RECAP: Finnish Virtual Program with Business Finland, April 2020
Lisa Stapleton | May 2020
VentureOut’s programs are virtual and we’re loving it. Our international community has gained opportunites to connect like never before, and all in the comfort of their own home. From April 28th-29th of 2020, the VentureOut team worked with Business Finland to power our 2020 2-Day Finnishtech program.
Four startups from Finland had the chance to come together virtually, learning how to launch and raise capital in the US, all while getting connected with some of the top tech influencers and investors in NYC along the way!
Compound semiconductor quantum surface engineering. Our patented Kontrox(tm) process enables a reduction of the surface defect density to unprecedented levels, thus resulting in a boost of the efficiency and an increase in manufacturing yield of III-V semiconductor-based devices, such as GaAs and InP RF and optoelectronic devices among others.
Business Finland’s mission is to catalyze new growth and create opportunities for Finland through innovation and international expansion. Their strategy is twofold: enabling global growth for companies and creating world-class business ecosystems and a competitive business environment for Finland.
For years Finland has been a leader of Europe’s tech industry and the world with top notable companies like Google, GE Healthcare, and Rolls-Royce has built hubs in Finland.
VentureOut is proud to have had the opportunity to organize multiple Finnishtech programs in partnership with Business Finland.
A 2-Day Virtual Private Conference:
Our one-week virtual private conference was an opportunity for the most promising Finland companies selected to become immersed in the tech community of New York, meeting virtually with leading startups, corporations, and venture investors.
VentureOut’s mission is to empower entrepreneurs with the education, resources, and connections needed to successfully raise capital and grow their business leveraging on all the opportunities NYC has to offer, and our 2-Day programs are designed to do just that.
Workshops & Mentoring
Education and mentoring are the backbones of any VentureOut program. By partnering with thought leaders in key areas, we give our startups an unfair advantage by arming them with best practices used to scale the most successful companies in Silicon Valley. During this program, our four awesome startups connected with Bonny Morlak, Founder and CEO of Tiltsta, and Emmanuel Debuyck, founder and CEO of AdWanted, both dominating companies in their space!
Investor & Company INSIGHTS
We gave our startups an opportunity to chat one on one with Paul Wigdor from Tribeca Early Stage Partners, and Lylan Masterman from White Star Capital, to get coveted insights on how to raise capital in the US.
U.S. Expansion Strategy
Scaling a startup means dealing with accounting, legal, and sometimes even immigration challenges. Our startups got to hear from our partner lawyers, who run some of the most active venture tech practices in NYC.
Joe Daniels from McCarter and English highlighting common legal issues startups will face during aggressive expansions.
Sam Newbold of CSG attorneys answering specific legal and immigration questions from startups.
The Virtual Demo Day
Our first virtual Healthtech demo day event featured a panel of seasoned venture investors focused on innovations in the sector.
At White Star Capital, Lylan invests in Seed & Series A tech startups. He actively helps their portfolio companies succeed by sourcing investment opportunities and tries to be helpful to startups. He looks at companies across all tech sectors and tends to gravitate more towards startups in IoT, big data & analytics, fitness technology, proximity & beacons, adtech, and the ridiculously disruptive startups that don’t fit in a clear bucket.
Paul Wigdor currently serves as Managing Partner at Ascendant Advisors, a Registered Investment Advisor based in Houston, Texas. Paul was a Founding Shareholder in Ascendant when the Company was formed in 2009 and joined the Firm as a Partner in 2011 to launch the Firm’s Mutual Fund Business. Under Paul’s direction, Ascendant has launched four mutual funds and will be launching a fifth in May, 2015. Prior to his work with Ascendant, Paul spent 15 years on the buy side and the sell side in a variety of capacities including legal and compliance, equity trading, wealth management and asset management. In addition to his financial services work experience, Paul is a seasoned entrepreneur and has been an active angel investor, advisor and board member to many young companies in a variety of industries including financial services, technology, restaurants, real estate, and luxury goods.
Andy is the Director of Operations for NY Tech Alliance (formerly NY Tech Meetup), a non-profit organization that runs the largest Meetup group in the world with over 55000 members and a mission to build a more sustainable and diverse technology industry for all New Yorkers.
Overall, justice and diversity is a huge passion for him and he is a clear advocates for the importance of diversity in the tech community and business culture.
Formerly CEO of a French advertising agency for 17 years, Emmanuel has been a fine observer of the relations between media and advertisers. He now is the CEO of Adwanted, the first multi-channel advertising platform.
Joy is an experienced founder, investment evaluator, and advisor to high growth innovative companies across sectors seeking to scale sustainably. She advises on partnerships, business modeling, go to market strategy, operations, and financial modeling. Joy has advised dozens of companies across geographies from M&A and strategic planning to process improvement and supply chain management.
Joy is an active advisor across accelerators and university startup communities including VentureOut, Techstars, I2F CyberNYC, Cal Hacks, and Columbia University’s Entrepreneurship Design Studio. Joy is an alumna of Columbia Business School, The London School of Economics, and UC Berkeley.
Bob Jacobson RSM
Bob Jacobson is a principal at RSM US LLP (RSM) and serves as chairman of the RSM US Board of Directors. He leads the firm’s consulting practice in the West region, which includes risk, technology and financial advisory services.
Jacobson joined RSM in 2002 and has held various leadership positions, including national consulting managing director, national risk advisory service line leader and leader of the upper Midwest risk advisory consulting practice.
He has deep experience serving clients of various sizes and industries, with enterprise risk and compliance services, including providing project management services for complex Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), internal audit and governance-related activities.
Jacobson also specializes in business valuation, fraud investigation, litigation support, readiness for initial public offering (IPO), and process improvement consulting. He is a frequent speaker and published author.
As each founder pitched to investors, tech enthusiasts around the world were invited join, giving startups an incredible opportunity to network with over 100 industry experts.
See below for a snapshot of our event and our speakers!
McCarter & English is a law firm of over 400 lawyers in 9 offices throughout North America with a global practice. McCarter’s Venture Capital & Emerging Companies Group, of which partner Joe Daniels is co-chair, focuses on the formation, financing, growth and exit of fast-growth technology, life sciences and consumer companies for both founders and investors.
With great pride borne over 45 years as a regional law firm, Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi, formerly Wolff & Samson, continues to advance our client’s legal and business success through in-depth insight and creative solutions. As respected legal and business advisors, our attorneys play an integral role working closely with clients from a diverse range of industries on matters big and small, on a local, regional and national basis.
Rent24 is a co-working community and venture incubator dedicated to digital start-up companies in NYC. They help tech entrepreneurs develop their business in the US or Europe by leveraging their space and support infrastructure.
Clarity PR is an international public relations agency specializing in strategic communications for fast-growth technology companies. The company is known for its strategic approach to PR and its impactful, editorially-driven media relations campaigns. Headquartered in London with offices in New York and Berlin, the Clarity team works with companies ranging from promising new startups to multinational organizations. In 2016, Clarity was ranked among PR Week's Top 150 technology PR firms in the UK.
