Catherine Tabor, CEO, Sparkfly. Sparkfly is one of 60 innovative firms presenting at the upcoming Southeast Venture Conference
By Allan Maurer
Merchants and manufacturers spend billions annually on offers and promotions such as coupons, daily deals, online banner ads, sweepstakes, and more, but all have shortcomings, says Sparkfly CEO Catherine Tabor.
Founded in 2001 in Atlanta, Sparkfly was an early player in the electronic offers and promotions business, initially providing employee discount platforms to large firms such as Coca Cola and SunTrust and to Emory University.
That business grew covered a million employees nationally and $3 million in annual revenue, but Tabor says merchants in the company’s program really wanted to know what employees were doing once they came into their stores to claim a discount.
“I’ll partner with someone who can take these promotions to an in-store environment,” Tabor thought, but five years ago, “it didn’t exist,” she says.
After an “exhaustive search,” the company partnered with Softcard Systems, which had built a robust platform to track millions of high speed transactions, and built its new technology on top of that platform.
Raised capital for acquisition and platform development
Previously, Softcard had been tracking sales of sugar and flour and other packaged goods at grocery stores, but, Tabor notes, “it could just as easily track movie ticket sales or anything else.”
They were on their way to the “Holy Grail” for retailers, understanding their customers at the point-of-sale.
Sparkfly bought Softcard Systems in 2010, raising an angel investment north of $10 million to fund the buy and platform development. Development of its platform is now complete.
Will present at Southeast Venture Conference
Sparkfly is among 60 innovative technology firms presenting their business plans to venture capitalists and angel investors representing billions in capital at the upcoming Southeast Venture Conference in Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 29-March 1. The company is seeking its first institutional round.
With the world going mobile, marketers have the ability to reach many more consumers, but they need ways to tie their promotions to actual purchase data.
Sparkfly sells a cloud-based solution that enables creation and distribution of personalized offers via the web and mobile devices that will be redeemed at point-of-sale. The patented technology does not require additional in-store hardware or software.
Owning redemption at POS
The product creates a dynamic code tied to buyers redeeming offers which zips back to its servers for authentication and tracking. It then unlocks any new offers to that buyer.
“What we’re trying to own is redemption at point of sale.”
The system also can connect online advertising to brick & mortar redemption of offers, which is often the missing link in tracking ROI for online advertising.
Retailers and manufacturers can customize promotions based on individual purchase behavior to deliver and manage offers for specific products by location, time of day, and demographic variables. Customers can receive their offers via social, mobile, or web channels. Tabor says it leverages existing infrastructure in POS environments and adapts easily to multi-lane or multi-store operations.
It has integrated with POS providers, including NCR/Radiant, MICROS, Gilbarco, REtalix, IBM, POSitouch and Verifone. The company holds 16 patents with other pending.
Sparkfly is also testing its new integrated platform in pilot runs with several large brands.
The company gets paid for performance – by transaction.
It’s continuing to integrate its software with merchants, consumer package goods manufacturers, and publishers.
Tabor points out that while daily deals and online discount offers are a big business, it’s expensive to be a Groupon or a Foursquare – businesses that required hundreds of millions in startup funding.
“We have the opportunity to make all those businesses more viable,” says Tabor, “tracking people within those networks through point of sale, which provides an opportunity to reward frequent buyers and loyalty rather than just giving someone you’ll never see again a coupon.”
Sparkfly is starting a pilot program with its first national merchant, Auntie Anne’s (the pretzel chain) in the Atlanta market during February.
Armistead Whitney, CEO, Preparis, one of 60 firms presenting at the upcoming Southeast Venture Conference.
By Allan Maurer
When jets plowed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001, Armistead Whitney, now CEO and founder of Preparis, was president of a New York City-based media firm.
Along with many other company executives based in the city on that fateful day, Whitney was faced with questions about how he and his 200 employees should react to the terrorist attacks.
“I was immediately faced with some critical issues,” he says. “What should I do to ensure my employees will be safe? How will my operations, revenue, shareholder value, and brand reputation make it through? I simply had no clue.”
He and his staff made it out of the city safely, but Whitney writes that he made it his mission to find out what he would do differently if faced with such a situation again. He met with leaders form emergency preparedness and response organizations, then with CEOs of companies of various sizes. Whitney wrote about how it all on the Preparis website.
Guidance on what to do
After considerable research, he started the Atlanta-based company Preparis Inc., a startup selling an SaaS-based platform that delivers expert information, response protocols, communications and training to help businesses meet unpredictable threats from terrorism, pandemics, and natural disasters.
Preparis is one of 60 innovative showcase firms that will present business plans to venture capitalists and angel investors representing billions in capital at the 6th Annual Southeast Venture Conference in Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 29-March 1.
Companies face 21st century threats
In today’s world, terrorist attacks are only one threat among many that can disrupt global businesses, Whitney tells us. “Threats of the 21st century have become more complex, especially as companies outsource more. They have operations globally, in third world countries, and clients in places impacted by local troubles.”
Nowadays, then, a business has to face pandemics, cyber terrorism, nuclear meltdowns, natural disasters from hurricanes and floods to earthquakes and wild fires. Floods in Asia can hamper production of electronics parts made there from hard drives to tablets.
Yet, Whitney points out, the only preparations for meeting such disasterous business interruptions is “A plan that sits on s shelf. It can be challenging for that to be effective.”
While most larger Fortune 1000 firms do have plans in place – policies, procedures and teams, they want tech to automate it all, Whitney notes.
They need a way to automate plans
“They need a way for tech to automate it, bring it all together so that it can be accessed from any place on any device, how to protect the workforce from threats, response instructions if you receive a bomb threat, an anthrax letter.”
Technology can take those stale plans on a shelf and make living breathing programs, he says.
Downstream at smaller organizations such as a law firm, “We become their entire ecosystem with everything they need, even an emergency notification system (such as Virginia Tech installed following deadly shootings on its campus).
The Preparis system knows who do what with the product at each level and everyone from the CEO to employees can use it.
“We’ve sold to about every industry, Fortune 1000 companies, banks, attorneys. Every industry at every size has an appetite for it,” says Whitney.
In the past, most such disaster preparedness was done through consultants Preparis does it through its SaaS product that a company can download from the web and being using immediately. “We’re creating a new category,” Whitney says.
Dealing with cyber threats
Looking ahead, the company is getting into how to deal with cyber threat issues. “As new threats evolve – the pandemic fears of a few years ago for instance – we quickly add guidance for our clients.”
In the recent “Trifecta” of an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in Japan, for instance, the Japanese government was telling its citizens it was ok to eat the food grown in Japan. But the Preparis product told its clients, “No, it is not ok to eat the food from Japan at this time.” Later tests showed that much food was contaminated with radioactivity.
“We also had a lot of our clients use the emergency messaging system when trying to find their employees.”
It must be doing something right. It has a 100 percent client renewal rate. How many software firms can say that?
The 20 employee company has raised $5 million in Series A funding. Whitney says the company is looking at a B round for growth.
“We signed a strategic alliance with Wells Fargo, which is bundling it with their products for their insurance customers. It’s a huge opportunity. Its the fourth largest insurance broker. We don’t need money for the product, but we need to hire more people to facilitate meeting increased demand for the product. That’s the main reason we would raise a B round.”
The company’s growth plan also includes mobile and social integration. Already clients can log in to the product with Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn names and passwords.
People who have attended previous Southeast Venture Conference events tell us they are a great way to grab a spot on the radar of top venture capital firms, but also to make lasting connections with potential customers, partners and executives.
Here are six of the reasons the SEVC sells out year after year:
You’ll make connections with the region’s top tech entrepreneurs and executivesWith 60 presenting companies and hundreds of high growth company C-level executives in attendance, SEVC lets you build partnerships with the region’s leading tech firms..At the 2009 SEVC, attendees had the chance to connect with the founder and CEO of an up and coming startup called, LivingSocial. At the time LivingSocial was the typical SEVC presenter, having recently raising their Series A round and looking to grow revenue. Since presenting at SEVC, LivingSocial has rocketed by raising well over $600 million in capital and has over $1 billion in annual revenue. Connect and partner with tomorrow’s LivingSocial at this year’s SEVC.
You’ll network with leading venture capitalists and investors from around the USSEVC hosts leading investors and venture funds from around the US, not just the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, who come to network with fellow investors and the region’s leading innovation talent.Whether you’re in venture fundraising mode or an investor looking to further relationships with fellow investors for deal flow, SEVC is the vehicle to make those connections.
You’ll get market insight and success strategies from the innovation and venture community’s brightest starsFrom the founder of Netflix to thePresident of the National Venture Capital Association - SEVC will feature over 40 speakers discussing the latest trends, best practices and strategies relating to venture investing and entrepreneurial growth. You’ll learn from them not just during roundtable discussions, but in one on one situations as well through the hours of networking.
To make networking and private meetings even easier, we’ve added a pre-event networking platform for attendeesNew this year at SEVC is our online networking platform which allows attendees to connect with one another prior, during or after the conference. Attendees can see other attendee’s interests, request and setup meetings and connect helping to maximize the lasting connections you’ll make at this year’s conference.
Entrepreneurs can benchmark your pitch and strategiesUp and coming entrepreneurs can benchmark their pitches from the over 60 presentations from leading innovators in the region. These are companies that for the most part have already been successful in venture fundraising and are well on their way to success. You’ll not find another single forum on the east coast with this many funded companies presenting.
Even more CXO and Venture Partner networking to create relationships that can last your entire careerNetworking is center stage at SEVC. Over one and a half days there are 3 separate open bar networking receptions, a networking breakfast, lunch networking and 7 additional networking breaks.
Showcase companies will present to a national audience of venture capitalists, private equity investors, angel investors and senior technology executives. Attendees will have additional opportunities to network and connect with these showcase companies throughout the conference – as well as prior to the conference with the online attendee networking platform.
You’ll need to register before Feb. 10 to get the conference rate at the Tysons Corner, VA, Ritz Carleton:
Register today to guarantee your space at the region’s premiere venture forum.
In the ten years Ian Jones, founder of mobile app company meet.com, marketed online dating sites from Friendfinder to Match.com, he tried most of them out – without success.
“I didn’t have one successful meeting,” Jones says.
His complaints about the online dating sites echo those of many others – he would discover that the photos the women he contacted had posted were a decade old. Or they sounded great online but didn’t come across so well in subsequent phone conversations.
So, in 2010, Jones decided to do something about that and created meet.com, a mobile app set to launch in March that already has 700,000 pre-joins acquired through affiliates and marketing.
Presenting at SEVC
The company, which has about 20 employees and currently has a single angel investor, will present its business plan at the upcoming Southeast Venture Conference in Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 29-March 1. The 6h annual SEVC highlights both early and later stage investment opportunities from: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington DC.
What makes it different?
Jones tells us that one of the biggest surprises in setting up his startup firm was the “overwhelming support for the meet.com brand and the growth in the smartphone and mobile app markets.”
The brand name is one of the things that differentiates meet.com from its competitors, says Jones. “It has a much higher response rate than ‘Scout,’ or ‘Blender,’ or ‘Grinder,’ based on our research, he notes.
Another differentiating feature is the way the app will work with Facebook. It allows users to connect via Facebook and even communicate with Facebook friends for free after downloading and installing it.
Jones assures us that the app will have strong privacy and security settings and users will be in control of who they connect with.
Once users communicate with people outside their network, however, a $4.99 a month charge begins via the iTunes or Android market stores.
Jones says the app is initially going to work with the iPhone and Android operating systems with Blackberry coming along a bit later.
There are other mobile apps out there that connect people on the go, but Jones says “Our matching technology is superior, our look and feel is superior, and our privacy settings are superior.”
Jones says he thinks we’ll all be experience a “mobile bubble” that will be much more significant that the dot com boom was in the next few years.
Mobile advantages
Mobile has advantages. People are more willing to pay for mobile apps than they ever seemed to be for online services, for instance. “There is much more acceptance from consumers,” Jones says. “It’s much more common for people to push a button and buy a 99 cent or $5.00 app than it is for them to pull out a credit card and charge $19.95.”
Part of the reason for the increased acceptance on the part of consumers is that it’s more secure than online purchases, he suggests.
“People have their credit cards on file with the iTunes store or Android and there are no charge back issues.”
In terms of dating itself, the immediacy of the way the meet.com app works when people are actually on the go and out and about is a major difference from the stale photos and descriptions on online services.
The U.S. dating services market is a now a $2.1 billion business, with online dating services soaring in popularity since 2001 and representing 53% of the market’s value, according to a recent report from Market Research. But, dating website revenues are expected to grow only 7.5% this year as the U.S. market becomes saturated with 1,500+ sites and free dating sites and competition from popular social networking sites attracts cost-conscious singles, the report says.
In the not too distant future he thinks the prices on smartphones will fall even further, greatly reducing or eliminating any price barriers to consumer adoption.
Meet.com is seeking under $500,000 in an angel round and will present the details of its business plan to investors representing literally billions in capital at the SEVC.
Here’s the company’s video description of its product:
The Southeast Venture Conference has disclosed the first round of companies selected to present at the upcoming conference scheduled for February 29th – March 1st at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
Sixty showcase companies from around the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions will present at SEVC 2012. Showcase companies will range from pre-IPO firms to earlier stage high growth firms.
The presenting companies are the present and future of the region’s innovation economy, representing some of the most promising technologies from a diverse range of industries, including energy, mobile, health, security and Internet among others.
The first round of announced presenting companies include:
Despite the brouhaha last year over Netflix splitting its streaming and DVD rental services, effectively doubling the cost of having both, the company posted better than expected Q4 results this week.
Netflix needed the boost. It saw its stock price slide 60 percent after the price hike and a failed attempt to split itself into two companies last year.
But Netflix earned revenue of $876 million in Q4, compared with $596 million in the same period the year before, although net earnings actually dropped to $41 million or 73 cents a share compared with $47 million and 87 cents a share a year ago.
Despite a loss of 800,000 subscribers in Q3, the company saw Q4 subscriber numbers rise to 24.4 million, up from 23.7 million last year.
The company faces competition from Amazon, Hulu, and other streaming video sources.
We find Netflix particularly useful to watch those novelistic TV series, especially when they’re available to stream. We caught Downton Abbey, Spartacus, and a bevy of older BBC productions that way.
You can hear Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix, at the upcoming Southeastern Venture Conference, Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 29-March 1.
In advance of one of the busiest dining holidays of the year, a new survey by OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN; www.opentable.com), reveals that diners are planning to fill seats at romantic restaurant hot spots early this year.
Fifty-three percent of respondents saying they plan to make reservations more than a week before this Valentine’s Day, according to OpenTable, a provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants.
Interested in OpenTable as a company? You can hear OpenTable founder Chuck Templeton at this year’s Southeast Venture Conference in Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 29-March 1.
Here’s an infographic OpenTable created on this year’s Valentine’s Day trends:
“With this Valentine’s Day falling on a Tuesday, we are going to see two spikes in restaurant reservations,” said Caroline Potter, Chief Dining Officer for OpenTable. “About half of diners surveyed anticipate booking a romantic evening on the 14th, while another 26 percent are choosing to celebrate on Saturday night, February 11. Regardless of which night diners plan to celebrate, Valentine’s Day promises to be a bustling day for romantic hot spots.”
The economy doesn’t seem to be a factor as OpenTable diners are looking to enjoy an evening out with 93 percent planning to match last year’s tab or step up the spending, which is 3 percent more than spending plans in 2011. Additionally, 54 percent of OpenTable diners plan to spend $101 to $200, while 10 percent expect to shell out more than $200 on dining.
One city famous for its high rollers is preparing to up the ante this year with 20 percent of diners in Las Vegas planning to spend more than $200, a claim to spend they share only with the sandy, sunny city of Miami. Not surprisingly, New York Citydwellers follow closely behind as 19 percent also will be dropping the big bucks with their sweetheart.
The love-driven lavishness when dining, however, stops just short of gifts with 86 percent of respondents admitting that they do not exchange gifts at the table. In fact, 15 percent of OpenTable diners believe a gift exchange is much better suited for a private venue, finding swapping gifts in a restaurant to be inappropriate and bordering on obnoxious.
A few cupid-happy cities firmly stand by the age old idiom that money can’t buy love and hope to scale down spending entirely this year. Seattle respondents lead the pack on shifting Valentine’s Day spending down a notch with 16 percent of diners saying they will drop fewer dollars celebrating this year, with Atlanta (15 percent) and Los Angeles (10 percent) diners following this trend close behind.
One item the OpenTable survey respondents couldn’t quite agree on was what type of restaurant they find most romantic in dining with that special someone. While 35 percent of diners find it most amorous to stick to a traditional Italian cuisine forValentine’s Day, other diners seek a different type of taste for a romantic rendezvous:
25 percent find French cuisine to be the most romantic
11 percent find American cuisine to be the most romantic
8 percent find fondue to be the most romantic
7 percent find tapas to be the most romantic
Even if there is no special someone this year, OpenTable diners still are committed to dining out. Three out of 4 survey respondents said they have dined out with friends on Valentine’s Day or if they have not yet, they certainly would.
For diners still searching for the right restaurant, OpenTable.com provides Diners’ Choice Top Ten Most Romantic Restaurants lists for each metro region and access to specials and menu details for February 14. For more information, please visitwww.opentable.com/valentines. Diners can also find more tips and trends regarding Valentine’s Day on OpenTable Chief Dining Officer Caroline Potter’s “Dining Check” blog at OpenTable: http://blog.opentable.com.
Kabbage, Inc., a provider of working capital for small businesses, says its post-holiday 2011 retail study focusing on small-to-medium online merchants indicates a highly successful season, with 69% percent of respondents reporting increased sales.
On average, study participants experienced a 32% hike in sales compared to the 2010 season.
Other notable survey highlights:
Seasonal promotions were offered by 47% of respondents, with 30% of those promotions including a “Free Shipping” component
E-commerce companies consistently purchased inventory in the three months leading up to December, with 76% of respondents buying inventory in October
Half of the respondents reported no rise in product pricing for 2011, with 36% noting higher prices
Only 11% of surveyed e-retailers reported a drop in sales for the 2011 holiday season
More than 50% of e-commerce companies had more demand for their products than supply this holiday season and would have benefited from having more cash available to buy inventory.
Kabbage’s study included responses from its client base of small and medium-sized e-commerce companies, representing several industry verticals. The study’s objective is to measure category growth and identify industry trends.
When asked about prospects for 2012, respondents showed solid optimism. Positive attitudes about sales growth in the coming year were shared by 88% of those responding.
Kabbage, which officially launched in October, 2010, has become a critical piece of the operational puzzle for many online merchants. Faced with daunting requirements and even reticence from traditional sources of funding, online merchants have turned to Kabbage for the working capital they need to grow their businesses.
Kabbage is one of 60 innovative companies presenting at the upcoming 6th Annual Southeast Venture Conference at Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 29-March 1. The conference features speakers such as Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix, and ventue capitalists representing firms with $50 billion in capital.
Speakers headed to the 6th Annual Southeast Venture Conference in Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 29=March 1
Early, discounted regsitrations for the Southeast Venture Conference at Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 29-March 1 end Friday, Jan. 20. This year the SEVC features Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix, Chuck Templeton, founder of OpenTable, Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association, top venture capital firms and innovative tech startups.
Randolph is a leading Silicon Valley investor in addition to being co-founder and former CEO of Netflix. Randolph and Templeton are just two of the hundreds of leading venture investors and entrepreneurs headed to this year’s event.
VCS representing $50B in capital attending
Venture capital firms at the event represent $50 billion in investment money.
The 6th Annual Southeast Venture Conference also features presentations from more than 60 of the hottest Southeast and Mid-Atlantic high growth tech companies. Companies that presented at the 2011 SEVC had average revenues of $6 million.
Also on the agenda: Paul Lee, partner, Lightbank, Marshall Brain, founder of HowStuffWorks.com, Jalak Jobanputra, venture investor, New Venture Partners, Harry Weller, general partner, NEA, Sean Marsh, co-founder, Point Judith Capital, Robert Peterman, Toronto Stock Exchange, and Roland Reynolds, managing director, Industry Ventures.
New this year
New this year is a pre-event networking platform, which will allow attendees to connect ahead of the event, increasing the opportunities to make it even more productive.
The Southeast Venture Conference is the premiere venture forum in the region and has sold out every year. Register here.
I hear this phrase a lot lately. In some circles, it could be seen as a bubblicious mantra of a bunch of crazy kids looking to hit home runs by selling their social network startup to Facebook. In others, namely here in the RTP, it’s a battle cry for survival against the long odds of starting a company in this talent-rich, cash-strapped area.
But those odds just got a whole lot better.
Last night, longtime RTP startup ecosystem guru, former LaunchBox Director, and current TriangleTechTalk and TechJobs Under the Big Top founder Chris Heivly announced that a nice big bow had been put on a reboot of Triangle Startup Factory, the accelerator he merged into LaunchBox Digital when that accelerator swung south from DC back in 2010.
TSF will now host between five and seven startups twice a year, starting this spring, for intensive three-month programs chock full of capital, mentoring, connections, infrastructure, and, most importantly, a sizeable post-program runway.
That last one is the big news.
The Long Tail
I first met Chris back in 2009, looking for synergies between ExitEvent (at the idea stage) and the original TSF (pre-LaunchBox). We were both trying to solve the same problem: Baking a startup for three months, no matter how high the heat or how closely you watch it, was awesome, but didn’t account for the abrupt exit out into the real world of sustainability and customers. Especially not here, where the support structure was, at the time, non-existent, and even now, fledgling.
He had a much better handle on it, and talked about the creation of the long tail. In order for an accelerator to succeed here, there needs to be a much longer runway with a different-but-equal kind of support in place until the startup gets solidly onto its feet.
He’s still talking about it as of last night when we broke down the philosophy behind the new TSF. That long tail is what will differentiate the TSF program.
Going Big So They Don’t Go Home
Each startup gets the proper kickoff fuel: $50K in investment, access to a whole bunch of mentors and connections, space in Durham (TBD, by the way), and a big day at the end to show the world (and that’s the world, not just the RTP), what they’ve got.
But as a formal part of the program, TSF will offer a convertible note on the back end between $20K and $150K.
The sheer size of the initial investment figure and the convertible note puts TSF in the same stratosphere as TechStars and YCombinator. This will allow TSF to attract top-tier talent from around the country (maybe around the world) and, most importantly, keep them here.
And while the money is great, it’s up to us in the RTP to match that A-level program with the time, effort, and serious skills that make up the mentoring and the connections. In 2012, I believe we’re up for it. Finally.
Stay Hungry
Apart from the unique philosophy, another big difference will be the emphasis on a lean and agile methodology. In what Chris calls a 30% incremental difference from LaunchBox, the TSF program will run product focused, not business focused, and thus the messaging will be like very few accelerator programs as they are today.
Advice is what it is: Advice. I give it all the time, yet very few of my friends are rich enough to pay me back in Ferraris. Also, you don’t have to get too many mentors and entrepreneurs in a room before they start disagreeing about how to get to the next level. Usually these disagreements are solved on the ping pong table, but who has time for that?
The remedy for conflicting advice, repeats Heivly, is build, test, and iterate. It’s what the startup does with the advice that the startup can control and where TSF can assist. Chris feels like they did a good job of this with LaunchBox, but they need to do a great job of this with TSF.
Start Your Engines
Although there isn’t a focus on where the selected applicants will come from (although there is a limit on the type: no pharma, no medical devices, etc, we’re talking traditional tech plays), it’s certainly a boon for local entrepreneurs. It’s a huge incremental step forward for the area, and every single pre-funded startup should apply. It’s like you’re getting a head start on the rest of the country.
For once.
The application process is underway now at http://www.trianglestartupfactory.com and runs until they get their initial class, which begins on March 19th.
The system also can connect online advertising to brick & mortar redemption of offers, which is often the missing link in tracking ROI for online advertising.
People who have attended previous Southeast Venture Conference events tell us they are a great way to grab a spot on the radar of top venture capital firms, but also to make lasting connections with potential customers, partners and executives.
You’ll network with leading venture capitalists and investors from around the USSEVC hosts leading investors and venture funds from around the US, not just the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, who come to network with fellow investors and the region’s leading innovation talent.Whether you’re in venture fundraising mode or an investor looking to further relationships with fellow investors for deal flow, SEVC is the vehicle to make those connections.
You’ll get market insight and success strategies from the innovation and venture community’s brightest starsFrom the founder of Netflix to thePresident of the National Venture Capital Association - SEVC will feature over 40 speakers discussing the latest trends, best practices and strategies relating to venture investing and entrepreneurial growth. You’ll learn from them not just during roundtable discussions, but in one on one situations as well through the hours of networking.
To make networking and private meetings even easier, we’ve added a pre-event networking platform for attendeesNew this year at SEVC is our online networking platform which allows attendees to connect with one another prior, during or after the conference. Attendees can see other attendee’s interests, request and setup meetings and connect helping to maximize the lasting connections you’ll make at this year’s conference.
Entrepreneurs can benchmark your pitch and strategiesUp and coming entrepreneurs can benchmark their pitches from the over 60 presentations from leading innovators in the region. These are companies that for the most part have already been successful in venture fundraising and are well on their way to success. You’ll not find another single forum on the east coast with this many funded companies presenting.
Even more CXO and Venture Partner networking to create relationships that can last your entire careerNetworking is center stage at SEVC. Over one and a half days there are 3 separate open bar networking receptions, a networking breakfast, lunch networking and 7 additional networking breaks.
Despite the brouhaha last year over Netflix splitting its streaming and DVD rental services, effectively doubling the cost of having both, the company posted better than expected Q4 results this week.
In advance of one of the busiest dining holidays of the year, a new survey by 
