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Entretec/Pricewaterhouse Coopers Announce Finalists for Third Annual Entrepreneurship Award 2006

Award Celebrates Entrepreneurial Business Achievements of Innovative Technology Companies in Los Angeles/Orange County

Entretec (www.pasadenaentretec.com), a leading strategic partnering and entrepreneurial business support association serving Los Angeles, announced six finalists for its third annual Entrepreneurship Award 2006. Offered in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world's largest professional services organization, the Entretec PricewaterhouseCoopers award celebrates the entrepreneurial vigor and business achievements of technology companies based in Los Angeles and Orange County. Previous award winners include, Guidance Software, a leader in computer forensics and incident response solutions, and Evolution Robotics, an Idealab! company that develops personal robotics.

The six finalists for 2006 include: Accruent, Inc.; Arecont Visions LLC; Boingo Wireless; Blue Lava Group, Inc.; NextAce Corporation; and SyncVoice Communications LLC (company descriptions below). Each finalist will present a business overview and be recognized at Entretec's "HOT Companies Networking Breakfast" on February 23, at the Athenaeum on the Caltech campus. The Entrepreneurship Award winner will be announced at an awards dinner on March 21, featuring keynote speaker, Walter S. Mossberg, author and creator of the "Personal Technology Column" of the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Mossberg has been called "a one-man media empire whose prose can launch a new product" and "the most powerful arbiter of consumer tastes in the computer world today." The business community is invited to attend both events.

"The finalists exemplify successful young companies that have achieved significant product and market milestones as represented by either customer commitment or early revenues," said Stephanie Yanchinski, Executive Director of Entretec. "They represent a group of emerging technology leaders." She continued, "The award also acknowledges the growing importance of advanced tech within Los Angeles and Orange County, and its contribution to the economic wealth of the overall region."

"We're excited about the growing level of support the annual Entrepreneurship Award has earned since its inception three years ago," said Louise Wannier, Chairman of the Entrepreneurship Award Advisory Board . "We're not only attracting many significant applicants, but strong interest from both the VC community and corporate sponsors as well."

The Third Annual Entrepreneurship Awards Program 2006 was made possible by event co-partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and corporate sponsors, Hogan & Hartson; O'Melveny & Myers; Nestle; Christie Parker & Hale; Bolton Insurance; Reed Smith; X1/Idealab!; Cogent; Rustic Canyon; Momentum Ventures Partners; Clearstone Ventures; Tech Coast Angels; Pasadena Angels; and the Cites of Pasadena and Monrovia.

For more information on attending or sponsoring the Hot Company Networking Breakfast, or the Entrepreneurship Awards Dinner, please visit www.pasadenaentretec.com or contact Stephanie Yanchinski, Executive Director of Entretec, at (626) 356-9933 or scy@pasadenaentretec.com.

About the Finalists

Accruent (www.accruent.com) is a leading provider of solutions that transform the way companies manage real estate and related assets. Their collaborative, web-based solutions effectively manage all real estate processes, resulting in less risk and increased revenue and productivity.

Arecont Vision (www.arecontvision.com) manufactures and markets state of the art, real-time video surveillance systems and associated system level software that offer the market a cost-competitive, but vastly superior, alternative to analog video.

Boingo Wireless (www.boingo.com) provides software technology and roaming services that offer ultra-high-speed wireless Internet service to tens of thousands of public locations, such as hotels, airports, cafes, among many others, throughout the world.

Blue Lava Group operates several highly specialized e-commerce websites, famous for their award winning customer service and product knowledge, including www.tinyride.com, , and www.deepblueelectronics.com.

NextAce (www.nextace.com) provides software and services to the title insurance and mortgage lender industries. Its flagship "Title EDGE" process assists title companies in streamlining the production of preliminary title reports.

SyncVoice Communications () provides a Voice Network Management strategy for corporations through its core software platform VXTracker, an IT manager's platform for managing traditional and converged voice network.

About Entretec

Entretec (www.pasadenaentretec.com) is the leading strategic partnering and entrepreneurial business support association serving the 134/210 corridor and the greater Los Angeles region. Entretec connects with communities throughout Southern California through its extensive outreach. The network currently has over 250 member companies that participate in sector conferences, strategic alliance partnering events, networking meetings, referrals, discount programs and business training workshops. Since its inception nearly five years ago, Entretec has worked closely with the technology transfer office at Caltech, the Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, the Keck Graduate Institute, UCLA, USC, the NASA Commercialization Center, the LA County Business Technology Center, LARTA, the LAEDC, the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, and the Cities of Pasadena, Monrovia and Irwindale. Entretec is positioned to work with communities and cities to build Los Angeles into significant clusters of advanced-tech development. Entretec operates from an office on the Caltech campus.

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