Starlight Capital/APVA/StartUp Club Investor Networking Conference

Starlight Capital and APVA* Enterprise Pitch and Investor Networking Event

Wednesday,  September 18, 2019

HESS Event Building

5430 Westheimer Rd.

Houston, TX  77056

Starlight Capital and APVA are pleased to invite you to our upcoming corporate presentation and investor networking forum will be held at The HESS Event Center, Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, September 18, 2019.  Up to 15 carefully selected technology companies will present their investment opportunity and answer questions.  At past meetings technologies licensed from Texas A&M, Houston Methodist Research and MD Anderson have presented.  Sign-in will start at 11:00 am. The Banquet Luncheon will be served at noon and the meeting goes until 5:00 pm followed by cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a jazz ensemble for attendees networking enjoyment will be served.

The event is sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Health Catalyst, Dell Medical School.

The “early-bird” investor registration fee is only $175. Registrants are allowed to bring up to two members of your firm or other “investor” guests at no charge. Please keep in mind that your guests must be bona fide active direct and accredited investors for their own personal account or that of the firm they represent, and may not include entrepreneurs seeking capital, vendors or service providers.

 

In order to make arrangements for your investor guests to attend, just send their names and business affiliation, if any, to me together with their e-mail addresses and phone numbers, and we will confirm their complimentary registrations on your behalf. As you may be aware, we provide a financial guarantee to the club with respect to each confirmed guest for the banquet luncheon. In addition, we certify the roster of investor participants to the presenting companies. Accordingly, when inviting your guests, thank you so much for letting them know that this is not an “I’ll drop in if I can make it event” and they should not RSVP unless that are quite sure that they can attend and stay for most of the entire function.

 We are expecting 50+ guests, which will include many prominent people from the investment community. As we only have a few VIP guest tickets still available, thank you in advance for finalizing your arrangements to attend upon receipt of this confirmation in order to hold your reservation. Kindly note that admission to the forum as a VIP Guest requires this advance registration.  Alternatively, our standard Registration Fee of $275 would be applicable if seats are still available on the event date.

AGENDA

11-12  Registration

12-1    Gala Luncheon

1-5      Flights of presenters the first half of each hour followed by break-out sessions the second half of each hour

5-6      Networking Reception

I hope that you decide to join us there.

Note:  The Ticket price includes all expenses (the luncheon, snacks, and eight hours of networking at the HESS Club) related to your participation in the event.  Whereas the Sponsors will not sell or serve alcohol at the event, the venue may offer an optional cash bar for those participants allowed to purchase alcoholic beverages and the bartender, a venue employee, will check government-issued photo identifications to ensure age verification.  The Sponsors do not endorse the consumption of alcohol and do not receive any compensation for the sale of such beverages.

Bryan Emerson, President                                                            Steve Brewer, Founder and Executive Director

Starlight Capital, Inc.                                                                    American Philanthropic Ventures Association, Inc.

1 (713) 234-1531 tel                                                                    1 (713) 443-3662 tel

emersonb@starlightcapital.co                                                       sbrewercapital@gmail.com 

P.S.:   Past investor event attendees included Palmetto Partners, Savoy Capital, Gallipolis Partners, Cockrell Family Partners, Gaylord Interests, Duncan Interests, Cheyenne Partners, LB Capital, Way Holdings, RD Heritage, BJW Investments, Cullen Foundation, Elm Creek Partners, Duke Capital Management, Memorial Herman Investment Fund, Raymond James, Fenner Weller, Rushmore Investment Advisors, Southwell Partners, Tracadia Capital, Aggie Venture Partners, Houston Angel Network members, Aggie Angel Members, Hill Country Angel Members, Dallas/Ft. Worth Angel Members, Brazos Angel Members, Texas Halo Fund, and GOOSE Fund, among many others.

​

A Note to Potential Entrepreneur Attendees

If you are currently raising capital and need to take any of the following steps, then you should seriously consider applying to present at this event. 

1)   Go outside of your existing network of contacts to find investors. 2)   Schedule an expensive national road trip to meet capital sources. 3)   Pay to retain an investment banker or placement agent. 4)   Find a cost-effective proven venue to locate new investors. 5)   Accelerate the funding process to execute your business plan.

6)   Move-on, as you are still waiting to hear back from investors, who should have provided the funding you needed by now.

​

Although we wish it could be, this is not a free event. (As is true with most things in life, it is not what or if you pay, but what you get for what you pay.) We are not part of any non-profit group or government agency and our events are not primarily funded by vendors or service providers, which ensures an "investor-only" venue. Accordingly, companies are required to pay a fee to be featured at the event based upon a number of alternatives, which we try to tailor to the financial situation of each company and may include a partially differed or contingent payment. As every company varies with respect to its financial resources, stage, revenues and funding requirements, we do not have a "one size fits all" structure with respect to fees or visibility options. Our forum could be best described as a co-op for the 12 to 15 companies that present - such as a trade show would be. We underwrite the events and the featured companies share in the overhead cost. They do so because our model ensures them an audience of nearly 100% qualified investors who have paid to attend and whom we disclose in advance.

This highly-targeted venue can help you solve the three biggest problems in the fundraising process: 1) identifying qualified investors, 2) gaining credible entrée to them and 3) meeting them under favorable circumstances. Moreover, the event drives the single most essential factor in getting funded quickly, and that is the ability to create contemporaneous interest among investors - which also can serve to significantly improve deal terms. 

Please keep in mind that this event distinguishes itself from many other venues in several key respects. Here are a few of them:

1)   Nearly 100% of the guests (not connected with the presenting companies) are active investors who have PAID to attend.

2)   Presenting companies reach a national audience of qualified funding sources focusing on early-stage opportunities.

3)   Only 15 to 20 companies are featured on the program which provides for high visibility to investors.

4)   The events are not sponsor supported and accordingly not heavily populated with service providers.

5)   There are no concurrent activities or competing presentations. All companies present to the entire audience.

6)   Companies are never more than 10 to 20 minutes from their breakout sessions after they present.

7)   These are "deal-oriented" events. There are no panels or other distractions that keep the spotlight from the presenters.

8)   The majority of the attendees are principals of the private equity or venture capital firms whom they represent.

9)   Presenters can plan for the forums in advance as we provide confirmed guest information prior to the conference dates.

10) Featured companies benefit from the strong brand equity that we have built with investors over nearly 10 years.

If you believe that your company's potential is truly compelling and that management's vision can be effectively communicated, this private event will provide you with a unique national platform to get your message across in "One Place and in One Day" to active serious investors who want to see fundable deals.

​

Sample Prior Fundings

​

We estimate that several hundred million dollars has gone to past Presenters over recent years, much of which could be directly or indirectly attributed to our forums. Our prior conference guests and other funds who have invested in these businesses include such prominent groups as those listed below by funded company. Of course, there is no assurance that presenting at our upcoming forum will result in obtaining capital.

FlexLight Networks: Accel Partners, Applied Materials Ventures, Concept Ventures, Concord Ventures,

Coral Ventures and St. Paul Venture Capital

Aircuity: IDP, Navigator Technology Ventures, Venture Capital Fund of New England, Industrial Development Partners

iKimbo: Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, Draper Atlantic, MRW Enterprises, Schoffstall Ventures and Riggs Capital Investment

Visioneered Image Systems: Baker Capital, 21Venture and Arcturus Capital

Adzilla: Alloy Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners

LNL Technologies: Mohr and Davidow Ventures

BioVigilant: Battelle Ventures, Community Investment Corporation, Innovation Valley Partners and Pearl Street Venture Funds

Ifbyphone: Apex Venture Partners and Origin Ventures

HardMetrics: NextStage Capital, Osage Ventures and SilkRoad Equity

Burly Bear Network: NB Capital Venture Partners, New York City Investment Fund, Constellation Ventures and CIT Venture Capital

TelaDoc: Tri-State Private Investors Network and Trident Capital

Dogmatic: Roark Capital Equity Partners, Snowden Investments, Venture

Performance Partners and Tri-State Private Investors

Vystar: Tri-State Private Investors and Network of Business Angels and Investors

Cybersettle: Spencer Trask Ventures, Tri-State Private Investors Network, Bowery Partners and Saint-Donat & Co.

E Ink: FA Technology Ventures, Hearst Corporation, Intel Capital and Motorola Ventures

Xtellus: AIG Orion Fund, Alta Berkeley Venture Partners and Israel Seed Partners

nTag: Pilot House Ventures and Group Sevin Rosen Funds

Operative (Formerly Trafficmac): Aardvark Capital

AgriPower: Vogel Capital Management and other investors

Hingi: Opus Capital Ventures

Xtify: Acadia Woods Partners and SeventySix Capital

​

Health Plan One: Pequot Capital and Greycroft Partners

​

Lymbix: GrowthWorks and Atlantic Venture Fund

​

Santos Spirits: Bennett Private Equity and Angel Investments

​

​