Chemi Peres says that at Pitango too, they have been asking themselves the tough question - does the venture capital model work? “My answer is that it does. I do not believe that we can predict what will happen in the long-term future, but I do believe that venture capital is the only answer for innovation and entrepreneurship. I cannot see how new innovative technology companies will manage to function otherwise. There will be a place for venture capital as long as we have innovation and entrepreneurship.”

“It’s true that these investments have yielded a low return due to the small number of IPOs, as a result of the more stringent market regulation, but 9 out of 10 exits in the US last year were through acquisition deals in which the return on investment is very high. The return on these deals is exceptionally high because the buyers are technology companies which prefer, for financial and organizational reasons, to acquire an off-balance sheet R&D activity which will not be seen in the company’s financial statements, and which will not affect the organizational character of a mature, publicly-traded company. These companies are willing to pay five times the R&D costs of start-up companies, and this is very worthwhile for investors.”

Look at Today's National Post - Financial Post for Cover Story on
Evertz Technologies - IPO Success of 2006 - The Story of How This Company Achieved A Successful IPO without ever needing outside VC funding - A Business Case Presentation and Panel Discussion

Back by popular demand is our Business Case Study with Brian Campbell EVP Business Development of Evertz talking about the trials and tribulations of how Evertz, now with a $1 billion market cap, became a world leading provider of equipment to the broadcasting industry. Join Brian and our three leading industry panelists to hear them talk about and critique, question and examine the path that Evertz has taken. The event is interactive with participation and questions from the audience most welcome.

We also have a guest mini presentation by the Ontario Centres of Excellence about the resources it provides entrepreneurs.

The Toronto Chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum is one of 24 worldwide. We invite participation from alumni of any institution. You do not need to be an MIT Grad or be invited by one. We are a not-for-profit organization designed to be a forum and networking event for technology entrepreneurs, investors and service providers.




Register today at: https://alum.mit.edu/smarTrans/user/Register.dyn?eventID=7737&groupID=921

"We see large pockets of innovation developing particularly in Singapore, China, India and across Asia because of the increase in research & development and the government's focus on encouraging innovation," says Pierre Hennes, partner at Upstream Ventures.

"So for us, the venture capital and angel investors play a fundamental role in fostering that and helping the young entrepreneur take that risk to start a business in the global and regional market."

Venture capital investors at HOTFunds say Singapore, with its small market size, is ideal for start-ups to establish itself [sic] and make early mistakes before venturing out to the regional and global market.

SPD Control Systems Corp. NY
Digital Media Research FL
Graft Solutions, Inc. GA
WebWire GA
NanoPolyQ CA
Amyxa Pharmaceuticals MA
Shield Technology Group FL
Celldonate Inc. CA
Declude MA
MarColl International Corp. NE

If a firm offer isn’t made in the next week or so north of $150 million, look for Digg to close a $5+ million second round of financing later this year, possibly with Greylock Partners. Greylock is already an investor in Digg, leading their $2.8 million Series A round in October 2005 (Omidyar Network and several angel investors also participated in the round).