Boston's innovation economy enjoyed a breakout year in 2014, as companies raised a total of $4.2B and tech funding saw a 61 percent increase from 2013. In addition to the funding boom, Boston startups had major financial wins, headlined by Wayfair and HubSpot's IPO, as well as The Echo Nest's and Smarterer's acquisition.
Find out how we're building on that success in 2015 and join us on June 16th at the Westin Waterfront for BostInno's third annual State of Innovation. Boston's venture capitalists and entrepreneurs go head-to-head during the Venture Crossfire panel kicking off at 4:30 p.m., offering their takes on the strength of our investment community, alternatives to the standard VC model and who may be Boston's next unicorn.
Check out the VCs and entrepreneurs making up the Venture Crossfire panel and get your ticket today to be in the room.
Scott Kirsner, Columnist at The Boston Globe
Moderating the Venture Crossfire panel is Scott Kirsner, a journalist covering innovation and entrepreneurship.
His “Innovation Economy” column appears Sundays in the Boston Globe and he is a regular contributor to Fast Company, BusinessWeek, Variety, and Wired.
Kirsner serves as the program chair for three regional events on innovation: the Nantucket Conference, held each June since 2000; Future Forward, held each fall since 2001; and the Convergence Forum, launched in 2004.
Rudina Seseri, Partner at Fairhaven Capital
Seseri leads Fairhaven's investments in marketing tech, digital media and IoT/Robotics. Her portfolio of investments includes Celtra, CrowdTwist, Jibo, SocialFlow, and Statisfy. In addition to investing, Seseri helps her portfolio companies with strategic direction and growth strategy, building boards and executive teams, and strategic partnerships and lead generation. She also serves as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at the Harvard Business School.
Seseri is a 2011 Boston Business Journal 40-under-40 honoree for her professional accomplishments and community involvement, and a 2014 Women to Watch honoree by Mass High Tech.
Jeff Bussgang, General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners
Bussgang is a former entrepreneur (Upromise, Open Market) who joined Flybridge in 2002 and focuses on consumer, e-commerce, education, financial, marketplace, mobile and SaaS start-ups. On the side, he serves as a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, where he teaches a class on entrepreneurship and lean start-ups called Launching Technology Ventures. He has co-authored 12 HBS cases.
In 2010, he wrote and published the book "Mastering the VC Game" as a guide for understanding the venture capital.
Anna Palmer, CEO at Fashion Project
Palmer is the co-founder, CEO, and idea generator behind Fashion Project, which has become a powerful movement turning closets into cash for charities around the world.
Since its founding, Fashion Project has expanded to serve over 500 nonprofits, helping provide valuable funding for disease research, humanitarian aid, sustainability initiatives, and disaster relief.
Before Fashion Project, Palmer started two nonprofits, launched four political campaigns, and founded a student leadership academy.
Nick Rellas, Co-founder and CEO at Drizly
Rellas is the co-founder and CEO behind the on-demand alcohol delivery service Drizly. He started the company in 2012 with fellow Boston College grad and co-founder Justin Robinson and the startup has become the platform to shop for beer, wine and liquor in major cities across the United States, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Austin, Seattle, and Washington D.C.
Drizly recently closed $13M in Series A financing led by Polaris Partners to fuel the startups investment in product development, sales and marketing, operations and global distribution.
Rob Go, Co-founder and Partner at NextView Ventures
Go is a co-founder and Partner at NextView Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on high-conviction, hands-on seed stage investing. Prior to co-founding NextView, Go was an investor at Spark Capital and held operating roles at eBay and BzzAgent.
Don't miss your chance to hear from these thought leaders. Reserve your seat today before it's too late!
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