TIMONIUM, Md., May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly forty software and technology companies engaged in media, communications, security, consumer and sensing technologies will be showcased through company presentations to several hundred venture capitalists at the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association's (MAVA) Capital Connection(SM) 2006 venture fair, May 30-31 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC. The Co-Chairs of this year's event are veteran venture capitalists, including Gina Dubbe of Walker Ventures, Karl Khoury of Columbia Capital, Tim Meyers of Updata Partners and Joe Zell of Grotech Capital Group.

Over the last two decades, the Capital Connection selection process has been a model emulated by other venture fairs. More than thirty seasoned investors from the mid-Atlantic's most prestigious venture firms, as well as professionals from key services industries dedicated to the entrepreneurial community, comprised this year's selection committee. The selection effort, led by venture capitalists co-chairs Scott Frederick, Valhalla Partners; Andrea Kaufman, Novak Biddle Venture Partners; Jonathan Perl, Boulder Ventures; and Don Rainey, Intersouth Partners, identified, analyzed and selected some of the best companies in the region and beyond to present at the fair.

"Our objective is to select the most fundable investment opportunities in the market and we are proud that our rigorous Capital Connection selection process has identified these highly qualified presenting companies for our 2006 fair," said Julia Spicer, Executive Director of MAVA. "Each year we work to proffer a slate of companies indicative of current investment preferences and market dynamics. This year's selected presenters include companies that represent investment opportunities from a cross-section of sectors; at different stages of funding (from early to expansion); and at varying stages in their business cycles (growth to development)."

Companies chosen to fill the coveted Capital Connection 2006 presentation slots beat out a large pool of highly-competitive applicants. For almost twenty years, MAVA's Capital Connection annual venture fair has helped shape the region's entrepreneurial economy, generating more than $2.5 billion of venture investments for the participating companies. Some of our region's biggest success stories -- including AOL, Ciena, UUNet, Blackboard, Advertising.com and webMethods -- have presented at the association's annual fairs.

Selected companies for Capital Connection 2006 include: Company Name Company Name 1. 3CLogic (MD) 20. InfinityQS International, Inc. (VA) 2. ARPU, Inc. (DC) 21. Inlet Technologies (NC) 3. Asankya (GA) 22. Mobile Posse (VA) 4. Augusta Systems, Inc. (WV) 23. Neupara Corporation (MD) 5. Authis (OH) 24. nexVortex, Inc. (VA) 6. Brainbox Enterprises, Inc. (MD) 25. Parature (VA) 7. Bridgewerx (VA) 26. PostCentric (VA) 8. Catalyst IT Services (MD) 27. RAMSAFE Technologies, Inc. (VA) 9. Cernium Corportation (VA) 28. RollStream, Inc. (VA) 10. CFN Services (VA) 29. Simutronics Corp. (MD) 11. Covelight Systems, Inc. (NC) 30. Sonum Technologies, Inc. (MD) 12. Demodulation Inc. (NJ) 31. StrikeIron (NC) 13. DoublePositive Marketing 32. UAT, Inc. (CO) Group (MD) 14. EFA (VA) 33. Unitrends (SC) 15. Fidelis Security Systems, 34. Velaro, Inc. (MD) Inc. (MD) 16. FortiusOne (DC) 35. Voxant (VA) 17. Freewebs (MD) 36. WorldCell, Inc. (MD) 18. GridPoint, Inc. (DC) 37. Zenoss, Inc. (MD) 19. Incando Corporation (VA) About MAVA

MAVA represents private equity and venture capitalists with investment interests in the mid-Atlantic. Founded in 1986, MAVA provides a wide range of programs, information and forums designed to facilitate quality deal flow, encourage collaboration, and foster relationships with entrepreneurs and investors to promote private equity investment. Membership includes more than 500 venture capital professionals representing nearly 125 firms with collectively more than $10 billion in capital under management. In addition, more than 250 key professional service providers from the financial, legal, executive search and consulting fields are also MAVA members. For more information, please visit http://www.mava.org/

Capital Connection is a registered service mark of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA).

CONTACT: Stacey Sweeney of MAVA, +1-703-281-2254 or +1-571-228-2249,
Stacey@StaceySweeney.com

Web site: http://www.mava.org/