Emerging Technology Forum
Early Stage Funding: Are We in for a Global Cooling
July 18, 2006 Register now!
Event Sponsor: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
The growth and success of venture capital over the past decade is presenting new challenges for the industry. Ten years ago, a great deal of money was invested in early stage companies ranging from IT to biotech and clean tech. But early stage investment has slowed. The big question among investors and entrepreneurs is who (besides angels) or what will help bridge this funding gap?
There’s plenty of different perspectives about this topic and its urgency. And new efforts are emerging with small, experimental incubator-like funds to help address this gap. The long-term prospects of emerging technology start ups five years from commercialization is critical to the overall health of the venture capital industry. Nowhere are these issues more important than with entrepreneurs who must know where to look for seed and understand the field of investment plays
available and the risks.
This emerging technology forum panel will explore the problem and prospects ahead. We’ll address whether or not a funding gap exists and what are the short and long term implications to the market? What are the risks and rewards for early stage investors? We’ll sort through some of the typical capital requirements for early stage starts up from also probe the broader economic trends of the industry and how early stage investing is a barometer for determining the overall long term health of the industry.
Moderator: Michael Copeland, senior writer, Business 2.0
Panel
Alexei Andreev, PhD, Managing Director, Harris & Harris Group
David Aslin, Partner, 3i
Deborah Magid, Director, strategic alliances, software group, IBM Venture Capital Group
Ikhlaq Sidhu, Executive Director, Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, College of Engineering, UC Berkeley
Lesa Mitchell, Vice President, Kauffman Foundation
Date: July 18, 2006
Place: Wilson Sonsini, 950 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto
Time: 7 pm
Doors open: 6 pm for informal networking
Panel Discussion: 7 pm - 8 pm
Q&A: 8 pm - 9 pm
Registration Fee: $55 VC TaskForce members, $65 Affiliate members, $87 General admission.
Register now!
General Hors d'oeuvres, wine and soft drinks will be served
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