Leadership Workshop Hosts

More than 500 emerging technology companies come to TechColumbus each year to receive the services and funding they need to grow into sustainable, profitable Central Ohio businesses. We are early stage investors, not a typical venture fund. We are often the first money in. We help make connections and drive value at the early stage so our portfolio companies can grow. We work with and invest in emerging high-growth startups in the 15-county Central Ohio region. These businesses reflect our region’s strengths—advanced materials, energy, life sciences, software/IT, and related technologies. For us, strengthening the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is a way of life.
  
Since 2004, Ohio TechAngels’ first three funds and members have invested $24 million in 43 Ohio-based technology startups. The goal of the funds is build entrepreneurial wealth in Ohio by helping companies rapidly scale and attract the interest of strategic acquirers within three to five years. In addition to the investment by the OTAF funds and its member “sidecars”, the portfolio companies have received and additional $331MM in external co-and-follow-on investment from sources ranging from Silicon Valley VCs to publicly traded companies. The 27 active portfolio companies employ over 400 people with average salaries over $70K.
     
The Ohio State University’s main Columbus campus is one of America’s largest and most comprehensive. More than 56,000 students select from 14 colleges, 175 undergraduate majors, and 240 master’s, doctoral, and professional degree programs. As Ohio’s best and one of the nation’s top-20 public universities, Ohio State is further recognized by a top-rated academic medical center and a premier cancer hospital and research center. The university’s total research expenditures, 2010-2011, topped $828 million. The university’s innovative prowess attains world-class status, particularly in critical areas such as global climate change, cancer, infectious disease, advanced materials, and ag-bio products that feed and fuel the world.
      
The 11-county Columbus Region is one of the most dynamic and diverse metropolitan areas in the United States. Central Ohio is known for its talented workforce and great market access, and it's considered a great value for each dollar invested. The area is a major logistics hub. It's also home to the Ohio State University, the state capital of Ohio, a concentration of fashion designers and retail innovators, Honda of America’s manufacturing operations and hotbed of entrepreneurs and high-growth companies.

Event Sponsors

Autodesk helps people imagine, design and create a better world. Everyone—from design professionals, engineers and architects to digital artists, students and hobbyists—uses Autodesk software to unlock their creativity and solve important challenges.
As software M&A specialists who have worked only with software and IT for over 20 years, we are the definitive authority - by design. We've built a business approach that constantly grows its valuable data and access information, extends its global reach, and sets the industry standard for its team quality.
Executing a successful software M&A transaction can be difficult, time consuming, and an activity requiring a team. It's a full time job and requires a range of special skills to do right. Your attention must be focused on running your business. You can't afford to lose momentum and value while you pursue a partner. Further, the most successful M&A transactionsare the ones where there was good planning, careful preparation, proper positioning and thorough, professional execution from initial contact to final close. Corum follows a detailed, proven, highly successful process that has netted clients over $6 billion in wealth.
  
Built on a 100+ year foundation of legal service, Ice Miller LLP is committed to helping our clients stay ahead of a changing world. Our diverse client base ranges from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies and from governmental entities to educational organizations and pension funds.  Our clients span the business economy from service to industrial to tech. In the non-profit sector our experience includes work with charitable, fiduciary, educational and governmental entities.  Our attorneys strive  to develop a deep understanding of each client's needs in order to help them build, grow and protect their most valued assets.
  
There’s no better state in the U.S. for your business investment. We’re here to show you why. Ohio presents a faster track for business formation, relocation or expansion. And JobsOhio is your ambassador. Need demographic data? Site-selection details? Supply chain analysis? We’ll provide it quickly. You’ll work with a dedicated advisor team to access the contacts and information you need to choose your location with confidence. Our job is to make your decision an easy one.
  
McGladrey is a leading provider of assurance, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market. We guide our clients through complex business challenges by understanding their needs and bringing together the right team to address them. With more than 7,000 people in 75 U.S. cities and access to more than 32,000 people in 100 countries through our membership in RSM International, we can meet your needs wherever in the world you do business.
     
From our six offices in Ohio, Florida and Washington, D.C., Porter Wright seamlessly brings together the knowledge, skill and experience needed to help our clients achieve goals and solve problems, effectively and efficiently. 
We are committed to our clients. For more than 165 years, clients have trusted Porter Wright to provide exceptional legal advice. We pride ourselves on the responsiveness of our service, and for providing real value in all that we do. 
   
In 1837 founders William Procter and James Gamble created an innovative partnership to pool resources and procure ingredients for their separate candle and soap-making businesses. Today, P&G is the largest consumer goods company in the world with 300 brands that include some of the most trusted household products. Twenty-five of these brands each generate more than $1 billion dollars in annual sales. The Company's products are sold in over 180 countries around the world, serving approximately 4.8 billion people. P&G is a Company built on innovation, dedicated to consumer understanding and driven to touch and improve lives. Visit www.pg.com for more information about P&G and its brands.

ACA Annual Partners

PENSCO Trust Company, founded in 1989, is an IRA custodian providing services to IRA account holders investing in many alternative assets including real estate, private equity and promissory notes.

Founded in 1984, APCO Worldwide is an independent global communication, stakeholder engagement and business strategy firm with offices in more than 30 major cities throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. We challenge conventional thinking and inspire movements to help our clients succeed in an ever-changing world. Stakeholders are at the core of all we do. We turn the insights that come from our deep stakeholder relationships into forward-looking, creative solutions that always push the boundaries of communication. APCO clients include large multinational companies, trade associations, governments, NGOs and educational institutions. The firm is a majority women-owned business. For more information, please visit www.apcoworldwide.com.
    
Dell Inc.
As the visionary outcome of a true entrepreneur, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is committed to help power the success of entrepreneurs by developing technology solutions that help their businesses increase productivity and grow. Through the Entrepreneur in Residence program, Dell supports and nurtures the community of entrepreneurs by helping provide access to knowledge, networks, and capital. Learn more at www.dell.com/eir.
     
Foley Hoag, LLP provides comprehensive legal services to clients throughout the United States and around the world. We serve a wide range of industries including technology, life sciences, healthcare, energy and renewables, venture capital, private equity, and hedge funds. With 225 lawyers located in Boston, Washington DC, and the Emerging Enterprise Center in Waltham MA, we provide corporate, private equity, securities, intellectual property, employment and real estate services to numerous leading angel organizations. Visit us at www.foleyhoag.com.
      
Gust is ACA's official software for administering angel investment groups. Gust's software provides a secure system to manage angel group deal flow and syndication with other angel groups and smart investors. The platform allows angel groups to capture deals, process them through a customizable work-flow process and collaborate with other investors. As the official platform of the world's leading angel and venture associations, Gust is the industry standard. For entrepreneurs, Gust provides the complete tool set for professional investor relations from pitch to exit. www.gust.com.
     
OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates Open, Transparent and Connected financial marketplaces for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through our OTC Link® ATS, we directly link a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services for a wide spectrum of securities. We organize these securities into marketplaces to better inform investors of opportunities and risks – OTCQX®, The Best Marketplace with Qualified Companies; OTCQB®, The Venture Stage Marketplace with U.S. Reporting Companies; and OTC Pink®, The Open Marketplace with Variable Reporting Companies. Our data-driven platform enables investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice at the best possible price and empowers a broad range of companies to improve the quality and availability of information for their investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient financial marketplaces, visit www.otcmarkets.com. OTC Link ATS is operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC and SEC regulated ATS.
 
The ProSeeder funding platform equips Angel Groups and VC firms with an enterprise solution that manages the complete deal process and all Angel Group operations.  Boasting a fully integrated VDR (Virtual Data Room) for due diligence, social media networking features for member events and payments, tasks and messaging, ProSeeder provides the necessary operational tools to efficiently move deals from screening to the closing binder.  Syndicate with confidence, as ProSeeder controls and tracks access to all internal documents and communications.  ProSeeder is Your platform, at Your web domain, fully branded and customized for You.
     
Silicon Valley Bank is the premier commercial bank for companies in the technology, life science, cleantech, venture capital, private equity and premium wine industries. SVB provides a comprehensive suite of financing solutions, treasury management, corporate investment and international banking services to its clients worldwide. Through its focus on specialized markets and extensive knowledge of the people and business issues driving them, Silicon Valley Bank provides a level of service and partnership that measurably impacts its clients’ success. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., the company serves clients around the world through 26 U.S. offices and international operations in China, India, Israel and the United Kingdom. Silicon Valley Bank is a member of global financial services firm SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB), with SVB Analytics, SVB Capital and SVB Private Bank. More information on the company can be found at www.svb.com.
       
Designed in collaboration with Angel group managers, Venture360 puts powerful portfolio tracking tools in your hands, absolutely free. Your dashboard provides a 360° view of your Angel group: number of companies, number of investors, total portfolio value, cumulative change, and when the information was last updated are automatically calculated by the system. If you have portfolio companies that missed their scheduled financial updates, you’ll see the number in red, letting you know your portfolio may be out of date. www.venture360.co