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For Immediate Release
August 25, 2003
VBDC director announces opportunity to tap venture capital
market
RICHMOND, Va. --The deadline is approaching for entrepreneurs
seeking venture funding to apply for the 2003 Virginia Biosciences
Investor’s Conference being held Oct. 14 at the McLean
Hilton as a part of the 2003 Virginia Biotechnology Summit.
David Lohr, executive director of the Virginia Biosciences
Development Center (VBDC) and moderator and chair of this
year’s Investor’s Conference, said the session
is an ideal venue for regional seed and early-stage life sciences
companies to present their business plans and make their cases
for funding in the $500,000 to $5 million range.
“Recently announced acquisitions combined with renewed
pre-IPO registration activity on Wall Street are very encouraging
signs for biotech companies seeking venture financing,”
said Lohr. “This is an excellent time to for early-stage
biotech companies to pitch their business plans to the venture
capital community.”
An all-star panel of bioscience-focused venture capitalists
and strategic investors will critique each presentation and
provide feedback and suggestions for presenting companies
as well as conference attendees. Among those who have agreed
to participate are Douglas Gooding, a principal with The Aurora
Funds, Inc., of Durham, N.C., and William M. Gust, managing
partner of Anthem Capital Management in Baltimore. Additional
venture fund participants are expected to be announced shortly.
From the pool of applicants, a committee of the venture capitalists
and strategic investors will select a group of presenters
and alternates by Sept. 15.
Companies selected to present also will receive two complementary
tickets to the Virginia Biotechnology Summit awards dinner,
which will be held immediately following the Investor’s
Conference. Awards will be presented to the best business
plan presentation by a Virginia and non-Virginia company.
The summit attracts representatives from the investment community
and biotechnology industry throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
Applications must be submitted to Pétric Capers at
the VBDC by Aug. 29 by
e-mail at vbdc@vabiotech.com
or by fax at (804) 828-8566. The application is available
online at www.vabio.org.
Contact:
Nicky Colomb
Virginia BioTechnology Research Park
Phone: (804) 828-6884
E-mail: ncolomb@vabiotech.com
Web site: www.vabiotech.com
David Lohr
Virginia Biosciences Development Center (VBDC)
Phone: (804) 828-7048
Email: drl@vabiotech.com
Web: www.vabiotech.com/bioincubator
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