The Startup Support Ecosystem: Future of Funding, Managing, and Exiting

This pandemic has been a blessing and a curse for startups. It has been well-documented that startups born outside of the vicinity of investment and innovation hubs are at a severe disadvantage of obtaining seed investment to get off the ground and also having access to subsequent investment to grow and scale.

That being said, startups are learning that regardless of where they’re coming from (e.g. universities, Silicon Valley, international accelerators) they can significantly increase their chances of success by partnering with the right supporters.

These startup supporters, e.g. investors and service providers, are learning to adapt how to help their portfolio of startups in this new era. The ability to hold board meetings or feedback sessions via Zoom is just the tip of the iceberg. Supporters that get involved early during the startup’s formation process are better suited to help with each new growth stage and eventually the exit process.

In this session, we will hear the lived experiences of three leaders supporting startups through the pandemic and gain insight into how they see their role evolving in the future.

In this roundtable, we will cover:

• Lessons learned in shifting to remote support of startups: the good, the bad, the ugly
  
• New geographic hubs for innovation and the increased startup pipeline coming from universities
  
• New ways of reaching a successful exit beyond IPO and how startups can take advantage of M&A support earlier in their journey
  
• How working within a trusted network can put a startup at an advantage and why this matters when choosing an investor or service provider
  
• We look forward to hearing the exchange of personal stories, insights, and lessons learned!

Speakers:

• Mark Leahy, Partner at Fenwick
• Tim Connors, Founder at PivotNorth Capital
  
• Dave Kalez, Managing Partner at Convenio Advisors