by Kerri Panchuk / Dallas Business Journal

North Texas Enterprise Center, a Frisco business incubator, has formed a Venture Alliance Partner program to link medical-technology startups with institutional investors.

Ten venture capital firms have signed on for the program, including Dallas-based Sevin Rosen Funds, which was the first venture fund to join the alliance, according to Jon Bayless, the firm's general partner.

Austin-based Santé Ventures also is on board. The other eight firms are: Arboretum Partners, Ballast Point Ventures, Chrysalis Ventures, Heron Capital, H.I.G. Bioventures, Noro-Mosely Partners, Prolog Ventures and River Cities Capital Funds. They're based in various cities throughout the country.

NTEC said its new Venture Alliance Partner program will help provide emerging companies with the funds needed to grow their businesses.

"For start-up firms it is often difficult to get access to capital," said Dr. Hubert Zajicek, senior director at NTEC. "This program should make the process much more efficient and serve both the startup community and the venture capital community,"

As part of the program, NTEC has partnered with Southern Methodist University, whose business students will assist with due diligence and market research on companies applying for VAP consideration.