Here's one sign of life in Florida's anemic venture capital world. The Florida Venture Forum just selected 18 Florida companies to present at the 19th annual Florida Venture Capital Conference to be held at the Omni ChampionsGate in Orlando on Feb. 2-3, 2010. The conference agenda is here.

The 18 presenting companies, some of Florida’s best early-stage prospects for equity financing, will make 12-minute presentations to an audience of venture capitalists, private equity investors, angel investors, investment bankers, financial intermediaries, service providers and entrepreneurs. Of the 18, here are the  three from the Tampa Bay area:

* Acclaris, Tampa, was founded in February, 2001 to provide comprehensive benefit reimbursement services to health plans, financial Institutions and HR administrators. CEO Mark Whittington helped run several several high growth companies. Before Acclaris,he was an executive with TMP Worldwide, the(parent company of Monster.com.

* eCycling.com, Largo, is a nationwide IT asset disposition and electronics recycling service provider. The company specializes in recycling electronics and computer equipment by correctly disposing of hazardous materials and collecting any valuable materials. Ecycling.com provides asset recovery, data sanitizing, and participates in ethical practices in recycling to protect the environment.

* Telovations, Tampa, provides telecommunications services that improve business phone services. CEO Mark Swanson has over 20 years management experience in technology related organizations. He founded and served as CEO of two IT services companies, both of which were successfully acquired by larger companies.

Here's the complete list of 18 presenting companies.

-- Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist