For entrepreneurs seeking investors there will be no more ducking and weaving around service providersor approaching an unfamiliar investor who has little interest in the their industry. That is the goal of Capital On Stage NYC that serves as an intermediary to match entrepreneurs with investors.
Capital On Stage touts its unique conference format in which top-tier investors stand on stage and pitch the type of ventures they fund to an audience of startups. This is a significant break from the common practice of entrepreneurs attending events and broadcasting their funding needs to a crowd of unknown investors with the hope of finding the right match.
Capital On Stage NYC was held on October 30, 2014 at the law offices of Orrick located in mid-town Manhattan. Twenty-five investors made pitches to over one hundred thirty entrepreneurs. Each entrepreneur was guaranteed one-on-one meetings with investors of their choice.
Through its ongoing commitment to remove the cat and mouse inefficiencies of entrepreneur to investor matching, Capital On Stage has gained increasing support and participation of angel investors and leading venture capital firms. Their global reach includes past events in London, Berlin, Singapore and future events scheduled for Paris, Toronto and San Francisco in 2015. In all a total of twelve events are planned for 2015.
“The offline events provide us with a way to try to close the knowledge gap between startups & vc’s. The firm’s primary objective is to ensure startups are matched with the right vc’s. We’re constantly working on tweaking the matching algorithm so that we can ensure this,” states Capital on Stage’s web site.
A wide variety of investors attend Capital On Stage events, ranging from seed investors to well-known venture capitalists. The rigorous process of selecting entrepreneurs for the event includes convincing the organizers that they are scalable web/tech startups and will commit to either a founder or CEO attending. By assuring that entrepreneurs are only in attendance, investors are more willing to attend and use their format.
“The fact that we’re back in New York City for the third time with the same format, having VCs pitch to entrepreneurs, proves that there’s still a great need for more transparency from investors. Startup founders need to know who they’re taking on as investors in their company, both on an individual and business level. This is why we’ll keep demystifying venture capital and showcasing all VC video pitches for free on our website,” says CEO Arjen Strijker Founder & MD Capital on Stage.
See the video of Capital On Stage NYC
Photo: From left to right, the panelists are: Kathleen Utrecht – Core Innovation Capital,Jeff Parkinson – KEC Ventures, David Teten – ff Venture Capital, Ryan Ziegler – Edison Partners
