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EarlyShares to Sponsor and Exhibit at Gold Coast Venture Capital Association Inaugural Expo on Feb. 26

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Miami, Fl (PRWEB) February 20, 2014

EarlyShares, the funding platform that connects smart investors with unique opportunities, today announced that it will sponsor and exhibit at the inaugural Expo of the Boca Raton, Florida-based Gold Coast Venture Capital Association (GCVCA).

The Expo will take place Wednesday, February 26 from 5-8 pm at the Embassy Suites in Boca Raton and will feature 25 early-stage companies from throughout the state of Florida. Eighteen corporate sponsors, including EarlyShares, will also exhibit alongside the start-ups. More information and registration is available here.

The purpose of the event is to give a large group of entrepreneurs the opportunity to showcase their companies to investors, service providers, and professionals in an interactive environment. More than 200 investors and other professionals from the South Florida region are expected to attend. EarlyShares will exhibit at Table 2 of the Expo.

“The GCVCA Expo will be a unique opportunity for attendees to meet some of the state’s most exciting early-stage businesses,” said Joanna Schwartz, CEO of EarlyShares. “We look forward to participating and helping make this inaugural event a success.”

The Gold Coast Venture Capital Association (GCVCA) is a not-for-profit corporation that provides information, association, and capital formation opportunities to the entrepreneurial community in South Florida. The Association develops and presents monthly programs designed to provide information and assistance to start-ups and emerging or established growth companies while offering a unique venue for investors and invests to come together. More information is available at GCVCA.org.

EarlyShares, founded in 2011, is an equity funding platform that posts general solicitation investment offerings and rewards-based crowdfunding campaigns. By leveraging technology and social media, EarlyShares connects entrepreneurs and small business owners to investors in support of great ideas.

To register and gain access to all equity investment offerings and crowdfunding campaigns on EarlyShares, click here.

About EarlyShares

EarlyShares, based in Miami, FL, is a funding platform that hosts equity offerings and rewards-based crowdfunding campaigns on EarlyShares.com. The company has created the funding platform of the future, where small investments ignite big ideas. EarlyShares connects individuals, investors, and communities enabling them to invest in companies, support projects, and earn rewards in an efficient, trusted, and secure environment. To learn more, visit EarlyShares.com.







Actor Corbin Bernsen Announces Launch of Indiegogo Campaign for New Venture, Powsumer

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Akron, Ohio (PRWEB) March 07, 2013

Powsumer, a new consumer-driven pricing company founded by Corbin Bernsen, has launched a “Powsumer.com: The Future of Online Shopping” campaign on Indiegogo, an international fund-raising platform. The $ 100,000 funding goal will be used to pay for further development and launch of the Powsumer.com beta site. The Indiegogo campaign can be found at: http://bit.ly/powsumerfunding.

Powsumer is a groundbreaking tool allowing communities to more actively participate and drive down the price in the consumer choices they make. Powsumer brings together consumers into purchasing groups (“packs”) through social and web networks. Lead by a “Pack Leader” that has established the product or service the pack wants as well as the lowest price each member of the pack is willing to pay for the product or service, Powsumer will connect potential suppliers with the pack to complete the deal as a volume purchase. Powsumer alerts these suppliers with real time market, product and pricing trends to help them move products at a profitable margin.

“Indiegogo is a great way to launch Powsumer,” says Corbin Bernsen, founder and interim president, Powsumer. “Powsumer will rely on broad-based internet participation to bring the best deals to consumers, much the same way Indiegogo uses the internet to crowd-source funds for many worth causes.”

Supporters of the campaign will receive, depending on contribution level, a range of perks from founder certificates and hoodies to a visit with Bernsen.

The experienced team at Powsumer includes Bernsen, Andrew Maas, and Peter Tahmin. Bernsen currently stars as Henry Spencer on the USA Network’s hit original series “Psych,” now in its seventh season. He is an accomplished actor, director and producer. As an independent film director and producer, he has developed a talent for financing and budgeting on a shoe string, a valuable asset when working in an entrepreneurial new business setting such as Powsumer.

Andrew Maas is vice president and co-founder, as well as working for the University of Akron Research Foundation (UARF), as a Project Manager and as the Assistant Vice President for University Innovation Ventures (UIV). Integral to UARF and UIV, Maas assisted in the preparation and winning of the 2010 i6 Challenge EDA grant which awarded $ 2.2M to the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron and UARF to help commercialize and develop early stage medical device technologies and companies. His roles include assisting with intellectual property and related emerging enterprise matters; evaluating technologies, markets and preparing related summaries; and, developing early stage business strategies and promotional materials. He has a J.D. degree as well as a LL.M in Intellectual Property Law.

Peter Tahmin is vice president and co-founder, as well as working as the executive vice president of MailPix.com. Tahmin has significant experience as an executive in the online retail space and will assist Powsumer.com with its launch, branding and operations initiatives.

About Powsumer

Founded in 2011, Powsumer is a consumer driven pricing site that is enticing to educated consumers everywhere. Powsumer brings together consumers into purchasing groups (“packs”) with social and web networks who demand the lowest price for things they want. Powsumer provides distributors, retailers, and manufacturers a conduit to sell at profitable margins.







Gust to Host Second Annual Venture Forward Conference 2013

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New York, NY (PRWEB) May 29, 2013

Gust, the global investor relations platform connecting high-growth entrepreneurs and active early-stage investors, will host the second annual Venture Forward Conference 2013, in New York City on Tuesday, June 18th. The day-long event, taking place at the TriBeCa Rooftop, will convene the world’s leading angel investors, venture capitalists, non-traditional investors, and select members of the media to discuss and debate the accessibility, growing interest, and future of the rapidly evolving early-stage investing market.

“The landscape of early-stage start-up financing has gone through several changes as its popularity and access continue to grow and expand. Venture Forward 2013 will bring together the industry’s leaders for a high-level debate and discussion on the challenges and opportunities facing early-stage investing,” said David S. Rose, CEO of Gust. “This conference is an exclusive opportunity to hear from the world’s leading investors and brightest minds at the forefront of the industry to help shape the direction of the early-stage ecosystem.”

Industry visionaries speaking at the event include Allan May of Emergent Medical Partners, Andrew Cleland of Comcast Ventures, Ann Winblad of Hummer Winblad, Christine Herron of Intel Capital, Bob Rice of Tangent Capital, David Hornik of August Capital, Dusan Stojanovic of True Global Ventures, John Huston of Ohio TechAngels, Linda Holliday of Citia, Mark Suster of GRP Partners, Roger Ehrenberg of IA Ventures, Rory Eakin of CirclUp, and Sunny Bates of Sunny Bates Assocates. Discussion moderators will include leading financial journalists from Bloomberg and CNBC.

In addition to a highly interactive conference agenda and participation in panel discussions, attendees will have the opportunity to take part in the conference’s professional networking opportunities to foster high-end engagement and dialogue with featured angel investors, venture capitalists, prominent media figures, and policy makers.

Participation in Venture Forward 2013 is by invitation. Interested parties may apply by visiting the online registration request form on the conference website.

About Gust

Gust provides the global platform for the sourcing and management of early-stage investments. Gust enables skilled entrepreneurs to collaborate with the smartest investors by virtually supporting all aspects of the investment relationship, from initial pitch to successful exit. Gust is endorsed by the world’s leading business angel and venture capital associations, and powers over 750 investment organizations in 65 countries. More than 180,000 start-ups have already used the platform to successfully managed fundraising rounds.

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Clinovo Presents Next Generation Cloud-based eClinical System at Venture Capital Conference

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Sunnyvale, CA (PRWEB) February 05, 2014

Clinovo is a technology focused Contract Research Organization (CRO) headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA. Clinovo is seeking funds to launch CloudClinica, a disruptive cloud-based platform for clinical trials. Ale Gicqueau, President & CEO at Clinovo, will present his vision and strategy for CloudClinica to venture capitalists at the 30th Annual Investors Choice Venture Capital Conference. The event will be held on Thursday, February 6th in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Annual Investors Choice Venture Capital Conference is organized by the Wayne Brown Institute (WBI). Venture capitalists from all over the United States will convene to learn about the best and brightest emerging IT and life science companies. In the last six years, technology start-ups that have gone through the Wayne Brown Institute (WBI) process have raised more than $ 632 million dollars in angel and venture capital. Clinovo will present CloudClinica among twenty innovative companies from the high-tech, life-science and clean-tech sectors.

CloudClinica is Clinovo’s next generation Cloud-based eClinical platform. CloudClinica is an easy-to-use, pay-as-you-go platform to build and manage clinical studies from the ground up without any programming skills. CloudClinica will remove IT dependency and allow small companies to access sophisticated eClinical systems. CloudClinica will bring an average 80% savings from existing solutions while meeting regulatory compliance requirements. Until today, the adoption of eClinical systems like EDC (Electronic Data Capture) has remained slow in some segments of clinical research. Only 40% of Phase I clinical trials had adopted EDC by the end of 2012. CloudClinica will broaden the use of eClinical systems and empower biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostic companies.

Clinovo is a pioneer in the field of eClinical systems with its advanced open source Electronic Data Capture (EDC) system ClinCapture. ClinCapture has been deployed in phase I to phase IV clinical studies, for pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic companies, and CROs. ClinCapture already features an integrated eClinical suite of modules, including easy-to-use randomization, ePRO (Patient Reported Outcomes), CTMS (Clinical Trials Management System), and offline data entry. Clinovo recently unveiled its new medical coding module at the Outsourcing in Clinical Trials West Coast Conference in Burlingame, CA, greatly improving clinical data consistency and interoperability.

Contact information

Sophie McCallum

Director of Operations, Clinovo

408-773-6258

sophie.mccallum(at)clinovo(dot)com

About Clinovo

Clinovo is a technology focused Contract Research Organization (CRO) headquartered in the Silicon Valley. Clinovo streamlines clinical trials for life science companies globally by developing validated, intuitive open source eClinical systems. Clients claim over 50% cost savings using Clinovo’s open source Electronic Data Capture (EDC) system ClinCapture, and CDISC Express, the first open source CDISC conversion tool. Services also include Biometrics Services, Staffing Solutions, and TechTrainings.







Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP Releases Infographic Illustrating 2013 Manufacturing Venture Capital Deals

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Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) February 04, 2014

Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP(HA&W), the largest Georgia-headquartered tax, accounting and business consulting firm, released today an infographic illustrating the number of venture capital deals that occurred in 2013 for select manufacturing sub-niches.

HA&W’s 2013 Manufacturing Venture Capital Wrap Up infographic illustrates the number of venture capital deals at all stages that occurred in food manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, chemicals & gases manufacturing, metals manufacturing, plastic containers and packaging manufacturing and distribution. The infographic shows all manufacturing venture capital deals within the U.S. and is broken down further into deals that occurred within the Southeastern region.

Readers can quickly gauge the areas of manufacturing that most commonly receive venture capital funding and the average value of those deals. This is important information as manufacturers look for funding to continue to grow their business, add new products and processes or increase employee count.

“Understanding which manufacturing companies received venture capital funding in 2013 is crucial to those manufacturers seeking funding in 2014,” said Adam Beckerman, partner-in-charge of the manufacturing & distribution group at HA&W. “As they look back at the last year, it’s easy to see which areas were strategic from an investor standpoint. This can help companies make better informed decisions about their future.”

Interested in where the money went in 2013? Check out the full infographic at http://www.hawcpa.com/industries/manufacturing-distribution.

Looking to make more money and keep more of it in 2014? Contact Adam Beckerman, partner-in-charge of the manufacturing & distribution group, at adam.beckerman(at)hawcpa(dot)com or 404-898-8542.

Thank you to Pitchbook (http://pitchbook.com/) for providing the data.

About Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP:

Today, the pace at which work gets done is faster than ever before, and when companies manage that pace by surrounding themselves with the right people, sustainable success happens. That’s why recognizable industry leaders within the manufacturing sector continue to select Habif, Arogeti &Wynne, LLP as their accounting, audit, tax, and consulting firm of choice. Companies looking to increase profitability, streamline processes that improve financial reporting and reduce the time associated with audits, tax planning and compliance choose HA&W. Quicker answers, avoiding unforeseen pitfalls, becoming a better business for the long-run; these are just a few of the benefits clients routinely experience when working with HA&W. Starting up, growing or getting ready to transition? Operating locally, nationally or globally? HA&W gets you where you want to be. Be Successful.

Reach out to HA&W at http://www.hawcpa.com.







Gradually Improving IPO Market Produces Strengthened Venture Capital Fund Performance

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Arlington, VA (PRWEB) February 03, 2014

Venture capital fund performance continued to make gains across most time horizons as of September 30, 2013, according to the Cambridge Associates LLC U.S. Venture Capital Index®, the performance benchmark of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The quarterly, 1-, 3-, 5-, 10- and 15-year horizons all showed higher returns with no change in the 20-year horizon. The 10-year return inched higher for the 14th consecutive quarter and the 1-year performance indicator nearly doubled from one year ago. Despite these improvements, the 1-, 3-, and 5- year returns were bested by the DJIA, NASDAQ Composite, and S&P 500 as of Q3 2013.

“In the past 10 years, returns overall have been more modest than those of the previous decade but some great companies were created in this period, many of which are expanding their growth by going public or being acquired,” said Bobby Franklin, president and CEO, NVCA. “The industry has been optimistic about seeing an improvement in VC fund performance, and it’s encouraging to see that materialize. Given the better exit environment, the IPO markets generated welcomed returns to limited partners and that should continue through Q4 2013 and we hope in 2014,” Franklin added.

“A healthy IPO market and M&A activity both benefitted biotech and IT companies alike,” said Theresa Sorrentino Hajer, Managing Director, Venture Capital Research at Cambridge Associates. “While there were several success stories involving large companies, the IPO market remains highly selective and volatile. The stronger exit environment has meant good news for LPs in the form of distributions from venture funds.”

Vintage Year Return Ratios

The following chart lists the ratio between the dollars paid into venture capital funds by limited partners (LPs) and the dollars distributed to them by vintage year. For example, the 2002 vintage year funds have distributed cash of 0.67 times the amount of capital paid in by LPs and the residual value is 0.36 times the paid-in capital; the total value multiple is therefore 1.03 times. It is important to note that the residual value is unrealized and will change as companies exit the portfolio, are re-valued, or are written off. The 2003 and 2004 vintage year funds show the most positive ratio of the last decade, with returns at 1.58 and 1.49 times (respectively) the capital contributed by LPs, should those funds realize the value of what remains in the portfolio. More recent vintage years have yet to return significant cash to LPs as most funds do not have the opportunity to begin returning capital until after year five.

Additional Performance Benchmarks

To view the full, comprehensive report, which includes tables on additional time horizons, vintage years, and industry returns, please visit the Cambridge Associates or NVCA websites.

Cambridge Associates derives its U.S. venture capital benchmarks from the financial information contained in its proprietary database of venture capital funds. As of September 30, 2013, the database included 1,439 venture funds formed from 1981 through 2013.

About The National Venture Capital Association

Venture capitalists are committed to funding America’s most innovative entrepreneurs, working closely with them to transform breakthrough ideas into emerging growth companies that drive U.S. job creation and economic growth. As the voice of the U.S. venture capital community, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) empowers its members and the entrepreneurs they fund by advocating for policies that encourage innovation and reward long-term investment. As the venture community’s preeminent trade association, NVCA serves as the definitive resource for venture capital data and unites nearly 400 members through a full range of professional services. For more information about the NVCA, please visit http://www.nvca.org.

About Cambridge Associates

Founded in 1973, Cambridge Associates is a provider of independent investment advice and research to institutional investors and private clients worldwide. Today the firm serves over 950 global investors and delivers a range of services, including investment consulting, outsourced portfolio solutions, research services and tools (Research Navigatorsm and Benchmark Calculator), and performance monitoring, across asset classes. The firm compiles the performance results for over 5,500 private partnerships and their more than 68,000 portfolio company investments to publish its proprietary private investments benchmarks, of which the Cambridge Associates LLC U.S. Venture Capital Index® and Cambridge Associates LLC U.S. Private Equity Index® are widely considered to be among the standard benchmark statistics for these asset classes. Cambridge Associates has been selected to provide data and to develop and maintain customized industry benchmarks for a number of prominent industry associations, including the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Australian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association Limited (AVCAL); the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA); the Canada Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA);the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (HKVCA); the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA); the New Zealand Private Equity & Venture Capital Association Inc. (NZVCA); the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA); and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Cambridge also provides data and analysis to the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA). Cambridge Associates has more than 1,100 employees serving its client base globally and maintains offices in Arlington, VA; Boston; Dallas; Menlo Park, CA; London; Singapore; Sydney; and Beijing. Cambridge Associates consists of five global investment consulting affiliates that are all under common ownership and control. For more information about Cambridge Associates, please visit http://www.cambridgeassociates.com.







Corbin Bernsens Crowdsourcing Venture, Powsumer, to Use Big Data

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Akron, Ohio (PRWEB) March 28, 2013

Powsumer a new consumer-driven pricing website founded by Corbin Bernsen, will use “big data” to pursue the best deals for shoppers, according to a recent article on Akron Beacon Journal Online. Since the launch of a funding campaign on the Indiegogo crowdsourcing site, Powsumer has drawn attention for its use of crowdsourcing to fund a crowd-powered venture.

“Indiegogo is a great way to launch Powsumer,” says Corbin Bernsen, co-founder and president, Powsumer. “Powsumer will rely on broad-based internet participation to bring the best deals to consumers, much the same way Indiegogo uses the internet to crowd-source funds for many worthy causes.”

The Journal noted: “Consumers would tell Powsumer what they want to buy and how much they want to pay. Powsumer would use ‘big data’ — large, complex sets of information that is the project’s secret sauce — to determine the likelihood of a supplier agreeing to that price.”

Powsumers disruptive e-commerce technology will allow communities of individuals to more actively participate and drive down the price in the consumer choices they make. The patent-pending technology includes protection of the “big data” analytics associated with the process of bringing consumers together into purchasing groups (“packs”) through social and web networks as well as procuring suppliers that are willing to fulfill a packs purchasing demands. Each pack will be established by a “pack leader” that defines the product or service the pack wants as well as the lowest price each member of the pack is willing to pay for the product or service. Powsumer connects suppliers with the pack and helps negotiate and close the deal as a volume purchase. Suppliers of products can be anywhere in the world and will drop ship the product directly to individual consumers without Powsumer ever handling the specific product. Big data will allow for robust metrics for both the consumer and the supplier around real time market data, product and pricing trends, and current surplus inventory throughout the U.S. and world.

The $ 100,000 funding goal will be used to pay for further development and launch of the Powsumer.com beta site. The Indiegogo campaign can be found at: http://igg.me/at/powsumer/x/2593754. Supporters of the campaign will receive a range of perks from founder certificates and hoodies to a visit with the Powsumer team, including founder Bernsen.

About Powsumer

Founded in 2011, Powsumer is a consumer driven pricing site that is enticing to educated consumers everywhere. Powsumer brings together consumers into purchasing groups (“packs”) with social and web networks who demand the lowest price for things they want. Powsumer provides distributors, retailers, and manufacturers a conduit to sell at profitable margins.







FD Venture Farm announces strategic partnerships with leading Angel Investor Organizations

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Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) May 31, 2013

FD Venture Farm, LLC today announced a strategic relationship with six of the nation’s leading Angel investor organizations. These Angel groups will utilize FD Venture Farm’s technology platform and services to manage and socialize portfolio company business updates and to facilitate syndication initiatives between Angel organizations for follow-on seed and seed prime investments. Series A institutional investors, strategic investors and corporate acquirers will also leverage the FD Venture Farm to identify angel funded companies ready for institutional capital or a potential acquisition.

The following Angel Investor Organizations have joined the strategic initiative:


    Georgia – Atlanta Technology Angels (ATA)
    Georgia – Ariel Savannah Angel Partners (ASAP)
    Alabama – Angel Investor Management Group (AIM)
    South Carolina – Upstate Carolina Angel Network (UCAN)    
    North Carolina – Piedmont Angel Network (PAN)
    Florida – Tamiami Angel Fund I, LLC (TAFI)

“Angel Investor organizations have grown significantly over the last decade and have emerged as the nation’s most significant driver of capital formation for early stage ventures,” observed Mike Eckert, Vice Chairman of the Angel Capital Association. “Angel organizations are becoming more organized and sophisticated in the manner in which they collaborate, not only within their respective local organizations, but across geographical boundaries. The FD Venture Farm platform will help create synergies with an expanding group of Angel organizations and will significantly help early stage companies facilitate capital formation and exit activity.”

“Improving the efficiency of capital acquisition for both investors and companies is a major goal of our business model,” said Dick Reeves, CEO of the Angel Investor Management Group. “We manage investments by over 200 people in over 16 different companies, and constantly seek ways to smooth the flow of information in all directions and over all our geographies. FD Venture Farm appears to have great potential to facilitate these goals.”

“The FD Venture Farm platform supports important strategic and operational directives of our organization, “said Bernie Dixon, Executive Chairman of the Atlanta Technology Angels. “It is important to provide our membership a mechanism to track the progress of our funding activities after investments have been made and throughout the entrepreneurial and funding lifecycles.    As an independent service, associated with one of the largest CPA firms in the country, FD Venture Farm represents a trusted and professional resource to fulfill our needs and support the ATA ecosystem.”

“Increasing the reach and efficiency of Angel organizations is critical to fueling the vital entrepreneurial activities in our nation’s economy,” said Matt Dunbar, Managing Director of Upstate Carolina Angel Network and Angel Capital Association Board member. “Our group has been searching for a much needed process and technology platform to enable our early stage ventures to provide important financial and milestone updates on their businesses as they mature. The FD Venture Farm platform represents an independent and professional service that will standardize company updates and help us manage access to those updates not only for our organization, but also for other Angel organizations, larger institutional and corporate investors, and potential strategic acquirers.”

“Angel organizations are a critical source of funding for early stage ventures,” said Mark Rainosek, CEO and President of FD Venture Farm. “We are excited to be able to bring value to leading Angel investor organizations. FD Venture Farm provides the technology and processes to intelligently monitor and track early stage companies for Angel investors as well as interested institutional and strategic investors and acquirers.”

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About FD Venture Farm

FD Venture Farm, LLC is an independent deal monitoring service designed to facilitate the tracking of specific companies of interest to investors. Companies tracked through the service are limited to those referred by approved institutional and private equity capital investors and lenders. FD Venture Farm is a Frazier & Deeter company.

About Frazier & Deeter

Frazier & Deeter LLC is a nationally recognized CPA and Advisory firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm provides tailored services across a wide range of tax, audit, accounting and advisory needs. Frazier & Deeter is one of the 100 largest firms in the country and has been named the #1 Accounting Firm to Work For in the U.S. by Accounting Today magazine and a “Best of the Best” CPA firm in the U.S. by Inside Public Accounting.







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