High caliber companies selected by investment community

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Sharon Vosmek
sharon@astia.org
(415) 777-1680

SAN FRANCISCO (November 10, 2008) – Over 80 companies from across the US submitted applications to present at Astia’s it Conference to be held this year November 19 and 20 in San Francisco, California.  More than 110 investors and serial entrepreneurs selected the final presenting group.  The Astia conference has differentiated itself with an exceptional screening and qualification process that has resulted in greater than 60% of the presenting companies achieving funding or an exit within one year of the conference.  

Other highlights of this year’s conference include keynotes by Diane Greene, founder VMware and Anuradha Acharya, Founder and CEO, Ocimum Biosolutions.  In addition, an LP Panel will address what the shrinkage in the value of public equities means for Venture Capital in the coming year.  

“Next year will be a difficult fundraising year for Venture Capital and Private Equity,” predicts Leon Shahinian, Sr. Investment Officer, Alternative Investment Management (AIM), CalPERS, “we will see decisions driven by the denominator.”  Also participating on the panel will be Saguna Malhotra, Managing Director, Private Equity, Stanford Management Company, and Carol Foster, Pantheon Ventures.  

Highlights of the VC-screened companies that will present include, Arcxis Biotechnologies, a disruptive technology for transforming molecular diagnostics; Sustainable Minds, a green technology enabled services platform that delivers comprehensive customer purchase behavior data; and harQen, a platform that enables social networks to monetize their communities through custom voice-to-web applications

For the first time this year, the conference will also showcase exceptional women-led companies who are not currently fundraising.  “These Lighthouse companies have been invited to demonstrate the success of women within the technology sectors,” says Sharon Vosmek, CEO of Astia.  “Currently only 3% of Venture Capital goes to women CEOs and only 5% to women-founded companies according to data from Venture One.  Our goal is to shine a light on their stories for the next generation of entrepreneurs as well as for the broader investment community.”

This year’s Lighthouse companies include: allvoices, Corefino, Cuil, Limelife, and Ocimum Biosolutions.

About Astia
Astia is a unique, international not-for-profit organization headquartered in Silicon Valley with additional program in New York and London. We provide innovative programs that ensure companies gain access to capital, achieve and sustain high-growth, and develop the executive leadership of the founding team.

Designed for startups at all stages, the Astia programs are implemented by more than 450 members of the Astia Advisor Network that includes more than 100 former and current CEOs and 125 investors. Astia is an extremely committed community of advisors, investors, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs.

Astia’s Venture Conferences, which commenced in 2003, have attracted 124 presenting companies that have raised over $500 million and have returned over $100 million to investors through M&A.

www.astia.org

Investor Advisory Council to the Astia Conference
Allegis Capital, Alloy Ventures, Apex Venture Partners, Applied Ventures, Asset Management, Black River Ventures, CalPERS, Cisco, Garage Technology Ventures, Hamilton Lane, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Illuminate Ventures, Intel Capital, Levensohn Venture Partners, Milk Street Ventures, Opus Capital, Palomar Ventures, Prolog Ventures, Voyager Capital

Conference Sponsors
Fenwick & West; Deloitte; Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo; Microsoft; DLA Piper; Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP; Moss Adams; SVB Financial; Morrison & Foerster LLP; Nixon Peabody; Osborne Clarke; Dan Sapp & Associates, Inc; Square 1 Bank; Althea Foundation; Iron Creative; Reed Smith LLP ; Cisco; Wells Fargo; Studley; Bridges SF
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