Five companies join American Tobacco's basement space for startups

American Underground, the recently opened basement space at American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham, has announced five new tenants.

The startups include Acorn Innovestments, Adzerk, Jaargon Ltd., Preation and Two Toasters.

They join the earlier announced companies Launchbox Digital, Joystick Labs and the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

American Underground includes 26,000 square feet of space on the lower levels of the Strickland and Crowe buildings. It had been used as storage space until this fall.

The space is designed for startups -- rents are about $5 per square foot cheaper. It includes offices and suites, shared conference rooms and break rooms and a classroom that accommodates 60 people.

Acorn Innovestments focuses on investing in start-ups and early stage companies with special attention to advanced materials, manufacturing, and environmental technology.

Adzerk is building a next generation ad server that is designed to make the banner ads and other advertisements on the Internet more effective, faster, and less intrusive.  

Jaargon Ltd delivers health care information through mobile devices.  

Preation helps small businesses acquire new customers from search engines and social networks.  

Two Toasters is a mobile agency that focuses on strategy, design and development of iPhone and Android applications.