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VEGAS INC FOR DARING DEVELOPERS, PROJECTS CAN TURN BIG PROFIT PROJECTS, FROM PAGE 1 Montandon, a managing director with Voit Real Estate Services and a former mayor of North Las Vegas. AN ANGEL: Andy White, an investor who has partnered with the $50 million Vegas Tech Fund, works in his downtown Las Vegas office. Behind him is a story-board chart outlining some of the startups seeking money from his group. Each week, 30 companies looking for funding pitch ideas to the Tech Fund. CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS money than others, but winning ac- cess to that capital takes more than just a good idea. Tech startups have a high failure rate, and entrepreneurs need products that can gain traction if they hope to land investor funding. Ecomom, which moved downtown in January from Southern Califor- nia, has raised $10.7 million since its 2004 inception. The site researches products and assesses them based on health and safety. It now employes 34 people, including 24 in Las Vegas. Romotive, which makes an iPhone- controlled robot that interacts with people, recently raised $5 million from Silicon Valley venture firm Se- quoia Capital and other investors. The company, which employs 18 people lo- cally, now is in the process of getting 4,000 to 8,000 robots a week manufac- tured in China. Social-media site Tracky has raised $1.5 million of angel funding, includ- ing $500,000 from Rob Roy, founder of Las Vegas data-center operator Switch. Tracky offers customers ways to organize their lives, including to-do lists, calendars, data storage and task management. Until the past few years, it was tough finding local tech startups that were worth backing, angel investor and Henderson resident Bill Payne said. Since 1980, Payne, an engineer by trade who once sold a company he co- founded to DuPont, has invested in 60 companies, two-thirds of which were tech firms but only three of which 16 investment group slowed during the main picky about weak products, no recession, fueling speculation among matter where the companies that cre- ate them are based. tech executives that it had disbanded. In fact, after taking a back seat during the downturn and meeting less fre- "If the idea is plain-and-simple no good," Russo said, "the funding doesn't quently because there were no deals make sense." TECH DEMO: Tommy Bell, founder of SalonShare.com, displays his website on an iPhone. Bell said many startups struggle to get financing because there are a limited number of tech investors in Las Vegas. were based in Las Vegas. Better companies are popping up now, thanks largely to Hsieh and Roy, and there is a growing awareness of Las Vegas' burgeoning tech scene, Payne said. "It is definitely an improved situa- tion from what we've seen in the past, and it's exciting," he said. The Vegas Valley Angels also are looking for companies in which to in- vest. Formed a decade ago, the angel STEVE MARCUS to consider, it remains intact and is looking for deals, member Joe Russo said. He heads the Angels' screening committee for potential investments. The Angels made three investments this year and are strongly consider- ing another three or four, all in local tech companies, Russo said. Typically, about three quarters of the companies that pitch the group are tech-related. And even though the quality of busi- ness plans is improving, investors re- Mercer project at Tropicana Avenue near the 215 Beltway, the 65-condo Parkline Lofts at Basic Road and Pacific Street in Henderson and the 400-luxury-unit Span- ish View Towers near the Beltway and Buffalo Drive. Despite the risks, some developers are moving ahead on stalled projects. The most notable is the Shops at Summerlin. The planned retail district near Red Rock Resort was supposed to include more than 1 million square feet of shop- ping and entertainment but was shelved four years ago by then-owner General Growth Properties. Its steel skeleton has sat off the Beltway ever since, a glaring re- minder of Las Vegas' building bust. In September, current owner Howard Hughes Corp., a company spun off from General Growth with control of the proj- ect, announced the shopping hub was | 12 NOVEMBER 2012 | First, developers must identify the seller — sometimes a complicated task. A large bank may have foreclosed on the property, or it may have been sold at auction to someone who then flipped it to another buyer. The property's mort- gage loan could be bundled in a Wall Street investment vehicle, making it un- clear who actually holds the loan. Com- plicating matters further, big real estate projects typically are owned by limited liability companies, and tracking the people behind LLCs can be difficult. Buyers also must figure out a project's debt load and determine who is owed what. They need to see what repairs are needed, particularly if a partial struc- ture is exposed or unsecured. They need to check if wiring and pipes were stolen, if utility connections work, and if con- struction permits are still valid. And, they have to determine whether there's any demand for the finished product. To be sure, there are far more stalled projects in the Las Vegas Valley with no completion date in sight than those ear- marked for revival. On the Strip alone, those with unknown futures include the 68-story Fontaineb- leau, the 87-acre Echelon and a 398-unit luxury condo complex, the St. Regis Resi- dences. Around the valley, other moth- balled projects are mostly residential developments, including the 113-condo