Wednesday, May 1st, 2002 11:57PM BREAKING NEWS |
Attendance was down overall from last year, but VC's were in force looking for bargains among the Triangle's start-ups The Triangle TechJournal: May 1st, 2002 www.triangletechjournal.com FROM STAFF REPORTS CHAPEL HILL -- At the annual Venture conference organized by the North Carolina Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), the crowd was not the largest seen in recent years but attendees seemed like they were ready to get down to business. The event is held every year to give investors and venture capitalists (VC's) from around the world an opportunity to take a close look and hear presentations from North Carolina start-ups and emerging tech companies. This year 28 tech firms from around the state were chosen to present to the crowd at the Venture event. Attendance Down, VC's Up According to a CED organizer, attendance at this year's three day event was listed at just over 900 people, compared with 1100 last year. However, according to one local venture capitalist, there was a larger ratio of VC's to entrepreneurs than seen at past events. "Total attendance was slightly down...[but] the investor count was up," said Mitch Mumma partner at Intersouth Partners, one of the Triangle's most prominent venture capital firms. "In today's environment, I'd say that's encouraging." Networking Environment Mumma said that he saw this year's Venture show as more of a networking event. He said that he hosted dinner for 35 investors and also did some deals during the Venture show golf tournament, which was part of the program for visiting investors. "From a networking perspective, I'd say it was a big success," he said. When asked if any deals are being done, Mumma said that it is a different deal-making environment this year. "It's starting to pick up some," said Mumma. "But there are still some kinks in the system." CPA Brooks Malone of the high tech accounting firm Hughes, Pittman, Gupton in Raleigh said that he felt like the event was a sign of better things to come for the Triangle tech community. "The investment market seems to be stabilizing," said Malone. "There are some good companies here and it seems to be well attended." High-tech attorney Ben Yarbrough of Charlotte-based law firm Kennedy-Covington said the presenting firms at the show had a different feel this year. "Last year there was more of a buzz," he said. "But the quality this year is better." More Cautious Reeves McGee of the Durham-based truePilot angel investment firm said that the outlook of many investors attending was cautious, but that most of them were still looking to create some deals. "In general, people are very interested in putting money to work for companies, but I think there is still enough uncertainty about the economic outlook for the next twelve months out, so they're more cautious," said Reeves. Reeves added that many investors and venture capitalists are possibly hanging onto their money longer because they may need it later on to protect their previous investments. "[Venture capitalists and investors] don't know if their portfolio companies will need additional money or not," said Reeves. Reaction From Presenting Firms Charlotte-based Convey Systems was one of the presenting emerging tech firms at the event and their executives seemed pleased with the response they received from the crowd. "We've had a great response from potential investors," said Rob Lee, Chief Technical Officer of the firm. Convey Systems makes online video conferencing software that also allows firms to share presentations, software, and even run other computers through a regular Internet browser. The firm is looking to raise around $4 million. Scott Palmquist, Vice-President of CipherOptics in Raleigh, said that he was impressed that investors were willing to have long conversations about their technology. "The quality of the investors is better [than in years past]," said Palmquist. Cipheroptics, a high-speed data-encryption firm founded by Nortel and IBM alumni, just got $5 million in funding last week. Despite just getting funding, Palmquist said he was still pitching the company's technology to potential investors. "You never stop raising money," he joked. Targeting New Attendees Anne Hutchison, a spokesperson for the CED, said there was a concerted effort this year to bring in investors who had never attended the event before. A full 10% of the attendees this year had never attended previous Venture events and Hutchison said they were pleased with the quality of the investors that showed up this year. VC firms represented including Draper, Arch Ventures, TPG, Columbia Capital, Equitek, Tall Oaks, and dozens more. "I thought there was a good show of support from VC's outside of the Research Triangle," said Reeves McGee of the truePilot angel firm. TTJ |
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Wednesday, May 1st, 2002 11:57PM BREAKING NEWS |
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