes reins after Midgley ouster

If higher education were a business, graduates would be its core product. Economic development would be a promising second line. New Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology President Gerald Jakubowski wants to make sure he’s delivering exactly what the market demands. “At Rose-Hulman, we need to make sure we’re meeting the needs of business and industry,” Jakubowski said. “For a seamless transition into the work force, students must learn by doing.” Jakubowski, 56, could be describing his own path to the president’s…

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Turned away, twice: Hot biotech inventor scores coastal cash after local VCs say no

When a proven Indiana life scientist invents a promising medical technology, you’d expect local venture capitalists would snap to attention. So when Lafayette-based Ash Access Technology Inc. announced March 14 it had landed $6 million in venture capital, it was surprising to note the names of the investors in the deal. None were based inside state lines. But Dr. Stephen Ash wasn’t shocked. After all, he’s been through this before. “I don’t know what happened,” Ash said. “I was disappointed….

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TechPoint names up-and-coming Mira nominees: Annual award celebrates excellence in innovation

TechPoint won’t distribute its annual Mira awards until its banquet at the Indiana Roof Ballroom May 19. But the state’s largest high-tech trade association has completed the nomination process for its top awards, pulling together a list of 49 innovative companies and educators in such categories as information technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing. About 750 people usually attend the Mira banquet. But the awards are meant to reverberate among a far wider population all year long as confirmation which…

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Irwin to idle failed foray into venture capital: $20 million fund formed during dot-com boom, focused on financial software

Indiana’s sixth-largest venture capital fund is winding down. Founded in 1999, Irwin Ventures LLC is a subsidiary of Columbus-based Irwin Financial Corp. The fund, which in recent years reported assets of $20 million, focused on seed and early-stage investments in startup firms that create financial services software and technology. But Irwin Ventures’ speculative investments didn’t pan out as expected. “Based on the results since inception, this line of business was a financial disaster,” said Ross Demmerle, an analyst with Louisville-based…

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Aprimo gears up for IPO: Acquisitions, internal growth put software firm in position to consider public leap

Fast-growing marketing-software-maker Aprimo Inc. is positioning itself for an initial public offering, likely within the next 18 months. “I think they have big plans in the marketplace,” said Kimberly Collins, senior analyst for Stamford, Conn.-based technology research firm Gartner Inc. “Clearly, Aprimo would like to … file an IPO. I think they want very much to be the next Unica in the marketplace,” referring to a direct rival that went public last August. Founded in 1998, Indianapolis-based Aprimo makes a…

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Emerging India: Indians explore prospects in Indiana: Delegation of 15 execs finds opportunities during tour of Indianapolis, Purdue tech park

Indians explore prospects in Indiana Delegation of 15 execs finds opportunities during tour of Indianapolis, Purdue tech park J.V.V. Satyanarayana spent the last three years launching his Chennai, India-based software firm. But after only 24 hours in Indianapolis, he was ready to expand his operation. Satyanarayana was part of a delegation of 15 Indian executives who visited Indiana last week. His business, SVL Infotech, manages the IT end of medical billing. It has 100 employees and handles claims worth $100…

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Lessons from attorneys on the front lines in India: Be ready to grease palms, face cultural differences:

BANGALORE, India-Petty bureaucrats are more than a nuisance in India. Some like to line their pockets. And if minor officials don’t get what they want, they might shutter a U.S. company’s operations. Given enough time and money, disputes can be settled in India’s infamously slow courts. But V. Umakanth, a Bangalore partner with the Indian law firm Amarchand Mangaldas, counsels clients to simply make the small grease payments some administrators expect. “There is still corruption. Foreign businesses need to deal…

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Emerging India: Opportunity or threat?: Indiana businesses brace for growing global competition

Opportunity or threat? Indiana businesses brace for growing global competition Next month, President Bush will make his first official visit to India. To most of the American media, it’ll be just one more round of global terrorism discussions with a distant foreign nation, perhaps worthy of a brief. The Indian press knows better. Six weeks ahead of Bush’s trip, banner headlines about it ran in every newspaper. Al Hubbard knows better, too. Friends with Bush since their days at Harvard…

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Entrepreneurship the Indian way: A day with a Bangalore software-maker reveals business parallels

BANGALORE, India-HealthAsyst CEO Umesh Bajaj remembers when the only computers allowed in India were self-assembled. As recently as 20 years ago, the Indian government’s protectionist measures prohibited foreign companies from directly selling PCs. Instead, Indians imported microchips and built the computers themselves. In his first job as an electronics engineer for an Indian conglomerate, Bajaj crisscrossed the country marketing versions of mainframes and desktops made in India. Today Bajaj, a 55-year-old born in New Delhi, owns his own Bangalore-based health…

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Emerging India: Passage to Bangalore: Hoosiers seek outsourcing and investment opportunities

Passage to Bangalore Hoosiers seek outsourcing and investment opportunities BANGALORE, India-The deal was falling apart. Despite a week of flirtation and friendly negotiations, the two young Indian entrepreneurs rejected the offer from the group of Hoosier investors. Frustrated, the investors walked out of the hotel conference room. The chance to speculate on an Indian software startup called Picsquare.comhad fizzled. But none of the six Indiana business leaders was demoralized. After all, they’d crossed the globe to pursue business opportunities in…

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Busy year, but no record: A Wellpoint deal leads list for second year in row, but 2005 lacks blockbuster

For the second year in a row, a giant Wellpoint deal led the pack. As much money was involved in Wellpoint’s $6.7 billion acquisition of WellChoice Inc. as in the rest of the list combined. It was a huge deal by most any company’s standard-except Wellpoint’s. The year before, Wellpoint’s $22.7 billion merger with Anthem Inc. led all deals and then some. Thanks to that single mega-deal, 2004’s $31 billion list total shattered all previous local merger and acquisition records….

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Busy year, but no record: A Wellpoint deal leads list for second year in row, but 2005 lacks blockbuster

For the second year in a row, a giant Wellpoint deal led the pack. As much money was involved in Wellpoint’s $6.7 billion acquisition of WellChoice Inc. as in the rest of the list combined. It was a huge deal by most any company’s standard-except Wellpoint’s. The year before, Wellpoint’s $22.7 billion merger with Anthem Inc. led all deals and then some. Thanks to that single mega-deal, 2004’s $31 billion list total shattered all previous local merger and acquisition records….

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Biz-incentive plan may be beefed up: Legislators seek to strengthen EDGE program by doubling retention tax credit to $10 million

Indiana’s showcase business incentive program is about to go through another tweaking. At the request of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., legislators are considering changing the EDGE tax credit program to give it more teeth to retain existing jobs. Since 1994, Indiana has used the Economic Development for a Growing Economy, or EDGE credit, to spur private-sector job growth. The program allows budding companies to abate state payroll taxes for new employees. Over the last 12 years, Indiana has authorized…

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Legislators fight over green rules: Biz lobby: Indiana standards should not exceed EPA’s

Business interests and environmentalists are squaring off in the Indiana General Assembly. It’s unlikely they’ll see eye-to-eye anytime soon on this year’s ripest green issue: whether to hold Indiana to a higher environmental standard than the rest of the nation. In one corner, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce is leading a push for legislation to bind the state to environmental rules “no more stringent than” those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Framing the debate around economic development, the Chamber…

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Daniels’ team shakes up pension fund for teachers: Retirement plan may risk more on private equity

Under Gov. Mitch Daniels, Indiana is renewing its commitment to making sure teachers receive their pensions. But in the process, the state may also put their pension principal at greater risk. State Budget Director Chuck Schalliol said the $7.5 billion Indiana State Teachers’ Retirement Fund is considering expanding its holdings in private equity. The enormous pension fund already allocates 5 percent of its assets, or $240 million, toward such investments, which include venture capital, real estate and leveraged buyouts. Highly…

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