Local companies seen benefiting from CES buzz

Much of the buzz at the International Consumer Electronics Show will be on new products unveiled by the world's largest companies. But small companies -- including several from Las Vegas -- were expected to benefit from the exposure.

About six local companies hosted booths during CES showing off everything from wireless broadband service to multicolor plastic iPad cases and battery cases designed for iPhone and iPads.

"We get a lot of people who are surprised when we tell them we are from Las Vegas," said Shanin Polce of Avance Electronics in Las Vegas. "Not of lot to technology companies are based here."

Polce said when it comes to Las Vegas people know more the shows, casinos and other amenities the city has to offer.

But, she expects Avance to help change the perception of Las Vegas. The company is at CES to launch its extended-life batteries for iPhones and iPods.

The device, Polce said, is the smallest, lightest and most compact designed battery case for Apple products. It looks like a black protective case for your iPhone.

She said Avance hasn't designed a battery case for the iPad, choosing instead to focus on manufacturing battery devices for mobile phones.

On Tuesday, Kiolink founder Serge Parsadaian and his daughter, Christine, were hawking their Omni Stand 500 and 700 for iPads. The multifunctional cases, holders and stands feature a hard plastic exterior and soft rubber protective inlay.

Participation of Las Vegas-based companies in CES has grown every year. This year, several local tech companies demonstrated their products at the third-annual Start-up Debut event.

Social media agency Social Radius, which moved its corporate headquarters to Las Vegas in August, created Start-up Debut, which highlights new tech companies. Some will also exhibit at this year's convention, but many got their only shot at CES exposure on Sunday at Mandalay Bay's Foundation Room.

The event draws crowds in the hundreds, where CES will pack 140,000 into the Las Vegas Convention Center this week, but for new companies the exposure can be critical.

The Foundation Room's dim lighting was offset by glowing monitors, and one Orange County, Calif.-based company's purple-lit display: an iPhone suspended behind glass with water cascading over it.

Liquipel will exhibit its nanotechnology at CES this week. The company uses layers of waterproof coating on electronics both inside and out. That's how co-founder Danny McPhail was able to plunk his iPhone in water without causing severe damage. The company is working with manufacturers to see whether phones can be treated before sale.

There were travel site startups, musicians' accessories, e-media messaging services and cloud-based collaborative projects such as the video editing platform WeVideo.

For local tech companies in particular, Start-up Debut provided an opportunity to prove that Las Vegas has more to offer than a fun convention atmosphere.

"It's startup year at CES. We're here to feature Vegas tech and what's going on," said Jennifer Gosse, chief marketing officer of Tracky, a local social collaboration startup hosted at the Switch SuperNAP data storage facility.

Tracky set up shop Sunday in a room designated as the "Silicon Strip" section of Start-up Debut. Three other local tech companies -- Walls360, InsureMonkey and DocBeat -- also took part in the product demos.

InsureMonkey, a health insurance plan aggregator that allows consumers to search for insurance plans using an Orbitz-like interface, last year was named one of Forbes' Most Promising Companies. InsureMonkey was the only Nevada-based company to make the list.

InsureMonkey is gearing up for a big year, and was looking for exposure from Start-up Debut. As health insurance reform goes into effect and states start developing their health care exchanges, InsureMonkey plans to be involved.

Co-founder Mark Jolley said the company plans to compete later this year for a contract to help Nevada develop its health care exchange.

Review-Journal reporter Chris Sieroty contributed to this story. Contact reporter Caitlin McGarry at cmcgarry@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Follow her on Twitter: @Caitlin_McGarry.