Angel Funding for University Innovations: Outlook and Opportunities for 2011
Originally presented October 26, 2010

Lately it may seem like finding angel investors for your start-ups and promising technologies is like finding a needle in a haystack. But from the investor perspective, it’s often just as difficult to find the most promising jewels of innovation among the hundreds of proposals that cross their desks. Your chances of grabbing their interest and securing the funding you need are increased dramatically when you do your homework, know the specific investor’s “hot spots,” and make your pitch in the way angels want to see it.

That’s why Technology Transfer Tactics’ Distance Learning Division has gathered a world-class panel of angel investors for an eye-opening webinar that will reveal the angel investing outlook for 2011 and unearth what market segments angels are looking to invest in.

In this 90 minute distance learning program, your panel of presenters will:

Use the guidance and specific “do’s and don’ts” revealed in this program to give your TTO and your researchers the very best opportunity to secure critical commercialization funds

Program Moderator:

Robert Okabe’s first involvement with start-up ventures was as an angel investor. He has made 13 investments of his own funds since 1995, with one major liquidity event and three other positive returns of capital.  He is also a co-founder of an angel group, helped organize an angel capital fund, and serves as a Director of the Angel Capital Education Foundation.  During a 12 year career as an investment banker he completed over $25 billion in debt offerings, 7 equity IPOs, and participated in mergers and acquisitions with aggregate asset values over $14 billion while at BancAmerica Robertson Stephens, Lehman Brothers, and Kidder, Peabody.  He is a co-founder of RPX Group, a firm focused on building start-up companies from university innovations and has led many of the firm’s most successful engagements. Bob is on the adjunct faculty of the University of Illinois College of Business and has been a guest speaker on start-ups at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and MaRS Centre in Toronto among others.

Panel of Presenters:

Marianne Hudson leads two nonprofit organizations: the Angel Capital Association (ACA), the professional alliance of angel groups in North America, with 20 affiliates and 150 member groups representing 6,500 individual accredited investors, and the Angel Capital Education Foundation (ACEF), which provides information, education, and research about angel investing to investors, policy makers, university leaders, entrepreneurial support professionals, and entrepreneurs. Ms. Hudson led the angel initiative at the Kauffman Foundation that resulted in ACEF and also oversaw many of the Foundation’s entrepreneurial education and mentoring programs designed to ensure that more entrepreneurs develop sustainable, innovative businesses. Ms Hudson has worked in the entrepreneurial support field for more than twenty years.

Barry Rosenbaum is a Senior Fellow with UARF focusing on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Technology Commercialization to create jobs in NE Ohio for the graduates of University of Akron as well as fostering the role of academic Institutions as leaders in regional TBED. He also worked with Exxonmobil Chemical for 32 years in senior level technology, manufacturing, and business positions including 6 years in France and Belgium.  Mr. Rosenbaum  was VP Technology and founder of Advanced  Elastomer Systems Exxon Chemical - Monsanto JV for Santoprene TPV’s. He also served as CTO of GenCorp / OMNOVA Solutions for 8 years in Engineered Polymer Systems and Specialty Chemicals.

Allan May is the Managing Director of Emergent Medical Partners. Mr. May has been a founder, board member and/or CEO of a number of early stage companies in the medical device and biotechnology industries including Athenagen (an LSA company), MAST Immunosystems, Intella Interventional  Systems,  Quanam Medical, ImmuneTech, NuGEN Technologies, AngstroVision, IntegriGen, Imetrx, and Vascular Architects. Previously, Mr. May was Senior Vice President of Diasonics, Inc., a NYSE-listed medical imaging company manufacturing and distributing MRI, ultrasound, fluoroscopic and therapeutic  devices, and President and COO of Fortune Systems Corporation, a NASDAQ-traded developer of microprocessor based file servers utilizing the Unix operating system. He also has extensive experience in negotiating and consummating mergers and acquisitions, having been involved in over 100 transactions. He co-founded Life Science Angels (”LSA”) in 2005 and currently serves as its Chairman. LSA is the largest angel organization in the United States comprised solely of life science industry veterans and investing solely in medical device and life science early stage companies.