Renaissance Man

All Dan Dokol, Founder and President of Renaissance Engineering, Inc., wanted to do was start a company specializing in computer systems integration. That was in 1998; now ten years later Sokol is the CEO of an emerging software development company that is on the verge of commercializing a product that may revolutionize the way manufacturers take projects from the design stage through production.

At the urging of several of his initial customers Sokol and his small team began the development of MASS (Management of Specifications and Standards). This software is designed to save time and increase the efficiency of the manufacturer. MASS enables the user to concurrently determine and access order requirements from any computer over a network.

Although much of the documentation associated with any manufacturing process has been computerized, specifications have remained a paper-based medium. MASS captures the spec requirements in a structured format. It enables companies to use the computer to automatically determine the requirements associated with the orders they receive. As a result, MASS helps reduce engineering and other labor costs and improves quality conformance.

Although the course that Dan charted in 1988 has been altered several times, his basic goal has been constant: create, manage, and grow a successful business, not just a software product. As with most entrepreneurs, the ten year road to get to this point has been bumpy and the never-ending need for capital has kept the Renaissance CEO busy.

Sokol has been able to access multiple sources of funds to keep the business running and the development of MASS "on the front burner." Each source of funds came in at a different stage of development and acted as the foundation for the next round of financing.

After exhausting his personal resources, Dan’s first outside source of capital was the National Science Foundation who granted Renaissance $400,000 for the continued development of MASS. Soon after, the company entered into a contract with the National Institute of Standards and Technology ($200,000).

This enabled Renaissance to complete a prototype of MASS. Once this was done they were off and running, installing three beta sites and monitoring the progress.

The performance of the beta sites generated very positive comments and additional requests for orders started to come in. The state was set for Renaissance’s next round of financing. Both NCIC CapitalFund and City Wide Development came into the picture. City Wide, the economic development financing arm of the City of Dayton, made a $150,000 loan to Renaissance. NCIC injected the first of three rounds of funding into Sokol’s dream, and his company.

Renaissance represents the single largest investment for NCIC CapitalFund. In total NCIC has $1 million in Renaissance Engineering. NCIC Vice President, Robert Bowman, who manages the account is very pleased with the progress of the company and maintains a high degree of respect for its founder. "Dan has done everything that he has been asked. He works hard, he leads the company, and he remains focused on the continued growth of the operation and the release of the next generation of MASS."

NCIC CapitalFund is pleased with our investment in Renaissance and feels that we have accomplished what we set out to do. "We look for early stage companies and bring them to a point where they are attractive to the more institutional investors and their next round of funding," according to Frank Winslow, President of NCIC.

Renaissance has done just that; a syndicate of four venture funds has recently invested $1.75 million. Lead by Alpha Capital Partners and utilizing the resources of the Miami Valley Fund, Blue Chip Venture Company, and the Ohio Innovation Fund have completed this round of funding with their equity investment.

The Renaissance trip has been a series of ups and downs and the road has been bumpy at times. As Sokol points out, "it seems like an eternity since the days that we worked out of my basement at home, but then again, no it doesn’t."

Renaissance is poised to continue its journey as they finish this version of MASS and prepare to enter the marketplace. NCIC CapitalFund will remain on board in support of the company and its founder as they continue to grow and reap the benefits of success.