Florida’s premier venture capital event is looking for a few solid companies to woo investors during its 2006 conference. This year’s participants have received $67 million so far.
In the battle to find business financing, there is perhaps no more important arena than the annual Florida Venture Capital Conference.
Although the event, which will be held at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach, isn’t scheduled until next year, the closing dates for submitting applications to present a business plan are fast approaching. Almost 200 venture capitalists and investment bankers from across the nation will be attending the conference from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4, 2006. Since its inception 14 years ago, the event has helped local companies raise almost $800 million in financing. STILL LOOKING Now, organizers are scouting for 20 to 25 businesses to present at the conference. It’s a lucrative proposition. ”Of the 19 companies that [presented last time], 13 have been funded to the tune of $67 million,” said Robin Kovaleski, the executive director of the Florida Venture Forum, which organizes the event. “That’s a record for us.” One of the big winners from the last round was Boca Raton-based NovaVision. The company is pioneering a software system that helps stroke and brain-injury victims regain their vision. This year alone, NovaVision has raised $12 million — but the company wouldn’t discuss how much of that came from its participation at the event. ”The [Florida Venture Capital] Forum plays a very important role and the companies that do present there get a very powerful and wide audience,” said NovaVision CEO Navroze Mehta. “[We used the financing] to deploy NovaVision across the country, and clearly we have invested in research, too.” NovaVision is now working with 18 medical centers, including the University of Miami and Johns Hopkins University. What conference organizers are looking for, said Kovaleski, are high-growth entrepreneurial companies with talented management teams and proprietary technology. During the last event, organizers received more than 300 applications and whittled them down to just 19 presenters. POLISH YOUR MESSAGE Mehta — whose company will not be presenting at the 2006 event — recommends that interested businesses hone and polish their message to maximize their chances with the selection committee. ”What are the key differentiators that make your company unique? What is your marketable technology? Who are the key players of the management team? Those [points] need to be succinctly and crisply presented so it doesn’t get lost in the details,” he said. “Investors tend to have very short attention spans.” The conference couldn’t come soon enough for Florida’s venture capital industry. In the second quarter of this year, VC funding dropped to just $29 million — its poorest showing since 2002. During the first six months of the year, the industry pumped about $140 million into 22 companies — less than half of last year’s modest figure of $318 million. The conference has rolling deadlines for businesses interested in presenting. The early deadline is this Friday, and the final deadline will be in November, said Kovaleski.
