What was Venture Atlanta 2008 all about?

Nearly 500 people gathered at the Omni Hotel on October 15 and 16, 2008 to take part in the largest venture capital event in Georgia's history. Venture Atlanta attracted more than 100 VC's from top firms around the country to hear investment opportunities from 21 presenters. The presenters were some of Georgia's top emerging technology companies. With a record number of company submissions, it's obvious that this conference was a long time coming and something that the area has needed. The Atlanta CEO Council, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and Technology Association of Georgia came together to collaborate on this event and are the event's founding partners. Allen Moseley of Noro-Moseley Partners was the Conference Chair and worked tirelessly along with a strong executive board who included members from H.I.G. Ventures, Morris, Manning and Martin, RBC Bank and Total Technology Ventures to bring a top program to conference attendees.

The event was full of nationally recognized speakers, presentations and networking. Carlos Dominguez, Senior Vice President and Office of the Chairman and CEO of Cisco gave a presentation about changes in technology and got the day off to a great start (see video on our site). The keynote speaker, Bernie Marcus, Chairman, The Marcus Foundation, let the audience know why Atlanta was a great place to start a business and encouraged entrepreneurs to grow their business in Georgia. The day also included a digital media panel with Stu Snyder, Turner Broadcasting; Braxton Jarratt, Clearleap; Jeff Bussgang, Flybridge Capital Partners; and Mike Eckert former CEO of The Weather Channel. The panel discussed trends and opportunities in digital media and what was happening in today's economy. Finally, our 21 presenters each had eight minutes in the spotlight to sell their company.

Feedback on the conference was tremendous and everyone already wants to know when it is coming back. Georgia needs to continue to attract Venture Capitalists from across the country to invest in our local technology companies.

This will be the first of many Venture Atlanta events. Venture Atlanta 2009 will be announced in the coming months. Stay tuned and to learn more about this event, go to our website at www.ventureatlanta.org.