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Atlanta Tech Park success stories: AffirmHealth

By Latest News, Member Spotlight, The Park

Welcome to our Atlanta Tech Park Success Stories series! This content (blog posts, videos, podcasts, etc.) is a way for us to highlight the members, companies, and more that Atlanta Tech Park a great place to work, network, and even have some fun! The first edition of our Success Stories installment is about AffirmHealth, which was one of the very first companies at Atlanta Tech Park. AffirmHealth uses technology to better facilitate prescriber compliance, which makes the fight against the opioid epidemic significantly more manageable. Our many thanks go to John Cole, AffirmHealth COO and Founder, for taking time out of his schedule to talk about his time at Atlanta Tech Park with us! (Pictured below is John conducting business during the very early days of The Park.)

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ATP: Why did you choose Atlanta Tech Park?
John: I met Robin and Nashlee at an Atlanta Technology Angels meeting. This is when they were in their early stages, having just remodeled and not formally launched. We chatted before the meeting, and I had been working from home in Atlanta and was looking for a place to set up shop away from my office at home. From our conversation, I felt really comfortable about a) the space and b) what they were doing and Robin’s vision for Atlanta Tech Park. I jumped on really early and was one of the first members to start going on a daily basis and was really pleased and happy to do so in the beginning stages of what I think is going to be a powerful community for entrepreneurs in Atlanta.

Where were you as a company when you first arrived at ATP?
We launched our company in April of 2016. We were a year-and-a-half to two years in and had bootstrapped heavily until then. There’s a two year process of figuring out what you don’t know and really understanding what it is—specifically in healthcare—what you need to build to be able to scale. We were at that point where we knew what we needed to build and were almost there in terms of product development and pilots. We had a product that worked well with small and independent practices and needed to figure out what the best way to scale that technology was. That’s where we were when we moved into Atlanta Tech Park.

How did your conversations with Robin change your company’s trajectory and impact its growth?
More so than anything, it was a shift in mindset, which is what Robin is so excellent at doing in terms of being able to meet you where you are and provide the insight to take your company to the next level. She has accomplished a lot professionally, so she brings that experience and success to where you are and gets you to think about how to scale your business and also what steps you need to take in order to get there. Her effective communication and ability to deliver a message to an audience is also something I was able to refine and practice myself after several meetings with her.

Can you provide a specific example of something Robin did or said to help you all with that change in mindset?
We had been selling to small and independent practices, with the largest one being 200 doctors or so. When we shifted to enterprise, we thought we were becoming a SaaS product: it will be an iterative rollout based on a new provider (client) per month basis. “Robin painted the picture of what a true enterprise contract is.” … You can deliver something that’s powerful without taking the iterative approach if you display that your technology is powerful enough. The enterprise contract and getting senior leadership excited about the innovation are enough to land the enterprise deal. From a cashflow standpoint, that helps tremendously. It really just takes that mindset shift to think about.

So essentially Robin taught you to think more like a seasoned executive and showed you what she looks for from that position?
That’s exactly right. What’s so incredible (about Robin) is she doesn’t have a whole lot of healthcare experience. Most of it is on the security side, but basically, every other industry has experienced “tech disruption” that has changed them. Healthcare is the only industry where that hasn’t happened (yet). In healthcare, people think the way things have always been done are the way have to continue being done. You almost have to flip that on its end and question if that is always the right way. When you do, people are skeptical, but changing our mindset enabled us to stand up to those challenges and be successful.

The other thing is truly understanding your customer. In healthcare technology it is has often been the case that when building a HealthTech product, the active clinician (or “power user”) is not at the table when building the product, so we have been incredibly intentional to make sure that the user of the product is actually helping to customize the solution alongside with us, and we’re taking their active feedback as we’re building the product. So when you launch the product, for them it’s a matter of “we helped build this product, we know how to use it, let’s go.”
Having an intentional focus on the customer and how they use the product when building the product has been in an invaluable lesson Robin taught us.

In summary…
From the very beginning, it was very clear that Robin was thinking about things differently. She was thinking about building The Park in a way that you would think about building a business in making sure that she was fostering a culture and environment where companies and entrepreneurs can go to thrive. From my entire time there–when they were getting ATP off the ground until when I left [to move back home to Nashville]—it was abundantly clear that was the culture she was creating. When I was there, both Nashlee and Robin were available, and I felt they had both myself and my company’s best interest at heart and were willing to help out in any way they could. For a company or an entrepreneur looking to go somewhere where you really have that sense of community and are surrounded by positive, supportive energy, that is what Atlanta Tech Park epitomizes.

Sertainty Awards RotoMaire $10K at Global Challenge

By Events, Latest News, The Park

Sertainty Tech recently partnered with Atlanta Tech Park to sponsor the Developers Challenge at the 2019 ATL Cyber-FinTech Global Innovation Challenge in September of this year. The competition’s six finalists competed for an opportunity to win $10,000. Challenge companies included RotoMaire, Cyber Investigations & Intelligence Agency (CI2A), Modern Radio, Vallum Software, Nugo Tech, and American Renaissance Technology (ART).

RotoMaire won the $10,000 grand prize for the best utilization of the Sertainty UXP Technology.

RotoMaire provides a product recall platform solution for retailers and distributors that lets them communicate directly with their customers. By using proprietary, cloud-driven data solutions, automation, and actual human support, RotoMaire mitigates risk and protects consumers from product recalls. As part of the challenge, RotoMaire utilized the Sertainty Workflow Data Protector and Software Developer’s Kit to build security into their platform in order to protect and audit sensitive data.

“At RotoMaire, keeping our customers’ data safe and secure is our first mission,” Jehan Luth, RotoMaire CEO and Founder said. “We are pleased to have won the Global Cyber-FinTech Challenge sponsored by Sertainty Corporation. They have an incredible suite of products that every software developer needs to check out.”

“The best cyber defense is built-in verses bolted on,” Robin Bienfait, Founder of Atlanta Tech Park and Advising Chief Technology Officer for Sertainty, said before the winner was announced. As a result of the Global Innovation Challenge’s success, Sertainty has been able to continue building the Developer Ecosystem.

The event also inspired both Sertainty and Atlanta Tech Park to host another challenge targeting the MedTech industry. The ATL Cyber-MedTech Global Innovation Challenge is scheduled for April 27-29, 2020.

The 2020 ATL Cyber-Fin Global Innovation Challenge will take place September 15-18 at Atlanta Tech Park. Check out the full recap of the 2019 event HERE.

The Park finalist for Gwinnett Small Business Awards

By Latest News, The Park

The Gwinnett Chamber’s inaugural Small Business Awards will showcase those that dare to start, sustain and succeed and the community that supports them. Recognized as an industry leader, Atlanta Tech Park has been named a finalist for the Advocate Award in the Small Business Awards category.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the Gwinnett Chamber for our hard work and commitment to the local community,” said Nashlee Young, Director of Operations for Atlanta Tech Park. “Our views align closely with those of the Chamber and this nomination validates everything that we have worked hard to achieve this year,” Young said.

“At the Gwinnett Chamber, we believe small business is big business,” said Nick Masino, President & CEO, Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett. “We understand that entrepreneurs are the engines of our economy and we are excited to celebrate their contributions.”

Honoring individuals and organizations alike, designations will be given in the following areas:

• Advocate Award
• Community Contributor Award
• Culture Creator Award
• Emerging Entrepreneur Award
• Founder Award
• Launch Award
• Minority-Owned/Women-Owned Small Business Award
• Small Business Award
• Support System Award

The awards ceremony will be held Wednesday, October 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Infinite Energy Forum. Visit the Small Business Awards page on the Gwinnett Chamber website for more information.

ControlRad continues with $15 million Series B

By Latest News, Member Spotlight, The Park

ControlRad, one of the 70+ companies that calls Atlanta Tech Park home, has had a 2019 for the ages.

So far this year, the medical technology company that focuses on reducing radiation exposure during fluoroscopically guided procedures (FGP) announced FDA clearance of its radiation reduction technology in May and also successfully conducted a clinical use of it in September as well.

That’s not all, however!

ControlRad started October by securing $15M in Series B financing from Questa Capital, according to FinSMEs. Questa Capital’s funding also netted ControlRad two new members for its Board of Directors. They are Ryan Drant and Tim Patrick, who both have years of experience in the medical device industry.

ControlRad will put its funding money toward accelerating the commercial launch of the ControlRad Trace System, according to the FinSMEs release. The Trace system is designed to reduce unnecessary radiation by as much as 89% during FGP and can be retrofitted for existing C-arm devices.

 

ATL Cyber FinTech Global Challenge Coming to Atlanta

By Events, Latest News, The Park

ATL Cyber FinTech Global Challenge Coming to Atlanta

The inaugural event hosted by Atlanta Tech Park exploring the intersection of Cyber,  FinTech, and Blockchain

Atlanta— August 13, 2019Atlanta Tech Park is excited to announce the first Atlanta Cyber FinTech Global Conference & Challenge, will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 17 and 18th at Atlanta Tech Park in Peachtree Corners.  The event will bring together Cyber, FinTech and Blockchain industries through an exchange of innovation, insight, and trends that connect these industries.  The event also features a global cyber SKD challenge, sponsored by Sertainty, giving developers the opportunity to win a $10,000 cash prize.

The two-day conference features thought leaders from each of the three industries represented in panel discussions, keynote speeches, and networking reception events.

Participants will be able to:

  • Better grasp leading trends in Digital Assets, Cybersecurity and Payments
  • Develop an outlook on investment in Fintech and Blockchain space
  • See grassroots innovation in action through the solution challenge

 

“Cybersecurity is the underlying foundation for all successful tech businesses now and in the future,” said Robin Bienfait, CEO at Atlanta Tech Park and Emnovate. “FinTech and Blockchain are the industries that will drive the future of all businesses.”

“Cryptographically secure Digital Assets and Decentralized Finance are the next waves to shift commerce, and capital markets” added Roop Singh, Principal at Intuit Factory.

 

About the Sertainty Challenge

.Sertainty’s patented UXP Technology empowers your data with intelligence to manage its own protection. Sertainty’s patented UXP Technology (Technology) focuses on protection at the data layer targeting any kind of unstructured datasets (excluding databases). The Technology empowers data to manage and protect itself by controlling access anywhere and at any time.

Challengers can win $10,000 with the best utilization of our unique data security technology. Be creative, build a working prototype using our SDK and show the judges a compelling customer use case. Whether the data is in-motion, at-rest or in-use, our security travels with every datafile; offering 7/24/365 protection. Register for the challenge at bit.ly/ATLCHALLENGE.

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Atlanta Tech Park is a technology accelerator in Peachtree Corners, GA. Membership and insider information can be found on www.atlantatechpark.com. Follow us on Twitter at @107ATP and on Instagram at @atlantatechpark for the latest news and updates.

 For more information, press only:

Julie Price

770-851-6037

julie@emnovate.com

Robin Bienfait

NACD Atlanta Names Robin Bienfait to Board of Directors

By Latest News, The Park

The Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), announces the election to its board of directors Robin Bienfait, director, Georgia Tech; chairman, Global Aviation; and CEO, Emnovate; and Marisol Angelini, director, Bush Brothers & Company, and past vice president of Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company. NACD is the recognized authority on leading governance practices.

“Robin and Marisol bring additional energy, experience, influence, and diversity to the NACD Atlanta Chapter board, further strengthening our ability to bring world-class programs to our members,” said Linda Welty, NACD Atlanta Chapter chairman. “As governance challenges become increasingly complex, the expertise these talented directors offer will be invaluable to our Chapter board.”

Bienfait is a director for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and two Power Financial boards: Great West Life Company (GWLC) and Putnam Investments. Previously, she served on Cisco’s strategic advisory board, as well as HP’s executive advisory council. Known as a global influencer, Bienfait holds 15 patents, is the recipient of several awards, and was recently named as one of the top 100 CIO’s in STEM.

“I am honored to be joining the NACD board in Atlanta,” said Bienfait. “I’m truly excited to be part of a team focused on building boards and board members.”

Read More

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Smart Eye Technologies Hosts Product Launch Party at The Park

By Events, Latest News, Member Spotlight
A year in the making

May 8, 2019, Peachtree Corners, GA: Smart Eye Technologies, a secure document-viewing platform, celebrated its product launch with more than 200 people at Atlanta Tech Park on Tuesday, May 7, 2019. The event featured a live product demo and launch party.

The company, founded by Dexter Caffey, started in January 2018 on the premise that business documents shared on smartphones and other devices should only be viewed by the people they are intended for.

Caffey worked with an Israeli biometrics firm to develop the software, which uses multi-level biometric (iris and facial) identification to verify the proper recipient is viewing a document that is shared online. The technology then continues to analyze who is viewing the document via the camera on the recipient’s device and hides any it if an unauthorized party attempts to get a look at the screen. Smart Eye users can set different profiles for document sharing to allow increased (or decreased) levels of privacy as desired.

“While greater connectivity has made the world a better place, new challenges have come about as a result that make services such as Smart Eye Technology a necessity in the business world,” Caffey said at the event. “Our software and product also show people what new frontiers can be pioneered within the world of technology and beyond,” he said.

About the event itself, Caffey said, “I am over the moon to have the support of hundreds of people given our humble beginnings and ambitious goals for the future.”

“As a seasoned cybersecurity professional with over a dozen patents to my name, I am impressed by the ingenuity and relevance of Smart Eye Technology’s platform,” Robin Bienfait, former Samsung and Blackberry executive, said. Bienfait is the Founder of Atlanta Tech Park, where Smart Eye Technology holds a membership.

For more on Smart Eye, visit www.getsmarteye.com now.

ABOUT ATP: Atlanta Tech Park is a technology accelerator in Peachtree Corners, GA. The facility features boardrooms, conference rooms, a video podcasting studio, hot desks, private offices, 600+ person events space, and 100+ person auditorium. Membership and insider information can be found on www.atlantatechpark.com. Please follow us on Twitter at @107ATP and on Instagram at @atlantatechpark for the latest news and updates.

Media contact: Asif Lakhani | 404-428-9418 | asif@emnovate.com

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PodATL Visits The Park Part 1

By Events, Latest News

In today’s marketplace, podcasting is one of the most effective ways to build and maintain brand loyalty. As a matter of fact, podcasting has gotten so popular that as of 2018, Apple had more than 500,000 active podcasts in its library. However, with so many podcasts available to consumers for free, how your show differentiates itself from the others can be the difference between podcasting for a living and podcasting for an audience of one.

With that in mind, we joined forces with Mark Deal and PodATL to host a Comedy in Podcasting meetup featuring a keynote from Atlanta comedian Joel Byars at The Park. Don’t worry if you missed it, this recap will fill you in on what was said, but that’s not all! Mark Deal and PodATL will be back at The Park for a lunch and learn on January 16 for another session. Click here for details!

During his keynote presentation at The Park, Joel spoke about lessons he’s learned and applied to earn his show, Hot Breath! Podcast: Your Weekly Guide to Comedy Mastery, a 5-star rating from 165 people—and that’s just on Apple. His show is on Spotify and anywhere else you listen to your podcasts.

So, what’s the secret?

Well, comedy is the ultimate way to connect with your audience and create trust with them, Joel said.

“If they’re laughing, they’re listening,” he told the PodATL meetup group at The Park.

Even if you’re not intentionally funny, you can still find humorous ways to get the audience to engage with your content.

  • For example, you can pair your ad-reads with a real-life story or record them in a different voice.
  • A catchy intro, show name, or tagline are also easy, calculated ways to pique a listener’s interest.
  • Simply smiling while speaking into the microphone will make your voice sound more welcoming and subconsciously encourage your listener to do the same.
  • Standing while you speak into the microphone is another great way to inject energy into your voice as well.
  • Hard consonants go over with audience wells. Those are words or letters that pronounced differently due to variations in the breath behind a sound. For example, a punchline will be funnier if the emphasis is on the word bucks instead of dollars.
  • Identifying characteristics or behaviors from other things or people you find funny and imitating them (without stealing their material obviously) will surely work for your podcast.

Keep in mind that humor is innate within all of us. Being a comedian means being intentionally funny and viewing the world in a different way, but being organically funny isn’t something to stress over as it can and will happen naturally as long as you are confident, vulnerable, and open to what’s happening (contextually) and what’s being said by your guests and fans.

Aside from being funny, there are other principles to adhere to in order to create a successful podcast.

  • You want your delivery, sound quality, audio, and content to be buttoned up because podcasting is a very intimate platform. You are speaking directly to (or interviewing) someone. It can be an hour longer or more, go very in depth, take place on a tour bus, at someone’s home, etc. Unlike TV, which is made to look glamorous, or radio, which is heavily regulated, podcasting is driven primarily by the audience and host.
  • Always seek feedback from your listeners. If they have given you their time to listen to you, then you should return the favor and listen to them. Incorporating listener feedback into your podcast is a great way to get them to engage with you more.
  • Perhaps the most important thing to know about having or starting a podcast is that it needs to be treated like a job. “I’ve calculated the workflow to be 15 hours an episode,” Joel said. That includes “finding the guest, researching the guest, traveling to the guest, doing the interview, and all of the post-production.”
  • A good way to look at it is, a 30-minute episode can require up to an hour and a half of prep time, an hour-long episode requires that much or more, and so on. In other words, it takes time, effort, research, passion, and patience to make a podcast episode worthwhile for a listener—and that’s before you start recording a single thing.

The next layer of podcasting is having a unique perspective that only you can provide. People don’t want to just hear a regurgitation of information they can find elsewhere, so make sure you have a premise, idea, perspective, or content they won’t get anywhere else. Clearly stating your premise, a one-line summary of your show’s content, is an effective way to establish your perspective.

Now that you have received expert advice from Joel, you can apply the knowledge to your podcast whether it has been created or is still in the work. To achieve success with it, be consistent, be unique, and have fun! If you do take this approach and apply the tips Joel shared, your podcast is sure to be a success!

To learn more about podcasting, join us for a lunch and learn with Mark Deal at The Park on Wed., Jan. 16, 2019. Mark will discuss how to find podcasts that already serve your target audience and how to secure an appearance on those shows to ensure good exposure for your brand, service, or product. RSVP here now!

 

Georgia Swarm hosts Entrepreneurs Night

The Park to Host STEM Expo at Georgia Swarm Game

By Latest News, The Park

January 1, 2019, Peachtree Corners, GA: Atlanta Tech Park is partnering with the world champion Georgia Swarm lacrosse team to host a Tech Community Expo and VIP reception prior to their game at Infinite Energy Arena on Friday, Feb. 1, 2019.

Held in conjunction with a STEM spirit night, the Tech Community Expo allows local tech companies to showcase their products and services to tech professionals, aspiring tech talent, and thousands of Georgia Swarm fans from across the region.

The event also features a VIP reception where tech companies and representatives will be able to network with fellow industry professionals and leaders while hearing a special keynote presentation from a featured sponsor.

Participation in the Tech Community Expo includes a vendor table, tickets to the VIP reception, and tickets to the Georgia Swarm game against the New England Black Wolves that evening.

Why participate in this event?

The Georgia Swarm organization has achieved great success in bringing a new product to the market, similar to how the companies and entrepreneurs at this event are bringing an innovative spirit to the marketplace where they anticipate great success will also follow.

Access to the event and game start at $28. 

Vendor tables cost $150 for a showcase opportunity at the arena from 3:00-5:00 p.m. VIP reception and game tickets are also included.

For $250, vendors can showcase their technology from 3:00 p.m. until the end of the game in addition to getting VIP reception access and game tickets.

Limited sponsorship packages ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 are also available. Sponsors can issue a tech challenge to prospective developers, designers, and STEM students. Challenge requests can be sent to Brock Kolls at brock@techconnecthub.com.  

 

All tickets and details can be found at bit.ly/swarmthepark.  

 

ABOUT US: Atlanta Tech Park is a technology accelerator in Peachtree Corners, GA. The facility features boardrooms, conference rooms, a video podcasting studio, hot desks, private offices, 600+ person events space, and 100+ person auditorium. Membership and insider information can be found on www.atlantatechpark.com. Please follow us on Twitter at @107ATP and on Instagram at @atlantatechpark for the latest news and updates.  

 

Media contact: Asif Lakhani | 404-428-9418 | asif@emnovate.com

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Thank you, Netflix

By Latest News, The Park

We’ve had a great year of firsts here at Atlanta Tech Park in 2018.

Whether it was hosting our first-ever hackathon, the inaugural North Atlanta Tech Showcase, or multiple comedy shows, there have been some truly memorable moments at The Park in our first year.

One of the most unique and exciting moments for us, however, was when Netflix stopped by to shoot the movie Sextuplets starring Marlon Wayans and Molly Shannon.

We’ve been sworn to secrecy to keep details of the plot under wraps, so all we can say is that the movie is due out (pun intended) sometime in 2019. While we can’t share much about the movie itself, we are excited to show everyone the design changes that Netflix made during their week-long stay at The Park.

The most notable change that the crew­, which was all full of wonderful people, made was adding a literal splash of color to our wall in the event space. Whereas we had a blank white wall before, we now have an orange wave running from end to end. On the left side of the screen, the lines are neat and orderly, but on the right side, they become more fluid, pronounced, and bold.

Of course, you’ll also notice our logo prominently displayed near the entrance to the auditorium now as well! Netflix actually added our logo to two other walls in the facility.  One of them is in the Create Conference Room. After seeing how much the logo brightened up Create, we opted to replace the original whiteboard on the wall with a transparent dry-erase board so that the logo could still be seen. We think it’s a hit! The third logo is on the wall outside of the Oasis Conference and Board Room, which was used for a small but important scene.

Another major addition—and arguably the most exciting—Netflix made to Atlanta Tech Park came in the form of an authentic, orange ping pong table. Extras only used the prop during a scene, but our members and guests have made great use of it.  As a matter of fact, the ping pong table has become so popular that we’re actually having a ping-pong tournament at our members-only holiday luncheon on Wednesday, December 19th.

Lastly, Netflix added one last strip of vinyl paint to the wall above the interior offices in the front right of the building. The color serves as a reminder of the great week we shared with Netflix and of the energy that pulses through Atlanta Tech Park every single day.

So, while you’re waiting for the movie to be released on Netflix, come on down to Atlanta Tech Park and check out the new additions to our facility yourself! We guarantee you will leave feeling productive, inspired, productive, and literally like you just stepped out of a movie set because you will have!