Connecticut Innovations Inc. said each received $150,000 from its Pre-Seed Fund to go with matching funds from private investors.

Simsbury’s C2C LLC, doing business as Combat2Career; Grey Wall Software LLC, of New Haven; and Stone Creek Entertainment Inc., of Ridgefield.

Year-old Combat2Career, launched by a pair of UConn business-school grads, enables military veterans to search for and apply to higher education programs that match their skills and interests.

Grey Wall has developed a web and mobile software solution that promotes team collaboration between first responders and other emergency authorities during severe weather, accidents and power outages.

Stone Creek designs and publishes mobile and social network games geared to teen girls and women.

One of its three games ­– Karizmac Luminous – is ranked by iTunes as one of the top 100 in many countries. Through that game, users discover what their decisions say about them and how they compare to famous female leaders.

A strong plurality of these private business executives are also saying that they expect to increase their workforce sizes, and nearly half expect increasing revenues while almost 4 in 10 expect profitability to increase in 2012.

By at least a three-to-one ratio, private business leaders in Southwestern New England plan to increase (28%) their workforces in 2012 compared to 9% who expect to decrease. Another 63% expect their workforce sizes to stay the same.

“These business leaders are telling us that Southwestern New England is open for business,” said David Ring, New England regional president for First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq: FNFG), the parent company of First Niagara Bank. “Many are focused on growing their businesses in a financially realistic way by increasing their workforces and investing in fixed asset acquisitions.”

First Niagara joined the Southwestern New England market last year via its merger with NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc., and will add to its presence here later this year with the expected completion of its acquisition of HSBC branches.

The First Niagara Survey of Southwestern New England Business Leaders, patterned after ones conducted by the Siena College Research Institute (SRI) for First Niagara the past five years in Upstate New York and for the past three years in Pennsylvania, features responses from 324 chief executive officers, chief financial officers and other senior managers of private businesses in six Connecticut and two Massachusetts counties currently served by First Niagara.

Responding were business leaders from the Connecticut counties of Fairfield, Hartford, Middlesex, New Haven, Tolland and Windham; and the Massachusetts counties of Hampden and Worcester. Responses were reported in the aggregate and then segmented according to Fairfield County, CT (64 responses), Central Connecticut (157) and Massachusetts (99).

These are leaders of businesses with between $5 million and $200 million in annual sales and in industries represented by service, manufacturing, engineering and construction, retail, wholesale and distribution, financial and food and beverage sectors.

For their individual businesses, almost half of these executives (49%) expect revenues to grow in 2012 compared to 15% who expect a decline and 35% who say it will be the same. In Fairfield County, CT alone, the percentage expecting revenues to grow reaches 58%.

For business leaders looking at potential profits in the coming year, 39% expect profits to grow, 37% say they will stay the same, and 24% expect a decline.

More than one-half, 53%, of business leaders, say they have plans to acquire fixed assets – such as equipment, buildings and property – in 2012, compared to 37% who will not and 10% who are not sure. Of that group looking to acquire, 67% say they will use internally generated funds to finance the acquisitions and 23% will borrow from a financial institution.

Regarding expectations for the economy in their state for 2012, 41% of the business leaders say it will be a little or considerably better, compared to 24% who say a little or considerably worse. Another 35% of business leaders say they expect it to be the same.

As a barometer of business leader confidence, the First Niagara survey uses an overall Confidence Index as a measure of business leaders’ current assessment of and future expectations for economic conditions regarding the state economy and their specific industries. The index is based on a scale of zero to 200 with zero being the most pessimistic and 200 being the most optimistic. An index of 100 would have an equal percentage of negative and positive responses.

The survey report provides three confidence indices for the current assessment, future expectations and overall as a combination of the two. Southwestern New England business leaders this year topped the 100 mark in two indices representing more optimistic than pessimistic responses and just missed the 100 mark on the third.

The overall Confidence Index is 107.3 with the current index component at 99.7 but the future index component measuring economic expectations is at 114.8. In respect to other First Niagara surveys recently released, Southwestern New England business leaders were more confident about current and future business conditions than their counterparts in Upstate New York but less confident than those business leaders in Pennsylvania.

Other key findings for First Niagara’s First Annual Survey of Southwestern New England Business Leaders are:

• 39% of business leaders say they expect business for their own industry in their state to be a little better or considerably better in 2012, compared to 33% saying it will be about the same, and 27% saying it will be a little worse or considerably worse.

• About one-third (32%) of business leaders say current business conditions in Southwestern New England overall were a little better or considerably better in late 2011 and early 2012 as compared to six months earlier. Those who say it was the same registered 40% and 29% say they were worse.

• Regarding current economic conditions for their own industries in their state compared to six months earlier, 34% of business leaders say they were about the same, another 32% say a little better or considerably better, and 35% say a little worse or considerably worse.

• To enhance profits in 2012, business leaders tabbed market demand/growth (41%) as their top strategy, followed by cost reduction (31%), new technology (12%) and price increases (10%).

• Overall, the two top challenges concerning Southwestern New England business leaders are governmental regulation (23%) and adverse economic conditions (19%), followed by existing U.S. competition (11%), and health care costs (8%).

Results from the first annual First Niagara Survey of Southwestern New England Business Leaders are available at https://www.fnfg.com/CEOSurvey

CI has issued two requests for qualifications, or RFQs, for entities to assist in implementing the Innovation Ecosystem, one of several new initiatives being launched under CI’s plan to invest $250 million over the next five years. This program will be supported with $4.8 million in the first year.

One RFQ invites organizations that can undertake elements of the program, including day-to-day management; developing and managing venture competitions, mentor networks and talent-matching services, and monitoring performance. The other seeks advisers to develop and manage “innovation hubs.”

Submission deadlines are Feb. 23 and March 1, respectively. For information, visit www.ctinnovations.com.

A New Haven medical device company that moved from Virginia in 2010 has received its second $1 million investment from Connecticut Innovations in as many years.

EpiEP Inc., which makes a device that verifies the outside surface of the heart has been accessed in order to treat arrhythmia, is in clinical trials in Europe. It has successfully completed animal trials at the Mayo Clinic.

In June 2010, when the governor’s office announced the company would relocate from Virginia, EpiEP projected it would hire eight people by June 2011. It now has a staff of two, up from one when it moved to New Haven.

EpiEP Chief Executive Officer Pamela Bunes said, “We are delighted by the continued support and confidence we have received from Connecticut Innovations. Their leadership and early-stage investments in companies like EpiEP allow Connecticut to attract life science and technology startups to the state.”

At the same time that the quasi-public, state-funded CI invested $1 million, EpiEP received $600,000 in private venture capital. The state is borrowing $25 million this year to send more cash to CI for investments such as this one.

The technology, developed at the University of Virginia, has been licensed from that public university. The company plans to develop a commercial application if it gets good results from its clinical trials.

New York-based First Niagara Bank, which entered the Massachusetts market last year after its purchase of Connecticut-based NewAlliance Bank, plans to donate $50,000 to the Mass. Mentoring Partnership, with a focus on initiatives in Western Massachusetts.

The Mass. Mentoring Partnership (MMP) is a Boston-based nonprofit organization that serves as an umbrella organization for youth mentoring statewide, according to a statement.

This month is national mentoring month. As part of that initiative, First Niagara said it will support MMP’s efforts to promote the importance of mentoring through a multi-faceted marketing campaign with a focus on Western Massachusetts. The partnership falls under First Niagara’s flagship mentoring program, Mentoring Matters, which was been successfully launched in Western and Upstate New York, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, the bank said. Throughout National Mentoring Month, MMP aims to help Massachusetts mentoring programs “celebrate the everyday people who are making a difference for young people in their communities,” according to a statement.

First Niagara said it will work with MMP to identify high-performing mentoring programs and organizations that yield measurable results, and will provide funding for expansion of these programs in order to serve more youth. Currently operating a statewide network of 190 mentoring programs that serve almost 23,000 young people, MMP has plans to double the number of young people in quality structured mentoring relationships by 2013.

“First Niagara’s contribution will allow us to reach an even greater number of students, and provide them with the tools needed to excel inside and outside the classroom,” MMP Chief Program Officer Marty Martinez said in a statement.

Since 2007, First Niagara said it has provided $3.1 million in support of mentoring programs throughout its footprint.

Connecticut Innovations’ investment in BioRelix Inc. is part of a $4.24 million round of funding for the company.

BioRelix is developing antibiotics by using riboswitches as part of the drug discovery process. Riboswitches are short pieces of messenger ribonucleic acid that bind small molecules and control genes together that are essential for the survival of many human germs.

The idea of using messenger ribonucleic acids to fight infections was first identified in the laboratory of Yale Professor Ron Breaker. BioRelix’s team of scientists includes several who formerly worked at Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Yale, according to Connecticut Innovations officials.

“Richard brings a wealth of national experience and will prove to be a great asset to Propark America,” said CEO John Schmid. “He further strengthens Propark’s executive committee and will help to create an integrated, nationwide team, aligned with the company’s strategic business objectives.”

DiPietro joined Propark from PortfolioFirst Parking Solutions, where he was a senior vice president. Previously he was with Standard Parking Corp., where he oversaw Norhteast operations.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Connecticut is committing $250 million over five years to create more technology-based jobs in that state, with $35 million set aside for the “aggressive recruitment” of early-stage, high-potential companies from outside the state, including Rhode Island.

The agency directing the program, called Connecticut Innovations, has targeted Brown University and the University of Rhode Island as institutions where it hopes to develop “deep relationships” with those who help researchers launch new companies based on their work.

Connecticut’s campaign comes as states across the country are working hard to create jobs and to recover after the recession decimated local economies. Rhode Island and its other New England neighbors are also working to develop vibrant, entrepreneurial communities where technology companies will thrive.

In the paper: Saturday, read Rhode Islanders’ response to Connecticut’s plan to recruit start-up companies in the Ocean State.

Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology-based economic development, said Wednesday it will spend $50 million annually over five years to recruit companies from other states.

The state is contributing $25 million, matched by $25 million from Connecticut Innovations.

The money will be used for loans and investments in companies, relocation assistance to draw companies to Connecticut and other initiatives.

Connecticut Innovations says spending over the last three years has been between $9 million and $12 million. The agency said funding from the state was included in a jobs bill signed into law last year by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.