InnoVenture Southeast 2010 is next Tuesday and Wednesday, May 11 and 12 at the Carolina First Center in Greenville, SC.

67 presenters who are among the world’s best are set.

   Tuesday: Smart Communities, Transformed Mobility, and a networking BBQ dinner at CU-ICAR

   Wednesday: Advanced Materials and Clean Energy

400 and counting thought leaders are registered to attend….will you be there?
 
Register online today, or if you already have, invite a friend to join you.

For more information and to get your place at the event go to – http://innoventuresoutheast.com/ 

Below is The Greenville News editorial write-up concerning this coming event -

May 6, 2010

If there were such a thing as perfect timing for the annual InnoVenture conference, this is it. As South Carolina — along with the rest of the nation — seeks to emerge from the recession, it’s more important than ever that Greenville and the entire state position themselves to attract high-quality, high-technology employers.

That will be a key to expanding the knowledge economy here.
This year, InnoVenture Southeast will be held May 11-12 at the Carolina First Center. As usual, it will bring together an eclectic group of students, researchers, corporations, entrepreneurs and investors. The synergy that’s created at the event has one overarching goal: To foster the sustained growth of South Carolina’s economy.

This is InnoVenture’s seventh year. It’s the first year that presenters at InnoVenture will be grouped according to disciplines: clean energy, advanced materials, transformed mobility and smart communities. According to a recent report in The News, those groups were chosen because they are areas in which the Upstate is globally competitive.

“What we’re hoping will come out of this is there’s more connectivity between then,” InnoVenture organizer John Warner told the newspaper.

InnoVenture was started in 2004 to introduce investors to emerging companies that needed capital. It focused on venture capital investment, linking so-called angel investors and venture capitalists with high technology start-ups.

The conference has grown since then to match students with potential employers and researchers with potential partners. This year it features presentations from major corporations and research universities. Companies such as Electrolux and electric bus-maker Proterra will attend. And executives such as Ed Sellers, chief executive of BlueCross, BlueShield of South Carolina, will make presentations. In addition, the South Carolina Research Authority and representatives from at least two investor networks — the Upstate Carolina Angel Network and Charleston Angel Partners — will be at the conference.

The agenda features presentations by seven “senior leaders” such as Sellers; Harris Pastides, who is president of the University of South Carolina; and Chris Desoiza, vice president of Milliken Research Corp. It also features 10-minute presentations by 60 “passionate champions” who are helping to foster economic growth through their varied efforts.

In short, when InnoVenture convenes next week in Greenville, there will be a convergence of money and intellect at the Carolina First Center that has the potential to create a lot of jobs for this state.
InnoVenture is one of the trademarks of Greenville’s entrepreneurial spirit. It’s a catalyst for development of the knowledge economy and it has borne real fruit in the past several years.

With a sharp focus on developing opportunities for business development and boosting the Upstate’s economy, InnoVenture is a vital piece of Greenville’s economic development puzzle as the state and region emerge from the recession and strive to build a 21st century economy.

No Comments »

Posted in:  News you can use, Upstate Thoughts