Jake Halliday joins Tensive Controls

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Jake - Head Shot3
Dr Jake Halliday recently joined Tensive Controls as CEO and Chairman. Dr Halliday will assume corporate business and management tasks along with Tensive founder, Dr Ken Gruber, who will continue as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr Halliday served on the Board of Missouri Innovation Center from 1993, and as its CEO from 2004 – 2014. Dr Halliday led the effort to design and build the MU Life Science Business Incubator at Monsanto Place during his tenure as CEO. He was also instrumental in recruiting Tensive Controls as a resident client. Dr Halliday was CEO of ABC Labs in Columbia, MO from 1993 – 2003 and VP for Pharmaceutical Business Development at Battelle (1984 – 1993).

Tensive Controls has a platform technology based on a class of peptides, named Melanocortins, that control metabolism hence regulate weight. Tensive Controls has received innovation R&D grants from NIH for development of a drug to reverse the loss of lean body mass experienced by cancer patients (cachexia). Melanocortins and related peptides also have antimicrobial properties and Tensive Controls is funded by USDA to innovate peptide antimicrobials as an alternative to the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture. Tensive formed a subsidiary, named Animal Health Specialties, in 2014 to deliver targeted solutions for both companion and production animals.

Tensive Controls moved to Missouri from North Carolina has been a resident client of the Missouri Innovation Center since 2012. Tensive has received investment from Centennial Investors and Missouri Technology Corporation.

MU Chancellor Loftin Discusses Incubator Expansion

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Screen-Shot-2015-07-23-at-1.06.51-PMUniversity of Missouri’s Chancellor Loftin discussed expansion plans for the Life Science Business Incubator in an interview for the July 24, 2015 issue of Columbia Business Times. In the interview, Loftin notes that “The incubator is maxed out right now in the wet labs.” He listed his goals to “expand the reach of the incubator beyond the traditional life sciences” and “expand the incubator … to support more traditional life science programming.” Missouri Innovation Center is creating the Digital Venturing Center to support the creation of software and internet-related businesses. And, planning is underway on an expansion of the MU Life Science Business Incubator at Monsanto Place that will triple the wet lab capacity.

You can read the entire article online at columbiabusinesstimes.com

Bill Turpin announced as CEO of Missouri Innovation Center

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Bill-for-webCOLUMBIA, MISSOURI:  Missouri Innovation Center’s Board Chairman David Keller today announced the appointment of Bill Turpin as President and CEO of Missouri Innovation Center (MIC).  Turpin has resided in Silicon Valley since 1990, having participated as a principal in a series of entrepreneurial ventures.  He will move to Columbia to lead MIC effective June 23, 2014.

“Mr Turpin brings the experience of a serial technology innovator and entrepreneur, providing perspectives and leadership that will take Missouri Innovation Center and the business incubator at MU to the next level,” Keller said.  “In particular, we expect Bill to intensify MIC’s services and business mentoring for software entrepreneurs, bringing that support into balance with the strong program in place for life science ventures.”

Bill Turpin was founder of 6 technology startups that were early leaders in significant new product markets and technologies:

  • In a period of text-based PC applications, his first company developed one of the first Windows applications and was acquired by Borland International in 1990.
  • In the early days of the Internet when the Web consisted of static documents, his second company pioneered the use of dynamically generated web pages. Netscape acquired Bill’s company before going public in early 1995. His company’s scripting language went on to become JavaScript.
  • Premier Silicon Valley venture firms Kleiner Perkins and Redpoint Ventures funded Bill’s next startup to create the first email blogging service.
  • Bill’s fourth startup created a platform for building 3D virtual worlds and massively multiplayer games.  Coca Cola, McDonalds, and MTV created virtual worlds using the technology.
  • Since then, Bill has started 2 more companies that are building mobile applications connected to cloud services

In 2013, Jake Halliday, who has led MIC for the past 10 years, announced his intention to retire by mid 2014, prompting a nationwide search by a task force comprised of university and business members of the MIC board of directors.Missouri Innovation Center is a non-profit organization that has supported entrepreneurs and the process of innovation and venturing in mid-Missouri since 1984, working closely with University of Missouri and with financial assistance from Missouri Technology Corporation.  More recently MIC led the initiative to fund and build the Life Science Business Incubator at Monsanto Place which opened in 2009.  MIC now manages the incubator facility and delivers the business incubation program.

Over the past year, MIC has been planning an initiative with university and community stakeholders to incorporate a business software innovation and venturing center into the incubator.  “Bill’s arrival is expected to be a major boost for that agenda, while his extensive experience raising venture capital will benefit MIC clients and mid-Missouri’s entrepreneurs broadly,”  Halliday said.

Mr Turpin grew up in Bowling Green and St Charles, Missouri.  He graduated top of his class from MU’s Electrical Engineering program in 1978.  He took his first position with Texas Instruments in Austin, TX where he participated over a ten year period in software design, system engineering, and software team management.  He completed an executive MBA at the University of Texas, Austin while still at Texas Instruments and formed his first entrepreneurial venture shortly thereafter.