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April 3: Venture Forum 2003
The
Venture Forum 2003 will address new opportunities,
current trends, and market realities and present
an outlook of the future of emerging technologies.
In addition to presenting companies who define
technical excellence, world-class experts will
share their knowledge about meaningful investment
opportunities amidst the current marketplace.
Keynote speakers: Shaygan Kheradpir, Chief Information
Officer, Verizon Communications; Albert Myers,
Corporate Vice President and Treasurer, Northrop
Grumman.
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The
Investment Landscape
by
Wendy
Hall, Larta Staff Writer
Although certain tech sectors have fared better in
the struggle to seek venture capital funding, what
investors are really looking for is not promise but
proven ability in a company. This fact is not just
changing the landscape of technology, but it is changing
the venture capital industry as well. "I think
the VC industry is undergoing tremendous change as
many VCs are exiting," says Klaus Koch of Kline
Hawkes. As the investment industry reassesses its
approach to funding businesses, firms are not only
reducing in size and the amount of capital under management,
says Koch, but, in some instances, they are returning
capital to their limited partners due to the excess
amount that was in the system.
"I
believe that it will probably take another year or
so for that kind of thing to fully correct itself
and get back into the normal balance. Yet I do see
the VC industry coming back to a more sustainable
business," Koch says. "With respect to the
deals and the deal flow, the quality of the opportunities
is improving. I think that's a function of the fact
that entrepreneurs and existing investors are becoming
much more reasonable with respect to valuations and
deal terms. In order for companies to have survived
the last two years, people had to get very creative
and do a lot more--with a lot less."
This year's crop
Companies presenting at this year's Venture Forum
(to be held on April 3) were selected by a committee
made up of VCs. The companies hail from a wide range
of sectors--telecommunications, nanomaterials, medical
devices, secure communications, biotechnology, information
technology, and enterprise software. Although some
of these are areas that have shown considerable strength
since the recent economic downturn began, the selection
of the companies was not based on sector but on the
fact that the companies were most likely to garner
interest from investors for a variety of reasons:
proprietary technology, significant growth opportunity,
rapid adoption, solid management teams, and/or products
or services that are actually solving problems and
show differentiation.
"Investors are looking for companies that have
revenue, customers, and a proven value proposition,"
says Joel Balbien of Smart Technology Ventures. "There
are still a lot of transactions, although they are
at very low levels. It shows that there's a continued
interest on the part of larger companies to acquire
these technologies and these companies."
Although these companies and their products do present
strong economic potential, attracting investment will
still be a major obstacle. "I don't think it's
ever going to be easier to raise venture capital than
it was from 1998-2000," says Todd Springer of
Trident Capital, who was co-chair of this year's Venture
Forum Investment Committee. "I think that was
a once-in-a-generation opportunity to raise easy money.
So those days are behind us."
