Copy
October 3, 2019 Newsletter
View this email in your browser


Montana High Tech News

Michael Goguen launches Montana-based VC firm Two Bear Capital, aims to raise $100+ million to “accelerate advancements for good”
Mike Goguen, Two Bear Capital Founder and Managing Partner, center, discusses his vision for a Montana-based venture capital firm to “accelerate advancements for good” with an emphasis on biotech and AI. Other panelists from left to right were Liz Marchi, Two Bear Capital CMO; Haley Barrile, Two Bear Capital COO; Ryan Castonia, Two Bear Capital Principal; and moderator Christina Henderson, Montana High Tech Business Alliance Executive Director. Photos by Clint Ekern, Sky Vault.

By Christina Henderson

Michael Goguen, noted Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Montana philanthropist, is launching a Whitefish-based VC firm, Two Bear Capital, with a mission to “enable exceptional teams to accelerate advancements for good.” Goguen and three members of his newly formed executive team shared their vision for Two Bear Capital with more than 50 members of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance at an executive event on September 10, 2019 hosted by Glacier Bank at their Kalispell operations center.

Goguen said the team plans to raise an initial fund in the range of $100 million to $150 million, which would be approximately three times larger than the biggest fund raised in Montana to date. Bozeman’s Next Frontier Capital (NFC), founded in 2015, raised an initial $21 million fund that closed in March 2015 and a second $38 million fund that closed in March 2018. Goguen is also one of the largest limited partners in NFC.

While Goguen plans to seek talent and companies within the state and create a “new nucleus” for VC activity in northwest Montana, Two Bear Capital will also search for investments throughout the western U.S. including regions like Silicon Valley, Seattle, and San Diego.  

Two Bear Capital is Montana’s newest investment firm. Existing funders like NFC, Frontier Angels, and Goodworks Ventures have nearly doubled per capita VC funding in Montana since 2015. Apart from Two Bear Capital, Montana is on-target to surpass a new milestone of more than $100 million in total annual venture capital dollars invested in the state in 2019. 

The formation of Two Bear Capital promises to skyrocket the numbers of VC dollars invested even higher, while also nurturing technologies that stand to benefit humanity. 

“With what we’re up to, I think we are going to have the beginning of a new era for Montana,” Goguen said, adding that the firm will be built to last the next 50 years.

Two Bear Capital will layer an engine for profit with a platform for good
 

Goguen grew up in rural New England, where he cultivated a love for the outdoors that eventually led him to buy property in Montana 17 years ago. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Cornell and Stanford, and spent ten years in engineering, research, and management roles at DEC, SynOptics, Centillion, and Bay Networks. Goguen shifted his engineering talents to venture capital in 1996 when he joined Sequoia Capital, one of the most successful VC funds in history.

Goguen found venture capital to be his professional passion. 

“I felt nothing could beat finding incredibly brilliant, exciting ideas coming from really passionate founders who wanted to make some kind of big difference,” Goguen said. “And then the reward of growing and working with those folks to see them achieve their goals.” 
Read more

Register now: Alliance Missoula Reception

Oct. 30, 2019, hosted by First Interstate Bank
The MHTBA Missoula reception will again be hosted at First Interstate Bank in downtown Missoula, preceded by an annual member meeting and discussion of the future of work with University of Montana President Seth Bodnar.

RECEPTION:

WHAT:  Networking for Montana High Tech Business Alliance members
WHEN: Wednesday, October 30, 2019, 5:00-7:00 pm
WHERE: Sixth floor, First Interstate Bank, 101 E Front St, Missoula, MT 59801 (use Higgins Street entrance). Click here for a map. 

Join the Montana High Tech Business Alliance for an evening of networking and conversation. Beer, wine, and appetizers will be served. Significant others are welcome. The number of guests per organization is based on membership level, and guest tickets may be purchased for $10 each. Prospective companies are welcome to attend one reception for free, and returning guests may purchse tickets.

Learn more on the registration page.
Register now

Special offer: hotel room discount available


The Residence Inn by Marriott is offering a discounted room rate of $109 per night for members attending the October 30 event. Room rates are quoted exclusive of local taxes and fees. Book your group rate for MT High Tech Business Alliance or call 406-543-6252 and ask for the group by name. There are a limited number of discounted rooms available and reservations must be made by October 9.

Member News:

Neuro-ID Introduces FinTech Friction Index(TM) Report, quantifying friction and consumer intent
Neuro-ID's team gathered in Glacier National Park. Image courtesy of Neuro-ID.

Neuro-ID, a pioneer of neuroscience-based analytics in Whitefish, announced on September 24 the release of its inaugural FinTech Friction Index Report. The report aggregates real-time behavioral data from over 20 million customer journeys from top fintechs around the globe, providing new visibility into the friction and frustration consumers experience during the digital onboarding process.

As businesses and financial institutions continue to move processes online, a digital gap between brands and their customers has emerged. Consequently, friction-filled processes have led to poor customer experience (CX) and low conversion rates. In addition, the inability to decipher the intentions of the digital consumer has led to increasing instances of sophisticated fraud and risk.

"The concept of friction remains fairly vague. Our goal with the FinTech Friction Index Report is to scientifically quantify the level of friction a consumer experiences during each step of the customer journey in real time. This new dimension of actionable insight is based on nearly a decade of patented research and discovery and provides a data-driven approach to inform changes and improvements proven to optimize CX and conversion rates," said Jack Alton, CEO of Neuro-ID.

Neuro-ID unlocks this new source of behavioral data by monitoring fine motor movements such as click hesitation, response time, and overall speed, as customers interact with a website, form, or application. These digital cues allow Neuro-ID to monitor and measure in-session friction, which enables digital brands to better understand any underlying frustration, confusion or malintent.

"Citizens Bank is committed to building the best digital experience possible for our customers," said Andrew Rostami, EVP, Head of Unsecured Lending & Cards at Citizens Bank. "Neuro-ID's Friction Index Report provides visibility into our customers' journey that brings us valuable insights around customer friction."

Key findings of the FinTech Friction Index Report include:

  • Measuring friction for the digital consumer
  • All friction is not created equal
  • Differences in friction between touch vs cursor devices
  • Anomalous behavior indicative of potential fraud
  • Key speedbumps applicants experience on forms

To download the full FinTech Friction Index Report, click here.

Read the full press release. 

Read about Neuro-ID on the 2019 Startups to Watch list.

Belgrade-based Cowboy Cricket Farms to open 10,000 sf farming and educational facility
Cowboy Cricket Farms COO and Marketing Manager James Rolin, right, shows a tray containing cricket eggs to a tour group at the company facility in Belgrade. Photo courtesy of Cowboy Cricket Farms.
Cowboy Cricket Farms is the first edible insect farm in the state of Montana. Started in November of 2016 by Kathleen Rolin, a disabled Coast Guard veteran of Bozeman, this woman and veteran owned-and-operated farm has produced foods made from crickets for 3 years and become one of the largest edible insect companies in the USA. Farming crickets offers several advantages over traditional livestock. When compared to feedlot beef, Cowboy Cricket Farms’ processes for cricket production are 2,060x more efficient with water, 14x more efficient with feed, produce 80x less methane, use less than 1% of the comparable land mass, and contain twice the amount of iron for the same amount of protein. There is a large established demand for cricket powder, which is increasingly incorporated in many products.
 
The largest issue that the company has faced during this time has been a lack of adequate sourcing. Despite increasing the amount of cricket farms and overall supply of crickets available the demand has outstripped the supply and more importantly this supply has proven itself to be unreliable. CCF has ran out of product due to lack of cricket every month for the last 6 months. Since the production space is a commercial kitchen this has also greatly affected the ability to provide customer outreach through tours. Tours were traditionally a large source of income, often over 50% of the total monthly revenue, but have now become nearly $0 due to the lack of availability despite the demand and inquiries for tours increasing. CCF’s production facility is currently located in a difficult to reach space that has no ability to be seen from any major road. Despite this, interest in tours have continued to increase. CCF now requires a new and larger facility to increase supply organically and allow for the interest in tours to drive sales in the company.

Read the full press release.

ExportMontana to offer trade show assistance, grant funds

Email Banner Header
Are you planning on exhibiting at any U.S. trade shows outside Montana between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020?  If so, ExportMontana, a program through the Montana Department of Commerce, has grant funds available to reimburse you for up to $3,000 of your expenses.

Their trade show assistance program can help you with out-of-state market expansion by exhibiting at U.S. trade shows. You can apply for these funds to get a 50% reimbursement, up to $3,000 for:

  • Exhibit space fees and registration
  • Booth rental
  • Display elements (booth rental, graphics, banners, signs, racks, decorations, lighting)
  • Booth furnishings (table, chairs)
  • Shipping and storage (drayage, freight, exhibit storage)
  • Show services (set-up and tear down, utilities, card reader, security)
  • Trade show literature (brochures, sales sheets, business cards, etc.)
  • Travel expenses (hotel and airfare)
Click here to learn more and view FAQs.

Applications for NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing now open for high school girls
The National Center for Women and Information Technology Award for Aspirations in Computing is for young women with aspirations and achievements in technology and computing. 
 
This year will be the eighth year that there also will be a Montana contest. Any interested female high school student would need to fill in the on-line application, and get a parent and a school official to approve it to be entered into both the national and Montana contests.

Applications can be submitted Sept. 1 through Nov. 5 and can be found here.
TechLink: Study shows cooperative research with military labs driving billions in economic growth (EurekAlert!)
Stockman Bank: Business Buzz: New Stockman Bank, kids' healthcare, clean energy expo (Missoulian)
Cowboy Cricket Farms: Cowboy Cricket Farms to open new edible insect farm in Montana in 2020 (Food Navigator)
Jackson Contracting Group: Coca-Cola bottling plant on track for spring completion in Missoula Development Park (Missoula Current)
MyVillage: MyVillage childcare startup takes off, increases presence in Missoula (Missoula Current)
SBA: Business Buzz: Hemp processor moves to Ronan, MoFi awarded $187K grant, AmeriCorps celebrates 25th anniversary (Missoulian), SBA awards Montana nearly $500k trade grant (Helena Independent Record)
Missoula airport: Missoula airport seeks restaurant applicants as terminal project advances (Missoula Current)
Net neutrality: Bullock cheers ruling upholding Montana’s net neutrality provision (Missoula Current)

Member News:
Tourbase, Drew Fortner, Whitefish

Upcoming Events:
Manufacturing Day 2019 - Statewide. Oct. 4. Manufacturing Day is not just for big companies or industry associations. It's a great opportunity for you to connect to your community and show them the great career opportunities available in manufacturing. Manufacturing Day is the first Friday in October. Whether you've held events in the past or you're new to these activities, we want to encourage all manufacturers to participate on October 4th, 2019 or any day of the year. There are lots of options from simple and short to a full-day program. Learn more.
Montana Code School Part-Time Course - Missoula & Bozeman. Part-time class dates: Oct. 8, 2019 – April 14, 2020; Location: Missoula & Bozeman, Tuesday & Thursday for 6 months, 6pm – 9pm + 1 immersive weekend a month. Financing available. Montana Code School’s part-time immersive program gives you the skills and fundamentals you need to land a job as a full-stack Jr. Web Developer. Contact 406-219-1392 or talk@montanacodeschool.com. Learn more here.
2019 Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet - Missoula. Oct. 9, Cocktails at 4:30 pm, Banquet at 6 pm. Featuring guest speaker Daymond John, known for judging on Shark Tank. Learn more and register here.
2019 Innovate Montana Symposium - Butte. Oct. 14 - 16, 8 am, Clarion Inn Copper King Convention Center. With the Butte Local Development Corporation, Innovate Montana will host 400 entrepreneurs, small business owners, and business leaders to ignite innovation and inspire entrepreneurship in Montana communities. Learn more and register. 
1 Million Cups Bi-Weekly Meeting - Missoula. Oct. 16. Meets the first and third Wednesday each month at 9:00 am. Please note the new location will be in the Southgate Mall in the Leonard + Bonnie Hamilton Community Room, located in a hallway near JC Penney, in-between metroPCS and Tradehome. Start your morning with coffee and start your business with 1MC Missoula, a place to percolate your startup. Entrepreneurship runs through it. For more information visit the website or Facebook page.
Hellgate Venture Network meeting - Missoula. Oct. 17. HVN facilitates informal networking among entrepreneurs and advisers engaged in building growth businesses in Montana. Future meetings will be on Nov. 14 and Dec. 19. Learn more on the HVN Facebook page.
UM Computer Science Career Fair - Missoula. Oct. 17, 10am-4pm in the University Center (UC) atrium (the center portion of the building on the ground floor). The University of Montana Computer Science Department is hosting its annual campus-wide career fair for high tech full-time, part-time, and internship positions. Several hundred students attend from various majors. Companies interested in attending can register on the event's website.
Montana High Tech Business Alliance Reception - Missoula. Oct. 30, 2019, hosted by First Interstate Bank.
2019 Montana Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting - Missoula. Oct. 30, 12 - 2pm. The Montana Chamber of Commerce will convene their general membership meeting on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at the Hilton Garden Inn Missoula.  Boeing Helena Director Reyna Cardenas will keynote the annual meeting luncheon. Luncheon cost is $35/person for Montana Chamber of Commerce members and $40/person for non-members.  Luncheon will begin promptly at noon. Learn more and register.
Value Stream Mapping for Brewing - Missoula. Oct. 30, Imagine Nation Brewing. This class will teach you how to Value Stream Map any process, to identify, characterize, and quantify wastes, and convert those wastes to real dollars.  It will provide practical strategies, tools, and techniques for incorporating environmental considerations, improving business results and adding value to your organization. Sponsorship opportunities are also available for this program. Learn more and register.
1 Million Cups Bi-Weekly Meeting - Missoula. Nov. 6. Meets the first and third Wednesday each month at 9:00 am. Please note the new location will be in the Southgate Mall in the Leonard + Bonnie Hamilton Community Room, located in a hallway near JC Penney, in-between metroPCS and Tradehome. Start your morning with coffee and start your business with 1MC Missoula, a place to percolate your startup. Entrepreneurship runs through it. For more information visit the website or Facebook page.
1 Million Cups Monthly Meeting - Bozeman. Nov. 6. Meets the first Wednesday of the month at 7:30 am at Red Tractor Pizza, Bozeman. Creating conversation around Bozeman startups, business development, and economic growth in the most entrepreneurial state in the nation (plus, coffee). For more information and application to present, visit the website.
2nd Annual Statewide Showcase - Missoula. Nov. 7, 4:00 - 8:00 pm, Wilma Theater. Early Stage MT announces the 2nd Annual Statewide Showcase, where Montana’s top emerging tech companies present their business for a chance at winning a $50,000 investment. Join our thriving tech community in the initiative to transform Montana into a truly sustainable, 21st century economy. Stay tuned for more information. Learn more.
1 Million Cups Bi-Weekly Meeting - Missoula. Nov. 20. Meets the first and third Wednesday each month at 9:00 am. Please note the new location will be in the Southgate Mall in the Leonard + Bonnie Hamilton Community Room, located in a hallway near JC Penney, in-between metroPCS and Tradehome. Start your morning with coffee and start your business with 1MC Missoula, a place to percolate your startup. Entrepreneurship runs through it. For more information visit the website or Facebook page.

Find more events at MontanaBusinessEvents.com.
Past Newsletters: 
09/19/2019 - Photos: Kalispell reception with Two Bear Capital hosted by Glacier Bank; Ascent Vision & Bridger Aerospace expanding; MMEC: building mfg workforce
09/05/2019 - 2019 MT Startups to Watch; ESMT Sept. cohort; MHTBA discount for Can-Do Primal Storytelling; ExportMontana 101 in Hamilton; MSU Re-Imagining Rural
08/23/2019 - MT execs address childcare shortage; LumenAd, XY Planning, Foundant and AED on Inc. 5000; Schedulicity raises $22M; MHTBA Sept 10 Kalispell events
08/09/2019 - Photos: Bozeman reception at Zoot; Quiq to grow Bozeman workforce 50%; Missoula's LumenAd growing 2x annually; UM Computer Science Career Fair Oct 17
Click to view more past newsletters.
Share
Tweet
Forward
Share
 

Copyright © 2018 Montana High Tech Business Alliance, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates at mthightech.org or were signed up as part of your membership.

Our mailing address is:
Montana High Tech Business Alliance
1121 E Broadway St, Suite 108
Missoula, MT 59802
 
Subscribe to this Newsletter
unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences 

Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Montana High Tech Business Alliance · 1121 E Broadway St, Suite 108 · Missoula, MT 59802 · USA