Exit Strategies Workshop in Vancouver

Investors and Entrepreneurs need an exit strategy for their investment.

Exit Strategies workshop for Investors, Entrepreneurs & Advisors - March 29 - Vancouver
Ask yourself:

1 What is my exit strategy and why do I need one before or after I invest or look for investors?
2 What type of investor or company best matches my exit strategy and capital/investment requirements?
3 What are the four major steps I should be taking now to plan for a successful exit?
4 What about the timeline, valuation and legal process?

Why not learn from many of the best local experts on exits, including: Basil Peters, Axel Christiansen, Steven Lukas, Thane Stenner and others to be announced.

Learn and network at this annual Exit Strategies workshop on March 29 in downtown Vancouver - click here for full details and registration.

This practical real world workshop will benefit a fellow entrepreneur, so please forward this email.

First 20 seats are $285 (savings of $50 on the final cost). Don't delay - last workshop sold out and the next one may not be until 2011.

To directly register click here (fill in your contact info, click "Submit," then choose the 'Exit Strategies workshop' link.)

We think that you will find this valuable and I hope to see you there.

Awards

Canadian Financing Forum Names Award Winning Companies

~Four Companies Take Home Awards at the 13^th Annual Event ~

January 29, 2010 - Vancouver, BC: Winners from the 13^th annual Canadian Financing Forum, which took place in Vancouver this week, were formally announced today. The Financing Forum features presentations from the best and most promising private technology companies in Canada, with 30 technology companies competing for attention from over 70 top tier investors from across Canada and the United States.

"Every year we have close to 80 companies wanting to present so the companies have to be high quality to even get on stage," says Dave Thomas of CanadaIT. "Demand is high to present, since the companies know participation at the Forum brings results, both in terms of money and as importantly, market exposure to the investment community."

Each of the carefully selected entrepreneurs had 15 minutes to pitch their company and product to the delegates. As in previous years, the show selected winners based on feedback from the attendees and a panel of judges within the following categories outlined below. This year's winners were as follows:

Forum Favourite Award for Best Company - Cleantech & Advanced Technology:
NxtGen Emission Controls (see http://www.nxtgen.com/)

Forum Favourite Award for Best Company - Information Technology:
Hatsize Corp (see http://www.hatsize.com

Best Early Stage Company - Cleantech & Advanced Technology
Etalim Inc. (see http://www.etalim.com/)

Best Early Stage Company - Information Technology
Advanced E-Commerce Research Systems (see http://www.researchadvanced.com/)

Best ‘First Look Room’ Company
Mingleverse (see http://mingleverse.com/)

"This audience represented many billions of investment capital and the market is much more active than last year," says Kathy Standeven of CanadaIT, the event organizer. "It may not be a cash prize, but these Financing Forum awards are gold to companies prospecting for investment dollars in a competitive investment market. Awards winners in previous years raised as much as $60 million in new financing. We look forward to seeing their progress when we see them again at our next event in 2011."

Keynote Luncheon Panel

Convergence of Information Technology and Cleantech - "Smart Grid and Energy efficiency Initiatives"

Speakers:
Dean Rockwell, Innovation Council BC (moderator)
Carl Imhoff, Battelle National Laboratory
Drew Clark, IBM Venture Capital Group
John Haylock, Tantalus Systems

"Big untapped opportunity is ancillary services." Carl Imhoff
"Incentives drive better alignment between policy and technology." Drew Clark
"Still in an early market, so even though highly standardized industry, there is uncertainty around standards." John Haylock
"... there is need for better marketing on value of smart grid for the consumer." Drew Clark
"Consumer knows exact cost of gasoline, but probably doesn't know cost of electricity." John Haylock
"Consumer engagement is key to getting the value out of this technology." Carl Imhoff
"... in home display reduced consumption by 7 to 10%." John Haylock

More Company Presentations

After mid-morning coffee break, some pretty innovative companies on deck. Saw D-Wave right after the break. Also saw Etalim, pictured above, just before lunch break.

Networking

Lots of networking going on in the hallway and in the coffee room.

Morning Presentations

Lots of great company presentations this morning. Pictured above is Graham Carter of Axia Software.

Opening Remarks

John Webster (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) and Valerie Mann (Lawson Lundell LLP) opened the show the "meet the investors" panels. If you are commenting on Twitter, please use the #finforum hashtag so your comments stream to the blog.

Welcome to the Financing Forum

Lovely Vancouver day at the Hyatt for this year's Financing Forum ... the Olympic banners about "Support Team Canada" could equally apply to the presenting companies.