Capital Seed Fund

The Pervasive Technology Labs Capital Seed Fund is dedicated to two key functions related to enhancing the economy of Indiana: enabling and accelerating the creation of new companies based on innovations created in the Labs, and enabling and accelerating the growth of other Indiana-based IT companies.

In addition to PTL-related start-up companies, the Capital Seed fund seeks to invest in cutting edge Indiana-based IT companies. To date, three such investments have been made.

Haelan Group, Inc.

Founded in 1995, The Haelan Group is a health improvement solutions company that provides innovative systems for improving health, productivity, and financial outcomes. Sound behavioral science and technology combine to form the basis for Haelan® Group products and services. The Haelan® Group currently provides two information-technology-based health improvement systems: One Care Street(TM) and The Haelan® 4D Process. One Care Street(TM) is a technology-enabled health management system that helps identify, target, and guide the most appropriate care for the right people at the right time. The Haelan 4D Process ® is a four-phase learning process that reengineers the way employers strengthen organizational and individual effectiveness. The process reduces costs and improves productivity and effectiveness. The Haelan® Group is attracting interest among health plan providers and organizations.

Dynomed, Inc.

DynoMed, Inc. is an Indianapolis-based patient education company that produces medical content, especially musculoskeletal and orthopedic conditions, for physicians and consumers. These materials help physicians increase patient satisfaction, market their practices, and manage their legal liability. DynoMed Inc. provides an online encyclopedia about medical conditions that focuses on osteopathic conditions. In addition, DynoMed sells an extensive array of educational videos that have proven to be very helpful in enabling patients to cope with and manage disease conditions with greater success. These materials may be purchased over the Web, as simply as purchasing books at Amazon.com. Individual videos typically cost less than $20, making them highly accessible to the general public.

IndyRobotics, LLC

IndyRobotics, LLC is a seed-stage company developing cutting-edge technologies directed at solving real-world problems. The company's first project -- and the impetus behind its creation -- was the development of a fully autonomous land-based vehicle appropriate for competing in the Pentagon's DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Grand Challenge Race. The Grand Challenge is a response to a mandate from Congress and the Department of Defense that, by 2015, one-third of the armed forces' operational ground vehicles must be unmanned.

The Indy Robot Racing Team, organized by the company to participate in the events, is one of 40 teams chosen by DARPA from a field of 200 to compete in the National Qualification Event at the California Speedway in Fontana, CA. The team will field a prototype vehicle called IRV (Indiana's Robotic Vehicle). The final race, the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, is a 175-mile autonomous field test across the Mojave Desert. Investment by the Pervasive Technology Labs Capital Seed Fund will support participation by IndyRobotics and the Indy Robot Racing Team.

As a start-up, IndyRobotics, LLC is largely managed by volunteers, with cash proceeds from investments and sponsorships covering the cost of equipment and development. The broad-based volunteer support of this enterprise is testament to the exciting nature of the challenge, the company's charismatic and proven leader, Scott Jones, and the availability of talented information technology experts in central Indiana. A successful showing in the Grand Challenge may lead to commercial opportunities and/or funding from DARPA.