Most high growth start-ups are fueled by capital – product development, staffing, go-to market. There are many avenues for raising capital and an increasing number of unique investment models available for entrepreneurs to pursue.
Listen to a panel discussion featuring 4 professional investors in early stage businesses. Hear what models they use to invest in, support, and help grow the companies they work with. What financing models and structures are available to entrepreneurs? What criteria to does each investor look for in a transaction? What are the best ways to engage with sources of outside captial?
Seating will be limited to 70, so please register early to reserve your spot. Agenda as follows:
6-7pm: Networking
7-8:30pm: Panel discussion/program
7-8pm: Moderator questions for the panel
8-8:30pm: Q&A from the audience
8:30-9: Networking
Panelists
Germán Montoya is Co-founder and Chief Strategy & Creative Officer at Rokk3r Labs, where he oversees global business development strategy and new venture creation. Previously, Germán was CCO at Cycelogic where he led the commercialization of integrated mobile communications. Under his leadership the company saw an 80% profit growth across 7 geographical regions.
Prior to that, Germán was a leader in the strategic consulting practice at Accenture where he led corporate strategy engagements. Germán was granted an academic fellowship from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and holds a degree in Applied Economics and Business Management from Cornell University.
Melissa Krinzman is the Managing Partner of Krillion Ventures, a $50 million early stage venture capital firm that actively invests in early stage technology companies solving problems in healthcare, financial services, and real estate. Melissa is also the Founder of Venture Architects LLC, a business planning firm that positions early and growth stage companies for success in the capital–‐ raising process.
With a 20–‐year history of launching, growing and advising private companies and non–‐profit organizations, Melissa is considered an expert in the field of entrepreneurship. She has worked with over 1,200 companies that have raised more than $1 billion in investment capital using business plans developed by Venture Architects. Additionally, Melissa is a sought after speaker and advisor on the subjects of business planning and capital raising, and has judged business plan competitions across the country. She began her career as a member of the start–‐up teams for three prominent, national nonprofit organizations and a European fashion company.
Melissa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University and serves as a board advisor for many of Krillion Ventures’ investments. Melissa is Vice Chair of The Miami Foundation as well as a board member of Beacon College Prep (a non–‐profit charter school for underprivileged children), and Ransom–‐Everglades School Alumni Board.
Thomas “Tigre” Wenrich, CEO @ The LAB Miami and LAB.Ventures
Tigre recently joined The LAB Miami as CEO and is launching LAB.Ventures, a “venture builder” that aims to create game-changing new businesses in partnership with the region’s best entrepreneurial talent and leading corporations. Tigre is also an active angel investor and a mentor to several local emerging technology companies, having invested in more than two dozen startups.
In 2009 Tigre joined Andres Moreno as the Founding COO and CFO of Open English, growing the company from commercial launch to over $50M in annual revenues and creating a massive consumer brand. Today Open English is the leading on-line language school in the Americas, having helped nearly 500,000 students to learn English over the internet. Under Tigre’s leadership, Open English raised over $120M of Venture Capital in four rounds of investment from firms including Redpoint, Insight, and Technology Crossover Ventures.
Tigre began his career as a strategy consultant with The Boston Consulting Group, where he spent 16 years as a partner in the US, Spain and Mexico. Later, from 2006 to 2009, he built a chain of 20 check cashing and PayDay Loan stores in Miami, which he purchased in an MBO and subsequently sold to a larger competitor. He was also a founding investor and Board member of Proteak, a large Latin American forestry business which listed on the Mexican stock exchange in 2010.
Tigre holds a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and is fluent in Spanish and English.
Jeff Toewe joined AthenianVenture Partners, an established venture capital firm that specializes in early stage Information Technology, Digital Health and Healthcare investing, in 2015 and serves on the firm’s investment team, focusing on Information Technology investments. His responsibilities include deal sourcing, origination, due diligence, investment selection, transaction structuring and portfolio company development.
Prior to joining Athenian full-time, Mr. Toewe worked as an independent technology consultant to several venture capital firms, including Athenian, for strategic guidance on certain technology investments. It was in this capacity that Athenian’s Partners became acquainted with Mr. Toewe and worked together on numerous projects.
As a tech start-up veteran with extensive tech aptitude and experience, Mr. Toewe has a demonstrated success in strategy, solution design & execution. He has founded and led multiple Digital, Mobile and FinTech companies, achieving multiple successful exits. Recent deals include Cinergy International in the UK, which provides sophisticated point-of-purchase decision systems to mobile telecoms; M-Dot Network, which led the definition of digital coupon standards, won #1 Amazon Startup of the Year and today is used by nearly 20,000 retail stores; and DoubleBeam/GoPago, a payments solutions provider that is now a leading Tablet POS solution.
Deeply active in the tech startup community, Mr. Toewe serves as an advisor and participant to multiple tech companies and enjoys mentoring startups. He has been featured and interviewed for Google #StartupGrind and has been a panelist and speaker for CTIA #LetsTalkPayments.
Mr. Toewe earned a BA in Politics from Saint Joseph’s University and an MSIS (Master of Science in Information Systems) from Drexel University. He has also completed Open Courseware in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Panel Moderator
Andrew Heitner is founder and director of Alcon Partners, a buy-side advisory firm that assists Private Equity firms and corporate M&A departments source and evaluate acquisition opportunities., with offices in Miami, Boston, and Vermont. He also owns Alcon Technology Consulting, Inc., a telecommunications firm based in Boston. Mr. Heitner was previously co-founder of New Frontiers Information Corporation (NFIC), a Cambridge, MA software company that sells enterprise-level digital content management systems. NFIC was subsequently acquired by the Banta Corporation (now RR Donnelley NYSE:RRD) and he served for several years following the acquisition as Director of Banta Integrated Media.
Mr. Heitner serves on the executive board of the MIT Enterprise Forum of South Florida, the Investment Committee for Miami Children’s Hospital board of directors, and on the Executive Council of MPE Partners private equity firm. He has been a lecturer at the University of Miami School of Business in Entrepreneurship, and serves as a judge for the Leigh M. Rothschild Business Plan Competition. He is involved in a number entrepreneurial ventures, including angel investments in 4 start-up companies. He holds BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.