xPeerinet, a stage1ventures portfolio company, announced today that they have been selected as a finalist in the MIT Symposium Innovation Showcase (http://www.mitcio.com). The Innovation Showcase highlights ten early stage companies that provide cutting-edge technology and offer new levels of value and advancement to enterprise IT.

“MIT is all about innovation and entrepreneurship, and we developed the Innovation Showcase to highlight early stage companies that are on the leading edge. xPeerient.com is one of these companies,” said David L. Verrill, executive director of the MIT Center for Digital Business and co-chair of the Innovation Showcase. “The Symposium provides these early stage companies with a platform to demonstrate their new thinking and approaches to vital challenges facing CIOs in today’s digital economy.”

More than 800 CIOs and senior IT executives will be attending the 2011 MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, which will take place Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 7:30 am to 7:00 pm at Kresge Auditorium, MIT (77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA). The full agenda is available at http://www.mitcio.com/agenda.

xPeerinet, a stage1ventures portfolio company, was featured in an article enitled "Outsourcing: Why CIOs Hate How You Sell IT Services".  In this question and answer article, xPeerient CEO Mark Hall - a former CIO himself - calls out technology vendors sales and marketing practices.

xPeerinets platform enables CIOs to anonymously initiate the buying process with vendors - making technology sourcing efficient for both buyer and seller.

Something’s got to give — particularly in outsourcing, a relationship business where starting off on the right foot is critical," Hall says. "The core problem is how buyers and sellers are introduced - It’s fraught with friction."

Additional information can be found on the CIO Magazine xPeerient article.

PhantomAlert, a stage 1 venture portfolio company that empowers GPS and smartphone-equipped motorists with the information and tools to avoid traffic tickets, was recently covered in a USA Today article entitled "High-tech apps help drivers evade police".

The article points out as the proliferation of red-light cameras and speed traps increase, drivers are turning towards devices and applications that give them a heads-up when it’s time to slow down. The author continues by mentioning "One of the most popular is PhantomAlert, an online database that drivers can download to GPS devices or smartphones. It uses audible alerts to warn drivers about everything from speed and red-light cameras to speed traps, school zones and DUI checkpoints."

For additional information about PhantomAlert, please review the complete USA Today article.

Barcelona - Feb 2011: Rod Randall, S1 Capital & Stage 1 Ventures General Partner, presents at the Mobile World Congress | Global Conference Expo Hot Topics mcommerce panel.