Hungry for funding, start-ups to pitch companies at Grubstake Breakfast

A technology veteran, Cindy Crump got interested in the idea of remotely monitoring someone's health as a way to keep tabs on her own mother. Todd Walrath decided to build a company to help people sort through senior living options after his own frustrations trying to research choices for an elderly relative.

The two entrepreneurs are among five selected to pitch their companies to investors on Thursday at what the Business Alliance for Innovation and Entrepreneurship calls its "Grubstake Breakfast" at the Ritz-Carlton in McLean.

Grubstake breakfasts have long been a popular staple of the Business Alliance. Once known as the Business Alliance of George Mason University, the organization shifted its focus earlier this year to support a broader range of industries, academic institutions and geographic regions.

Crump's company, AFrame Digital of Reston, has developed special wristwatches to monitor a person's vital signs and report wirelessly. The company also has developed software to read the data and issue alerts, detecting, for instance, if a person falls or his or her temperature spikes. AFrame said its technology would be able to work with a variety of monitors and wireless setups and that the demand should grow as the Baby Boom population ages.

"Our secret sauce is that we marry good design with analytics," said Crump, an MCI veteran who also oversaw development of Freddie Mac's trading and finance systems.

AFrame Digital has already received research funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and is seeking $2.3 million from investors to ramp up sales and marketing and fine-tune the product.

Like AFrame Digital, SeniorLiving.Net sees a growth opportunity is serving aging Baby Boomers.

After struggling to help his own relative, Walrath said he initially started out trying to build a Hotels.com-like search engine for the senior living community. But he soon realized that given the individual complexities of such decisions, he also needed to create a network of counselors to help people through the process over the telephone.

"This is one of those inflection points in people's lives where they need lots of things all at once," said Walrath, who helped build the original weather.com and later ran local initiatives for AOL.

The service is free to users. SeniorLiving.net receives a referral fee from an assisted care facility or nursing home should a client make a placement decision.

The Vienna company is seeking $2 million to continue to build its business and expand its nationwide care network.

In addition to AFrame Digital and SeniorLiving.Net, the other early-stage companies presenting include:

-- 2 Comma Sales: The Rockville company created Web-based tools for salespeople. The company is seeking $1.5 million for product development, marketing and sales.

-- AccuStrata: The College Park company, a recipient of state and federal research grants, has developed technology to improve the process for manufacturing solar panels and other thin-film materials. The firm is seeking $2 million to help get a commercial product ready by 2011.

-- Optoro: The Lanham company helps retailers, manufacturers and others sell excess, returned or refurbished goods through multiple online channels. The firm is seeking $2 million to continue building its business.