We have been awarded a patent for apparatus and methods for
delivering, recording, monitoring, reviewing and adjusting the level
of difficulty of therapy for stroke, Parkinson's, MS, head injury,
speech impaired, hearing impaired, elderly patients and others, via
the Internet. I would like to know the email addresses and other
contact information of possible joint venture partners who might be
interested in providing the capital to develop and market this
product.

Greetings!  Rehab Management offers an industry watch page on their
site at http://www.rehabpub.com/rehabec/12012001/2.asp  By perusing
the reports there, I found a few investment groups that have shown
interest in the rehabilitation market and searched the companies by
name.  You may also find the rest of the site to be of interest.


PARK AVENUE EQUITY PARTNERS - http://www.pkave.com/

"Park Avenue Equity Partners, L.P. is a $110 million private equity
firm focused on middle-market companies in a wide range of industries.
 The General Partner has broad experience in, and related to, private
equity.  The Principals have contributed approximately 30% of the
Fund's committed capital.

"Park Avenue makes equity and equity-linked investments in companies
with opportunities for growth, established profitability and excellent
management teams.  The Firm is an active partner with management in
building the value of its portfolio companies."

CONTACT:
Park Avenue Equity Partners, L.P. 
399 Park Avenue
Suite 3204 
New York, NY 10022 
Phone - (212) 758-4446 
Fax - (212) 430-0170 
[no email provided]
OR 

600 Fourteenth Street, NW 
Suite 800 
Washington, DC 20005 
Phone - (202) 662-4873 
Fax - (202) 783-4211 


VESTAR CAPITAL PARTNERS - http://www.vestarcapital.com/why/index.html

"Management partnerships are the key to our success. A successful
partnership begins well before we’ve made an investment when
management takes the time to educate us on their company and industry.
Next, we walk them through the investment process and how to prudently
structure a transaction to mitigate financial risk and to accommodate
future growth. After the initial investment, management continues to
run their business, often with more autonomy than before, and we lend
a hand when appropriate."

CONTACT:
Vestar Capital Partners
245 Park Avenue
41st Floor
New York, NY 10167
{hone - (212) 351 1600
Email - ethomas@vestarcapital.com

OR

Seventeenth Street Plaza
1225 17th Street, Suite 1660
Denver, CO 80202
Phone - (303) 292 6300


PTPN - http://www.ptpn.com/intro.htm

"Today, PTPN is the oldest and largest specialty network in the United
States. From our initial base in California, we have spread across the
country and have pioneered national contractingand capitation. Our
clients include most of the major managed care organizations in the
nation.

"The scope of PTPN’s network, our experience in "writing the book" on
rehabilitation contracting, and our capabilities in management and
innovation have positioned us well to meet your needs for
rehabilitation services now and in the future.

"PTPN is a national organization of physical, occupational and speech
therapists in independent practice. PTPN thoroughly screens and
credentials each provider to ensure they meet PTPN’s exacting
criteria. PTPN then contracts with managed care organizations to get
our therapists designated as preferred providers for these
organizations. This allows managed care patients access to the high
quality services delivered by the PTPN private practitioner."

CONTACT:
PTPN National
26635 W. Agoura Rd., Suite 250
Calabasas, CA 91302
(800) 766-PTPN
[no email provided]


HEALTHCARE VENTURES

"HealthCare Ventures (HCV) is one of the world's largest venture
capital firms specializing in health care, making investments in early
stage and emerging growth companies that have the potential for
exceptional growth."

The emphasize biomedical but I believe you should contact them with
your prospectus.

CONTACT:
Healthcare Leadership Council
900 17th Street N.W., Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone - (202)-452-8700
Email: healthaccessnow@hlc.org


WR HAMBRECHT & CO - http://www.wrhambrecht.com/inst/venture/index.html

"WR Hambrecht + Co makes venture capital investments in emerging
technology companies. To date, we have invested over $100 million in
63 companies."

CONTACT:
They have a contact page:
http://www.wrhambrecht.com/inst/venture/contact.html


I hope these firms prove of assistance in your quest.  Should you need
any clarification before rating my answer, please request it and I
will conduct further research in this area.


SEARCH TERMS:

speech therapy investor partners
Park Avenue Equity Partners
Vestar Capital Partners
PTPN
rehabilitation industry venture capital

---

Request for Answer Clarification by magoo2-ga on 29 Oct 2002 14:35 PST

The firms listed in your answer are firms that invest in profitable,
established and emerging growth companies. The venture I described
would be more appropriately classified as "start-up"

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 29 Oct 2002 18:05 PST

Thank you for the clarification.  The new information will put a
different spin on the topic and I'll begin further research on your
query.

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 31 Oct 2002 20:14 PST

I have discovered a few sources for start-up capital in the healthcare
industry.

From a site at http://www.livefromsiliconvalley.com/venture/venture.html
I discovered a list titled "Venture Capital Links: Silicon Valley and
SF Bay Area" - on that list were a few investors that may be of
interest:

Advanced Technology Ventures: Specializing in IT and Healthcare.
Company stages from seed/start up to later stage.
"Advanced Technology Ventures is a leading venture capital firm
focused on early-stage opportunities in the Internet, communications
and health care markets."
http://www.atvcapital.com/about/index.html

Crosspoint Venture Partners: Early invests in large emerging
opportunities in: E-Business Services and Software, Next-Generation
Carriers, and Healthcare.
http://www.cpvp.com/

Mayfield Fund: Specializing in companies with unique, technology
driven products/services. Areas of interest are Information Technology
and Healthcare Technology.
"Founded in 1969, Mayfield has provided Venture Capital with Impact
and shown leadership in early-stage venture investing time and again
by teaming up with exceptional individuals to create industry-leading
companies"
http://www.mayfield.com/

Montreux Equity Partners: Focused on technology and healthcare
companies.
http://www.montreuxep.com/webpage_templates/home.php3
"Montreux Equity Partners is a venture capital firm focused on
building great technology and healthcare companies."
http://www.montreuxep.com/webpage_templates/home.php3

Sierra Ventures: Focuses on early stage healthcare, information
technology-related companies and service businesses.
http://www.sierraven.com/

Summit Partners : Offices in Boston, and Palo Alto, CA. Invests in
Healthcare, Software, Networking, Computer Systems and Peripherals,
and other industries.
http://www.summitpartners.com/

U. S. Venture Partners: Early investment in companies, focused near
Menlo Park, CA. High Technology and Healthcare.
http://www.usvp.com/

Venrock Associates: Prefers to deal with an enterprise in its earliest
form, a high percentage of its investments are seed or first round
investments. Invests in the areas of Information Technology and
Healthcare/Life Sciences.
"Venrock Associates was founded as the venture capital arm of the
Rockefeller Family and today continues a six-decade tradition of
funding entrepreneurs and establishing successful, enduring
companies."
http://www.venrock.com/


Also, I found a paid report available from GrowThink that may assist
in you finding venture capital:

"Growthink’s 2002 Healthcare Venture Capital Report analyzes and
profiles the 610 healthcare companies that received venture capital in
2001 (representing $7.1 billion) and the 275 investors that funded two
or more healthcare ventures. All company and investor profiles include
complete contact information."  Their web site is located at
http://www.biospace.com/promo/growthink.cfm and the paid report is
available for order at
http://www.growthinkresearch.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=G&Product_Code=13041&Category_Code=13&Affiliate=biospace


I hope these additional links prove of assistance and if you need
further clarification before rating, please ask and I'll be happy to
search further.


SEARCH PHRASES:

start-up capital healthcare
start-up capital healthcare software
venture capital software healcare

I think the researcher did the best he/she could with a tough topic.

Although this isn't via the Internet [and within the original bounds
of the request], I'd suggest you look for books by Moshe Feldenkrais.
I have no connection to what is known as the "Feldenkrais Method", but
have had several friends who have had remarkable success.  There is a
site at http://www.feldenkrais.com with descriptions of "the method".
I'm certain you can find additional information via Google, either in
Google Groups or Google web.

Thank you for your rating and comments.  While researching a different
question today, I came across a bio on a gentleman named Dennis
DeCoste and part of the bio stated "He is also a member of the Band of
Angels, a formal group of about 150 former and current high tech
executives and entrepreneurs who provide counsel and capital to
startup companies."

Recalling your query, I then searched "band of angels" and found the
web site below.  I'm not certain if this group could assist you but
you may want to fly a proposal and see what happens.

http://www.bandangels.com/

Many thanks. Will do.

Bob