On March 30, the Borealis Team enjoyed Peak Pitch '06: Sunday River, the final event in the three- part Peak Pitch series. Peak Pitch is a uniquely Northern New England version of the classic "elevator pitch," but the weather for the final event in Maine was anything but typical New England. With temperatures in the 60's, pitches were not muffled by hats and scarves, the lunch program took place on a sun drenched patio, and the mood was jovial - a fitting end to a successful series.

This was the second year for Peak Pitch, which began as a precursor to the Start-Up New Hampshire Business Plan Competition 2005. For 2006 Borealis Ventures decided to continue and also expand the program. To leverage business connections throughout New England, Borealis partnered with local hosts for each event, including: FreshTracks Capital for Bolton Valley, VT; the NH Advantage Foundation for Mt. Sunapee, NH; and for Sunday River, a syndicate of Maine sponsors that included the Finance Authority of Maine, the Maine Investment Exchange, the Maine Technology Institute, and the Small Enterprise Growth Fund.

Having three venues gave over 100 entrepreneurs (outfitted in blue ski bibs) the chance to pitch to over 75 investors (in green- of course!). With an informal pitch-off as the only overtly competitive aspect of the day, Peak Pitch is simply a chance for entrepreneurs and investors to network in a fun and informal setting. The feedback on the events has been tremendously positive.

"I decided to do all three events, and it was a great experience that I highly recommend to any company that is starting to raise money or wants to learn more about the process," said Chris Pearson, founder of Sound Innovations, which produces a sound- cancellation technology. Chris was the winner of the Mt. Sunapee Peak Pitch "Pitch-off." "Going through all three Peak Pitches gave me a chance to hone my pitch based on the feedback I received. I made some great investor contacts that would have been hard to make otherwise. At the end of one month I have a good, field tested pitch and contacts that I hope to develop. That’s a great return on the time I spent, and you can’t complain when your work entails three days of skiing."

Borealis hopes to continue and build-on the success from this year's events by making the Peak Pitch series a winter tradition for the entrepreneurial communities of New England.

Reports John Burns, Fund Manager of Maine's Small Enterprise Growth Fund, "It certainly appeared that everyone had a good time and clearly many important connections were made! We have all heard positive feedback from both blue and green bibs since our return. We look forward to next year!"

Borealis portfolio company Handmark roared into Las Vegas April 4 with its award winning Pocket Express application- and a Porsche Cayman- for the bi-annual CTIA (Communications Technology Industry Association) Wireless show. Attended by 40,000 industry executives, CTIA Wireless is THE SHOW for the wireless communication industry in North America, attracting significant attention from the tier 1 and tier 2 wireless network operators, all of the major handset manufacturers, as well as the growing universe of application developers and service providers that support this marketplace.

Handmark's Pocket Express is already in wide use as the chosen partner for Sprint's hot EVDO "On Demand" offering. Pocket Express recently garnered PC Magazine's Editor's Choice award for its ",user friendliness, configurability, and information selection." Handmark used CTIA as an opportunity to take its game to the next level. At the same time that some players are trying to enter the market with applications that Handmark has been offering for over a year, the company has upped the ante. The latest version of Pocket Express doubles the number of content channels available in the application, adding games and ringtones and integrating commerce capabilities. Handmark's Pocket Express is the clear choice both for consumers who value breadth of content and ease-of-use and carrier partners who appreciate the proven and efficient platform for mobile content and commerce.

An integral part of the user experience in this latest version of Pocket Express is the ability to easily 'share' the application with other smartphone users. A current user can have the application delivered to a friend or colleague in real-time simply by clicking on a link and inputting the recipient's cell phone number. The recipient will receive an SMS message containing a link that, when clicked, will install Pocket Express on their handset. And to sweeten the deal each time a user shares Pocket Express with another user, they will be qualified for a drawing that will award the newest car in the Porsche fleet, the Cayman S, to the winner. Under the tagline "Free News, Free Weather, Free Sports, Free Porsche," the car certainly raised the company's profile at CTIA and promises to do so in the industry and with users through the end of December '06.