TransEnterix secures funding

DURHAM -- TransEnterix Inc. has secured $55 million in Series B financing, paving the way for the company to manufacture and market its laparoscopic surgical platform.

TransEnterix has created a single-port, multi-channel laparoscopic surgical platform called the SPIDER System, which allows surgeons to perform minimally invasive abdominal surgeries entirely through a single port. The invention received the "Innovation of the Year" award from the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.

Aisling Capital led the Series B financing, which included Durham-based Intersouth Partners and Quaker BioVentures as new investors, as well as current investors SV Life Science Advisers, Synergy Life Science Partners and Parish Capital Advisors.

RDU customer appreciation set

RALEIGH -- The Raleigh-Durham International Airport's annual Customer Appreciation Day will be on Friday, when various shops will have giveaways and offer samples from their menus. Some airlines will hold drawings for free tickets.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the airport's parking garage atrium, where RDU will display Signature Art, a collection of nearly 5,000 signatures from visitors who attended the Terminal 2 open house celebration last year.

The Transportation Security Administration, the USO and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will also participate. In all, 32 exhibits will be featured.

Customers will also be treated to Calypso music from Tim Smith and Dixieland jazz by The Dixieland Band.

Customers can also enter drawings for special gifts from Brighton Collectibles, Brooks Brothers, PGA Tour Shop and A Southern Season, as well as gift cards courtesy of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority.

iContact named to growth list

DURHAM -- E-mail marketing company iContact Corp. has been named to Inc.'s 500 fastest growing company list.

The Inc. 500 list tracks the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. iContact appeared on the list for the second year in a row with a ranking of No. 189 and a three-year growth rate of 1,057.7 percent.

The winners were recently honored at the Inc. 500 Conference and Awards in Washington, D.C.

--By Monica Chen