Arlington, TX – EquityNet, LLC co-sponsored the
18th Annual National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF) Conference,
held October 17-19, 2011, in Arlington, Texas. EquityNet, a strategic partner
of the NASVF, also exhibited at the conference.
The Conference was hosted by the Center for
Innovation in Arlington and convened at the Sheraton Arlington. Over 200
leaders in venture capital, economic development, state-based venture capital
organizations, civic leaders, national banks, angel investment groups, and
professional service organizations participated in the Conference, which was
themed "Leading America's Recovery.” Attendees represented 36 states and 3
foreign countries.
In addition to networking opportunities for
attendees to exchange best strategies and tools for building and managing
strategic investment programs and institutions, the Conference also provided
opportunities for newly-formed organizations to receive the benefit of
different viewpoints, while established organizations were able to track new
approaches and resources. Participants met with professionals from outside
their local networks, making one-on-one contact with specialized practitioners
and discussing new methods of facilitating capital formation. Leading fund
managers shared insights for raising and investing funds, and institutional
investment programs shared criteria for choosing early stage funds.
Leading breakout sessions in the three-day
conference offered provided opportunities to focus on topics such as: Best
Strategies for Building Strategic Investment Programs; New Methods of
Facilitating Capital Formation; The Early Stage Venture
Landscape-Post-Presidential Election; and Best Practices for State Investing
Programs.
Among the general session speakers featured were
Jim Jaffe (NASVF president/CED); John
R. Fernandez (Assistant Secretary of Commerce); John R. Fernandez,
Economic Development Administration; Mark Muro (Brookings Institution); Cliff Kellogg (State Small Business Credit
Initiative, US Department of the Treasury); Paul Ahlstrom (Author of Nail It Then Scale It); and Richard Bendis
(Innovation America and author of popular blog Innovation Daily).
Judd Hollas, President/CEO of EquityNet, thanked
NASVF for its historical and continuing contributions to entrepreneurship and
stated “We were delighted to co-sponsor this conference and to share
information on EquityNet’s unique analytical software tools, our independent
research offerings, and our growing capital e-marketplace.”