Red Herring chose eight of the 100 winners to profile in longer form:

·          Straddling the Future: Adimos bets on the intersection of two growing markets: digital video and wireless networks.

·          The DNA Dilemma: DNA Genotek finds a niche in collecting lots of DNA without puncturing the skin.

·          Flight Path: When handsets go bad, InnoPath helps carriers send a fix through the air.

·          Nano Now: Many say that nano profits are a decade away. Nano-Tex proves that they’re wrong.

·          Hooked on Phonetics: Nexidia says its software will let you listen to a year’s worth of audio recordings in one day.

·          So Much to Say: Eight million people worldwide use Six Apart software to express themselves.

·          Phone Numbers: Making a profit during an industry-wide recession gives Tellme Networks big dreams.

·          Democratizing Encryption: Voltage Security hopes to take the pain out of email privacy.

The other 92 are featured below.

Atrua Technologies

ADDRESS 1696 Dell Ave.
Campbell, CA 95008

PHONE 1-408-370-8000

FOUNDED 2000

CEO Anthony Gioeli

EMPLOYEES 40

FUNDING $29 million, 3 rounds

KEY INVESTORS Nokia Venture Partners, Ericsson Venture Partners, Acer Technology Ventures, NeoCarta Ventures, Intel Capital, mc3 ventures

Cameras, messaging, gaming, music, video, data services, and shopping have made handsets complicated and hard to use. Atrua Technologies wants to help people use all the functions on their phones with embedded touch controls that allow users to navigate the options with finger motions. The technology also provides security with fingerprint swiping instead of password typing. Atrua started shipping its first orders last year. Revenues are still less than $5 million, but the company expects to break even in 2006. Atrua’s potential market is huge: IDC estimates there are about 1.5 billion mobile phone users worldwide, and International Biometric Group estimates that the market for fingerprint scanners totaled about $464 million in 2003. But it’s still unclear how many functions users will eventually want to use on their phones, and if simplified cell phones become the norm, Atrua could find itself without a market.