Long Island Capital Alliance Announces New Relationship With Brookhaven National Laboratory

MELVILLE, NY--(Marketwire - May 2, 2012) - The Long Island Capital Alliance ("LICA"), the leading non-profit capital formation and business development organization serving regional companies, has teamed up with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), a world-leading technology research institution, to facilitate the formation and acceleration of high-growth businesses on Long Island, based on technologies developed at BNL. This relationship will complement the continued commitment of BNL with the Accelerate Long Island partnership. BNL will also play a major role in LICA's Technology Transfer Capital Forum scheduled for June 8.

"We are pleased to announce this new affiliation with Brookhaven National Laboratory, the largest U.S. Department of Energy science research laboratory in the Northeast," said Jeffrey L. Bass, Chairman, and Neil M. Kaufman, Vice Chairman, of LICA. "Partnering with BNL advances our strategy to form alliances with major Long Island business organizations in pursuit of our mission to establish a more productive environment for growth companies in the region to access capital. We previously announced an alliance with the Long Island Forum for Technology ("LIFT") that has already delivered benefits to our business community, and we believe that our relationship with BNL further positions LICA to promote local economic development." LICA's Technology Transfer Capital Forum on June 8^th will be held in association with the Accelerate Long Island partnership, bringing together members of the ecosystem of technology, business, and investment on Long Island.

Brookhaven National Laboratory has long been a leader in revolutionary scientific research. With a mandate to develop and spread the benefits of technology research, BNL has made numerous breakthrough scientific discoveries since its inception in 1947, leading to 7 Nobel prizes. In recent years, under the management of Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University and Battelle Memorial Institute, BNL has begun to more assertively advance and commercialize the technologies developed by its scientists. BNL has licensed technologies to a variety of companies ranging from startups to major international firms, and has over 400 active license agreements today. "The U.S. Department of Energy, through the Startup America initiative, is opening up the doors at all of its Laboratories to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation," said Robert Gordon, Contracting Officer of the Department of Energy. "The partnership between BNL and LICA is an example of the types of activities envisioned by the architects of the Startup America program."

With potentially transformational technologies recently discovered and under development at the Laboratory, BNL has been expanding the ways in which to build locally-based companies around these technologies, and has teamed up with LICA to maximize this process following the "technology transfer" concept. Technology transfer involves the use of inventions, processes, and knowledge developed by universities and government research facilities to create and enhance private sector businesses. Technology transfer involves a wide range of approaches to get technologies to market, such as licensing to larger, more established companies, establishing equity transactions to provide technology to startup businesses, and entering into research and development agreements including Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs to collaboratively advance the technology toward commercialization.

Commenting on the alliance with LICA, BNL's Walter G. Copan, Managing Director of Technology Commercialization and Partnerships, stated, "Developing technological breakthroughs into successful businesses requires at least three key components: technology, management, and capital. BNL and LICA believe that BNL can supply the technology, and LICA in partnership with Accelerate Long Island, can assist with the other two. LICA has a long and impressive track record that we will leverage for the good of the community and the spread of our research."

Since 1984, LICA has helped dozens of local companies raise hundreds of millions of dollars, primarily by hosting capital forums and networking events where such matches are made. Many entrepreneurs and business managers also attend these events, and often have teamed with companies needing their services.

LICA and BNL will host a Technology Transfer Capital Forum on June 8, 2012, at 8 a.m. at 68 South Service Road, Melville, NY, devoted to BNL technology transfer and commercialization. At the capital forum, BNL will showcase several of its exciting and readily commercializable technologies. Three companies that are bringing technologies from BNL to market will also present their opportunities to invest in these businesses. A panel of investors, business executives, and technology transfer experts will describe the process of financing and building companies around technological discoveries. Given BNL's track record and the attractiveness of the technologies it has developed, LICA believes that this event will appeal to many investors and executives who can be matched with BNL-discovered opportunities. In addition, LICA's Board of Directors, many of whom have significant experience in building technology companies, are prepared to assist these new enterprises in their development and growth. In these ways, LICA and BNL expect to facilitate the formation of technology-based companies that will be based on Long Island and grow into major employers and drivers of regional economic growth. For more information about the event, please contact LICA today or apply online.

About the Long Island Capital Alliance:

Since 1984, the Long Island Capital Alliance (www.licapital.org), formerly known as Long Island Venture Group, has been promoting business growth on Long Island. LICA seeks to create a productive and business-friendly environment that will afford area businesses access to the resources necessary to compete successfully in today's markets. LICA serves as a focal point for the exchange of ideas among new and existing business enterprises, successful entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. Through quarterly capital forums and special meetings, LICA brings together members of the region's business community, and has been recognized as the place to turn to when small businesses need equity, debt, or other financing, or for investors to find an attractive investment opportunity.

LICA's mission is to encourage economic development on Long Island by facilitating capital formation for a broad range of companies in various industries, from early stage to mature middle market closely held and publicly-traded businesses. LICA accomplishes this primarily through education, networking, quarterly capital forums, periodic special educational meetings, and alliances with other regional organizations. LICA brings together members of the region's business community and serves as the finance arm for significant local business and organizations.

About Brookhaven National Laboratory:

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry, and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.