Sep. 17--Since 2002, the 3Rivers Venture Fair has brought together startup companies looking for money from potential investors -- like a blind date, only with BlackBerries.

A down stock market only upped attendance at this year's venture fair, as investors and entrepreneurs alike looked to Pittsburgh to capitalize on the cheap prospect of starting a business in a recession. The event hosted by the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association drew 30 companies and 600 attendees to the Lexus Club at PNC Park.

It was a business crowd, for sure. Though varied in specialty, every company presented an 11-minute pitch that shared a universal acknowledgement of the nationwide recession and a love for PowerPoint. Malcolm Gladwell's ears were burning: Buzz phrases he popularized such as "stickiness factor" and "tipping point" dominated the discussion. Picture the kind of crowd told to set their cell phones to vibrate (no one here goes totally unreachable).

The financial crisis couldn't go unnoticed. Echoing efforts across the country, Kelly Szejko, executive director of the venture fair, said the fund-raising year was "harder than most." But that same climate boosted the power of the checkbooks of visiting investors.

Brian Murphy at New Spring Capital has found deals at the venture fair before and said the down market makes it easier for investors looking for cheaper costs.

"If you believe in the circularity of the markets, this is a great time to get money out," Mr. Murphy said. "Business is open."

Mr. Murphy's firm is based near Philadelphia, but Pittsburgh's specialties brought investors from all over.

Pittsburgh's work in the health care and energy sectors attracts investors, venture fair co-chair John Manzetti said. One-half of the entrepreneurs this year work in life sciences and that industry's presence at the fair grows every year.

One such company, Carmell Therapeutics Corp. in Pittsburgh, harvests blood plasma from blood banks to manufacture plastic products that accelerate healing. The company's first product: a $2,500 patch that helps heal rotator cuff injuries.

In a presentation seeking $3 million from investors, President and CEO Alan West said there might be a price reduction "depending on what happens with health care in the next few months."

Like most presentators, Metis Secure System LLC President and CEO Mark Kurtzrock highlighted his company's hypothetical "planned exit" strategy. In industry talk, that means building up the company to a point where it's bought by a behemoth such as Siemens or Johnson & Johnson (hopefully for the right price).

Mr. Kurtzrock's company designs systems that alert college students of a campus emergency through voice and text messages. The technology was developed in cooperation with Carnegie Mellon University researchers.

Many companies pitching at the event were spun off from research at the University of Pittsburgh and CMU. Pittsburgh-based Etcetera Edutainment was founded by CMU grad Jessica Trybus and offers computer simulation training for on-the-job safety.

Erich Schwartzel can be reached at eschwartzel@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1455.

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