The Business Journal searched the greater Valley area to find a few companies that seem destined to make an impact in 2006 – or are at least worth watching. Business of Kids Inc. North Hollywood Mel Takata, the CEO co-founder of Business of Kids, Inc., has a mission: to teach children the basic tenets of financial responsibility. With that idea in mind, he founded his North Hollywood-based company which provides software to financial institutions that allow them to provide programs for kids to manage their own money, with parental supervision. Founded in late 2003, the company spent most of 2004 developing its proprietary software and in the past year has been in beta tests with its financial institution clients. Currently, the company is the process of trying to secure angel funding. “Our main client that we have gotten thus far is Premier America Credit Union, but we’ve got a couple of other credit unions who have deployed the product to their members,” Takata said. “Our plans are to deploy it to larger financial institutions and many more in 2006. We want to be able to provide a great resource for parents who are trying to train their kids to be financially responsible and for financial institutions to offer more services to their customers.” While Takata would not announce any new deals, he mentioned that the company is in talks with several other financial institutions. He also says that if the company secures angel funding, it will certainly accelerate the company’s revenues and employee ranks in the new year. AESTHERx Inc. Woodland Hills Led by 13-year Amgen Veteran Keith Leonard, Woodland Hills-based AESTHERx Inc. received $1 million in seed funding from Versant Ventures earlier this year. AESTHERx is built around a platform for mesotherapy that it licensed from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance. The company demonstrated the technology last March at the SoCalBio Investor Conference presented by the Southern California Biomedical Council. Mesotherapy is a term used to describe treatment with microinjections of medications or vitamins into the middle layer of the skin to treat a specific area of the body. It’s used to treat cellulite, weight loss, hair loss, face and neck rejuvenation and seen as an alternative to surgery because it requires no post-operative recovery time, bandages or anesthesia. Leonard has built an impressive resume of bringing drugs to market. While with Amgen, he served as vice president and general manager of Amgen Europe and increased revenue and profitability in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He also expanded operations into 11 different countries and supervised several successful product launches. Prior to that position, Leonard was vice president of Amgen’s rheumatology unit, where he prepared the launch of Kineret, an arthritis drug, in the United States. He was also in charge of the project that led to Amgen’s purchase of Immunex and the addition of Enbrel to Amgen’s rheumatology drugs. Electrnic Sensor Technology Newbury Park Over the past year, 10-year old Newbury Park-based Electronic Sensor Technology has made its largest strides yet, setting record revenues and generating its first ever profitability as a public company. And the company’s executives expect 2006 to be even more lucrative, as it expands its international business and uses $7 million in capital funding to try to further penetrate the defense market in the United States. Electronic Sensor is the manufacturer of a chemical vapor analysis technology which is able to analyze the chemistry of any aroma, fragrance, odor, or vapor in just 10 seconds. This new technology based upon ultra-high speed gas chromatography, has resulted in an electronic nose called the zNose. “We’re doing quite well in China, England and Europe and our next target is to penetrate the massive defense market in the United States,” Teong Lim, Electronic Sensor’s vice president of corporate development said. “We just got $7 million in funding and we’re going to spend that on marketing domestically. The zNose is primarily used for homeland security by the Department of Defense and the TSA, but we’re also getting orders for the agricultural markets. The Department of Homeland Security typically orders only from the bigger players, but we’re trying to change that.” Keller Williams Realty Woodland Hills Ron Ario, regional director and Woodland Hills team leader for Keller Williams Realty, has a simple goal: “In three years, we’ll be No. 1,” Ario said unabashedly. Since it opened in the San Fernando Valley about a year ago residential real estate brokerage Keller Williams has established three offices in Woodland Hills, Studio City and Northridge, and four more are on tap in 2006. A Burbank office is set to go with five brokers who, Ario said, last year accounted for $120 million of the $630 million in real estate sales in that market. Another office in Granada Hills will open sometime in the first quarter. A Sherman Oaks location will follow by mid-year, and a satellite office will open in Calabasas at about the same time. Ario’s region, which extends from Pasadena to Monterrey, grabbed 3,800 of the home listings in the market last year, but he points out that the company’s work to date has focused on building a presence, not on market share. With its new offices in place, Ario said he expects the company to command a big slice of the residential real estate pie because of the company’s unusual business model. Instead of the typical commission split that most brokerage companies employ, Keller Williams caps the contribution brokers are required to make to the company, so that earnings after that level go entirely into the brokers pocket. In addition, the brokers share in the profits of the company. That, said Ario, gives Keller Williams brokers incentives to expand their businesses that others don’t have. “Nobody succeeds alone,” Ario said. Eden Tree Technologies Inc. Camarillo In just under four years in business, Camarillo-based EdenTree Technologies, Inc. has been quietly making a name for itself in the local tech industry. A provider of software and hardware solutions that help to automate product laboratories and equipment networks, Eden Tree has been growing rapidly and has already established four offices throughout the Western United States, with its headquarters in Newbury Park and satellite offices in Santa Clara, West Los Angeles and Plano, Texas. Part of this was aided by a $1.5 million investment in by the Westlake Village Chapter of Keiretsu Forum. The angel fund provided EdenTree with funds because of it filled a niche in the market hadn’t been previously filled. The company also has an impressive pedigree as Ron Burr, the co-founded of NetZero served as one of EdenTree’s early investors and currently Stacy Haitsuka, another one NetZero’s co-founders sits on the company’s board of directors. Indeed 2006 looks to be a pivotal year for the firm as it attempts to continue the early success it has had. In 2004, Eden Tree was named one of the top 10 fast-growing technology companies to Watch, by the Pacific Coast Business Times. The company also received the identical award in 2003. Additionally, in 2004, EdenTree was honored by Communications Solutions magazine who named its Connect ET product as the “Product of the Year,” winner for the year 2003. Specialty Laboratories Valencia Specialty Laboratories began 2005 by finishing its relocation to Valencia, and ended it expecting to finish its merger with AmeriPath, Inc. in the first quarter of 2006. The clinical testing company moved into its state-of-the-art clinical laboratory and headquarters 30 miles north of its previous location in Santa Monica. The building measured at about 198,000 square feet, more than double the size of its former setup, leaving plenty of space for further growth. The company offers specialized clinical tests to 10 medical specialties. It offers non-routine testing services for hospitals, doctors and laboratories. It suffered through a sharp decline in its stock price in 2002, however, and said throughout the year that it’s priority would be turning the business around. In February, Dr. Douglas Harrington stepped down from his position as CEO, and Kevin R. Sayer, the company’s executive vice president and CFO took the reins as the company’s senior officer while the search for a new CEO began. In its first quarter results, the Specialty announced that its testing volume had increased by more than 30 percent, but income tax charges and building expenses forced the company to take a $10 million loss. David C. Weavil joined Specialty Laboratories in July. Weavil, who had more than 30 years experience in the clinical laboratory field, said he looked forward guiding the business through its attempts to grow its customer base and profit margin. The company signed a definitive merger agreement with Palm Beach Gardens, FL-based AmeriPath. AmeriPath said it plans to maintain the Valencia laboratory, giving it a presence on both coasts, and to expand by leveraging the brands that both companies have developed, indicating that Specialty Laboratories can plan on expanding its business and employee base in the coming year.
