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Gold Sponsors

Fundatia Post-Privatizare DLA Piper

Silver Sponsors

IBM PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Bronze Sponsors

Axxess Capital GED Capital Enterprise Investors Venture Connect Banca Transilvania

Supporting Partners

Continental Hotels Paravion Friends Advertising mobilPay EuroVerba HP

Media Partners

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A New Roadmap for Growth for Entrepreneurs and Investors

Interested to find out more about world’s most famous entrepreneurial hot spot, the epicenter of venture capital in the world, the rock bed of Stanford University and of some of the most important technology companies in the world? Are you interested in private equity or venture capital, in entrepreneurship or innovation, in top education or in technology ?

Join us on May 20 at the Intercontinental in Bucharest for SEEPEA’s first event of the year: “Building Bridges Between Silicon Valley and South Eastern Europe, Financing and Growing Successful Companies” to learn more about all the ingredients which made Silicon Valley the only place on Earth not trying to figure out how to become Silicon Valley. We've put together an impressive roster of speakers and panelists who will provide you with a behind-the-scenes view of financing and growing successful companies both in SEE and in Silicon Valley.

We are proud to present you with the opportunity to enjoy the presentations of two truly outstanding keynote speakers, for the first time in front of a Romanian audience. You can hear directly from our opening keynote speaker, Burton Lee, who teaches European Entrepreneurship at Stanford University, why and how the region around Stanford turned into the magnet of investors, entrepreneurs and technologists and to what extent can South Eastern Europe emulate this model. In the second part of the day you can learn from our afternoon keynote speaker, a truly significant figure in European venture capital, Georges Noel, the Senior Director of European Venture Capital Association, what lies ahead for entrepreneurs seeking to raise financing in Europe.




               from the heart of Silicon Valley                                   from European Venture Capital 
                       Stanford University                                                  Association in Brussels

                       <b>Burton Lee</b><br />From the heart of Silicon Valley - Stanford University<br /><br />Lecturer at the Stanford School of Engineering, and Director of Stanford's European Entrepreneurship and Innovation initiative, Dr. Lee's professional credentials span over 15 years of senior executive leadership and advisory positions with venture-backed startups, global technology corporations, venture capital and private equity firms, federal S&T agencies, state economic development offices, leading research universities, foreign governments and industry associations. His management and technical experience includes senior executive and research positions with Hewlett Packard, GE Global Research, DaimlerChrysler AG and NASA in the United States, Europe and Japan. Burton also serves as Managing Director of Innovarium Ventures, a financial, technical and strategic advisory services firm based in Silicon Valley with technology startup, angel investor, investment fund, university, industry association, corporate and national/regional government clients in Europe, Latin America and the USA.  Dr. Lee is a globally recognized expert on innovation ecosystems and networks.<br /> <b>Georges Noël</b><br />Director, Venture Capital Platform<br />Secretary of the EVCA Investor Relations Committee<br /><br />Mr. Noël is responsible for all EVCA activity in venture capital, monitoring industry developments and promoting the venture segment of the European private equity industry. He is also the Secretary of the EVCA Investor Relations Committee and leads EVCA activities related to the promotion of the European PE/VC industry.<br /><br />Mr. Noël has been involved in all aspects of the private equity and venture capital industry for over 20 years, including serving as both Chairman (2000) and Secretary General (2002-2003) of the Belgian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (BVA).<br /><br />Mr. Noël' experience as an investment professional in private equity has encompassed a range of roles and responsibilities as GP or LP at various private equity houses in the fields of venture capital, expansion capital and fund-of-funds.<br /><br />Mr. Noël has also a broad experience as an independent board member for over 20 years in European and North American listed and unlisted companies.<br /><br />Prior to his involvement in private equity, Mr. Noël was CFO and Member of the Executive Committee of a family owned international industrial company based in Belgium for 11 years and and prior to that held various positions in at a large private bank in Belgium and Germany.<br /><br />Mr. Noël is a qualified banker (Diploma of Bankkaufmann, Germany).<br /><br />He is also Past-President of the IMD Alumni Club of Belgium (1999-2002).<br /><br />


We are also very excited to welcome over 20 exceptional speakers and panelists from both Silicon Valley and South Eastern Europe:

  • • Entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley will discuss with local entrepreneurs having Silicon Valley experience like Florin Talpes, Radu Georgescu and Antonio Eram about the importance of  the ecosystem for starting and growing and business;

  • • Top bankers will comment with leading consultants the dos and don'ts for getting financing;

  • • Representatives of the private equity and venture capital funds and business angels will  share their experiences on funding and growing successful companies both in SEE and in Silicon Valley;

  • • Silicon Valley lawyers from top international law firms will bring from the trenches their views on what can make or break a deal when raising financing;

  • • Innovation experts will examine the strengths and weaknesses of innovation in SEE.


Speakers
<b>Garth A. Osterman</b><br />DLA Piper<br />Partner<br /><br />Garth Osterman concentrates his practice in mergers and acquisitions, divestiture transactions, buyouts and private equity. Mr. Osterman also serves lenders and developers as lead counsel in project finance transactions. Among his clients are hedge funds, private equity funds and companies of all sizes engaged in US and cross-border, mergers, acquisitions and leveraged buyouts.<br /><br />In addition, Mr. Osterman has recently acted as lead counsel and transaction manager for a private equity fund's investment in and acquisition of real estate in Eastern Europe, with a deal value in excess of €100 million, as well as acting as lead counsel and transaction manager for a private equity fund’s acquisition of a company specializing in mezzanine loan facilities in Eastern Europe, used for acquisitions, capital improvements and other purposes not related to general working capital, with a deal value in excess of €24 million.<br /><br />In the project finance arena, Mr. Osterman's practice includes structured finance transactions and the acquisition, sale and restructuring of assets for clients participating in the renewable energy industry. He has advised on both the project side and the investor/lender side of transactions. On the project side, he has acted as lead counsel and transaction manager for Rule 144A debt offerings as well as the sale and acquisition of assets. On the investor/lender side, he has represented lenders in project finance transactions, including alternative energy projects, as well as investors in project finance transactions. His energy practice also includes the development and operation of power generation facilities.<br /> <b> Theodor Stanescu </b><br />IBM Romania<br />Business Development Executive<br />Panelists
<b>Florin Talpes</b><br />BitDefender<br />Founder and CEO<br /><br />Florin Talpes’s name may be considered synonymous to the development of the software industry in Romania that started 20 years ago. Partnering with his wife, Mariuca Talpes, he was one of the first entrepreneurs to invest in the high-tech area in postcomunist Romania, transforming a 300 dollars initial investment into one of the most successful Romanian companies active on the software industry: BitDefender.<br /><br />Innovation and high ranking amongst best worldwide technologies describe Florin Talpes’s activity of over 20 years. BitDefender has been constantly awarded by renowed juries worldwide: IST Prize (the IT Oscars), best data security product award (USA: 2006, 2008), best data security product of the last 5 years(Germany, 2009). Moreover, BitDefender is one of the few multinational companies with a Romanian HQ that targets already mature markets such as USA, UK, Germany or Spain. <b>Radu Georgescu</b><br />Gecad<br />Founder and President<br /><br />Radu Georgescu has extensive experience in serial entrepreneurship and long-time investor in software, Internet and tech companies under GECAD brand name. Built and developed businesses in antivirus, eCommerce, ESD (Electronic Software Delivery), electronic messaging and security industries. Gained significant M&A experience during two major exits: in 2003 when Microsoft acquired RAV Antivirus technology from GECAD and in 2010, when Allegro/Naspers acquired eCommerce company ePayment from GECAD.<br /><br />He is majority shareholder and Chairman of the Board for Axigen/GECAD Technologies (http://www.axigen.com/), Avangate (http://www.avangate.com) and GECAD NET (http://www.gecadnet.ro). He is Director of the Board for GECAD ePayment. His specialties are entrepreneurship in software & Internet areas, corporate structuring, corporate strategy, M&A, business development, business international expansion.<br /> <b>Antonio Eram</b><br />Netopia<br />Founder and CEO<br /><br />Starting with 1996 I am actively involved in the Romanian Internet and Telecom business. My area of expertise is in mobile marketing and payment services, however I am interested in content related services and mobile convergence. During my work at Vodafone Romania I was involved with the development with hybrid (by then) mobile web services, with the launch of myx.net portal and complementary Value Added Services.<br /><br />In 2005 I have launched my own company NETOPIA System. Today, NETOPIA System, located in Bucharest and with a branch in Silicon Valley, is Romania's premier mobile marketing and mobile payments provider.<br /><br />I am actively involved in other projects, such as the first Games on Demand Platform in Eastern Europe, www.mygod.ro or one of the top Call Centers and Alternative Telecom Operator in Romania.<br /><br />Also I have started Angel Investments for Romanian based start-ups in Information Technology Solutions, alternative energy, hardware, commerce and services.<br /><br />Specialties: Internet and mobile solutions development, payment services, content based services, games related services, business development, sales, product marketing, mobile content development, integration and distribution e and m-payment solutions<br /> <b>Daniela Florescu</b><br />Oracle<br />Architect<br /> <b>Irina Anghel</b><br />SEEPEA<br />Secretary General<br /><br />Irina is the Secretary General of the South Eastern European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, and sits in the Representative Group of the European Venture Capital Association. In 2008 she was one of the 4 Global Ambassadors of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, covering 77 countries and she was also selected by Eisenhower Fellowships as one of the 25 emerging leaders of the world who were included in their Multi-Nation program.<br /><br />Irina earned an MC/MPA degree from Harvard Kennedy School, she also holds an MBA degree from the program of HEC Montreal and University of Ottawa in Bucharest and she is currently pursuing her PhD in Law in Bucharest. In the past year at the Harvard Kennedy School, as a Mason Fellow, she focused on the role of venture capital in stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation and on policy measures aimed at creating a venture capital ecosystem leading to economic growth. While at Harvard, Irina was also the Vice-President of the Venture Capital and Private Equity PIC at Harvard Kennedy School. <b>Vasile Iuga</b><br />PricewaterhouseCoopers<br />SEE Managing Partner<br /><br />Vasile Iuga has been working for PricewaterhouseCoopers from its incorporation in Romania, namely since 1991. In over 20 years, he had a significant contribution to the development of the business. He became Partner in 1997 and, in 2004 was appointed Country Managing Partner for Romania.<br /><br />In 2008, Vasile Iuga was appointed Managing Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers for South-Eastern Europe (SEE), being also member of the PwC Managing Board Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and member of the workgroup responsible with financial services in CEE.<br /><br />Vasile Iuga is one of the most experienced leaders of the Romanian business environment, being known for an excellent knowledge of local and international companies, gained during his involvement in hundreds of projects from all industries, but also in regional projects.<br /><br />His domains of expertise include audit in compliance with International Standards on Auditing the financial statements, prepared in accordance with regulations of the International Accounting Standards and financial analysis. Vasile has a rich experience in financial reporting in compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).<br /><br />Vasile Iuga holds a Degree in Aeronautics from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest. He is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA-UK), financial auditor, member of the Managing Council of the Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania (CAFR); appraiser (ANEVAR certified), accounting expert in Romania, representative of the Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), member of the Audit Committee of the Federation of European Accountants (FEE), founding member of the Romanian Auditors’ Foundation.<br /><br />Vasile attended training sessions at Harvard Business School, London Business School, INSEAD and IMD Business School.<br /><br />He was for a long period Vice-president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania.<br /> <b>Rafal Bator</b><br />Enterprise Investors<br />Partner - Head of VC<br /><br />Partner and Board Member of Enterprise Investors. Rafal Bator leads the venture capital team. He specializes in technology investments and his most important projects to date include AVG Technologies and the restructuring of AB and Teta. Before joining EI, he worked for Prokom Software Systems and Optimus, two of Poland's leading IT companies, as well as for Price Waterhouse.<br /> <b>Péter Barta</b><br />Fundatia Post Privatizare<br />Executive Director<br /><br />Péter Barta has spent over twelve years providing consulting services for various businesses and NGOs. Peter has gained a wide experience in the management sector, especially in Project Management of numerous national and international projects. He has evaluated projects worth over $1 million and has provided assistance during their implementation.<br /><br />Peter holds a close business relationship with institutions such as the European Council, for which he participated in monitoring missions in countries such as Mexico, Palestine, the Scandinavian countries, Russia or Macedonia.<br /><br />Bearing on the professional experience gained during European projects, Peter worked closely with several US companies, such as the 'Academy for Educational Development' Foundation and Development Alternative Inc., under GRASP, a USAID-funded project. GRASP provided Péter Barta with an opportunity to provide technical assistance to local authorities (especially rural mayors’ offices) and NGO’s.<br /><br />Subsequently, Péter Barta held the position of Project Manager for SMURD Târgu Mureş, where he developed a number of areal training centres and created two local SMURD units in Sibiu County. He also administered the fund raising campaign that consisted in people redirecting 2% of their taxes to support SMURD.<br /><br />Presently, Mr. Péter Barta is the Executive Director of the Post-Privatization Foundation (PPF), Romania’s most important foundation dedicated to entrepreneurship.<br /> <b>Andrei Dudoiu</b><br />Executive Manager, Banca Transilvania<br /><br />As Executive Manager within Banca Transilvania, Andrei Dudoiu, together with his team, contributes to reaching the strategic objectives of BT, as the Bank for Entrepreneurial People.<br />Andrei Dudoiu is a member of Banca Transilvania’s Executive Management Committee, has an experience of almost 15 years in banking and is a graduate of the Executive MBA program organized by ASEBUSS. His main responsibility is to coordinate BT’s entire activity for Bucharest and Ilfov area. He also runs the nationwide activity of the Healthcare Division – one of the bank’s four business lines, of the Private Banking Division and the European Program Department. <b>Robert Luke</b><br />GED Capital<br />Managing Director<br /><br />Robert Luke is one of the Founders of GED, and the Managing Director of GED Capital Development, being responsible for all GED Eastern Fund operations in South-Eastern Europe. He has lived and worked in Eastern Europe now for 15 years. He is also a member of the Boards and Investment Committees of the two GED mid Market funds in Spain and Portugal.<br /><br />He started in Private Equity in London in 3i’s, in the 70’s. In 1981, he moved to Spain as Senior Consulting Manager at KPMG. He was Executive Director of the Venture Capital fund 'Euroventures' Spain from 1988 till 1995 and has been with GED since 1996.<br /><br />He has a Law degree from the University of Exeter, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.'<br /> <b>Marius Ghenea</b><br />Business Angel<br /><br />• Born 1968, master in electronics engineering at the Bucharest University 1992<br />• Started as entrepreneur 1993 developing companies such as Flamingo, FIT, VikingProfil, etc.<br />• Serial entrepreneur and business-angel with successful exits, ranks in fortune Romanian surveys Capital Top 300 and Forbes Top 500<br />• Included in Top 10 businesspeople 2004 by Ziarul Financiar, the VIP Magazine award for the Romanian business superlatives 2006, award for best Romanian serial entrepreneur 2008 by Target Magazine, award for Entrepreneurial Vision 2010 by Biz Magazine etc.<br />• Board Director for Venture Connect (Romanian forum for start-up investments); supports youth organizations e.g. AIESEC, JCI, Leaders; lecturer at various conferences on entrepreneurship, IT, online; honorary member, JCI;<br />• President of the Romanian Association for the Online Stores (ARMO)<br />• Entrepreneurship Professor, CEU Business School EMBA program and Maastricht School of Management EMBA program<br />• Co-organizer, Schoolforstartups Romania, the 1st Romanian independent entrepreneurship school<br />• Author of 'Entrepreneurship', the first Romanian book of its kind<br />• One of the 'dragons' in the Arena Leilor TV series, the Romanian format of the Sony Pictures 'Dragons’ Den' business-show<br />• More info at www.ghenea.com<br /> <b>Alexandre Almajeanu</b><br />Business Angel<br /><br />Alexandre is 39 years old. Romanian born he lives in France since he is 10. He is the co-founder in 2000 of VoyagerMoinsCher.com, which becomes the French leader of travel comparators. In November 2007, the company has been sold to PriceMinister.com, the leader marketplace specialised in classifieds (PriceMinister.com has been sold in 2010 to the Japanese Rakuten for an amount of 200 millions euros).<br />Since then Alexandre is an active business-angel in various strart-ups (Romania: metropotam.ro, urbee.ro, balaur.ro, 123reduceri.ro; Holland: myngle.com; Belgium: taatu.com; China: yangjiu.com; France : silentale.com) and teaches Entrepreneurship at Sciences Po Paris. He is also the founder of The Gentica Foundation, which scope is promoting entrepreneurship in Romania.<br /> <b>Daniel Enache</b><br />Business Angel<br /><br />Avid Ubuntu user, open source devourer, with a strong interest in robotics, innovation and information technology, Daniel Enache is Product & Business Development (and also the main investor) at Digital Data Tech, a semantic platform provider. Daniel has also a rich history of sustaining innovation and entrepreneurship through business angel deals (he is a partner in 2Parale, the largest affiliate marketing network in Romania, and in Spada Digital Media, an independent social media agency), while mentoring start-ups or getting involved directly in the day to day operations in areas such as Marketing, Business Development and Product Development.<br /> <b>Daniel Visoiu</b><br />Venture Connect<br /><br />Although a lawyer by training and profession, Dan has been doing his best to bring out the entrepreneur in him. Instead of choosing a safe path to law firm partnership in sunny and peaceful Florida, Dan decided in the mid-1990s to return to his country of birth and partake in Romania’s transition (still ongoing) to a fully functional free market economy.<br /><br />Since then he has been involved in a couple of successful start-ups, including the Biris Goran law firm which recently celebrated its 5th year anniversary. In the IT/online sectors, he has advised various multinationals, institutional investors and entrepreneurs since 2000 in the Central and East European region including Romania.<br /><br />And speaking of Romania, he is firmly convinced that VentureConnect will launch a few millionaires, in fact billionaires in the next few years.<br /> <b>Cristian Nacu</b><br />SEEPEA<br />President<br /> <b>Radu Ticiu</b><br />Timisoara Software Business Incubator<br /><br />Radu Ticiu is executive director of Timisoara Software Business Incubator, since its inauguration, back in 2004. Electronic engineering studies, previous activities in youth organizations, resource centers for non-profit sector or in local economic development agencies in Timisoara Area and a previous self-employment in the field of credits were useful ingredients in his bid to obtain his current position business incubation.<br /><br />Radu (@raduticiu) is a passionate social media user. He initiated and curates www.startupchart.ro, the Romanian chapter of Startup Charts, an emerging discovery and monitoring tool of the European technology startups.<br /> <b>Prof. Adrian Curaj</b><br />Innovation Expert<br /><br />Adrian Curaj is the General Director of the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation since September 2010. He was acting as the Director of the Executive Agency for Higher Education and Research Funding in Romania, 2000-2007 and 2008-2009. During 2007-2008 he was acting as the Advisor on Science, Technology as well as ICT and e-Governance of the Romanian Prime Minister, and during 2009-2010 he was acting as the President of the National Authority for Scientific Research, the State Secretary for Research, Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport in Romania.<br /><br />Adrian Curaj is a professor of Research Management and Director of the Center for Strategic Management and Quality Assurance in Higher Education at the POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest. He has a PhD in Control Engineering from the POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest and graduated the EMBA program of the ASEBUSS Bucharest and University of Washington in Seattle-Business School.<br /><br />Adrian Curaj has been working as a consultant with World Bank, UNESCO, UNIDO and EC for studies in Tertiary Education, Science and Innovation, and Foresight. He has been a member of the External Advisory Board PEOPLE, General Directorate for Research, European Commission since 2007 as well as a vice-president of the National University Research Council since 2008.<br /><br />During 2005-2006 he was acting as the project leader of the first National Foresight in S&T in Romania, and coordinates the “Quality and Leadership for Higher Education-the Romanian Higher Education in 2025” a forward-looking project. He has been the director or country coordinator of 25 international research projects.<br /><br />Adrian Curaj published in reputed scientific journals as well as many books, most of them in research management and foresight. One of the inventions he is co-author received a gold medal at the Geneva Invention Salon 2009.va<br /><br />Adrian Curaj was twice awarded with Romanian National Distinctions, For Merits-Cavalier in 1999, and For Merits-Officer in 2008 for his contributions to Science and Innovation.<br /> <b>Octavian Buiu</b><br />Honeywell<br />Portfolio Manager<br /><br />Octavian is a member of the National Council for Development and Innovation. He is currently employed by Honeywell Romania as a Portofolio Manager. He is a graduate of the University of Bucharest, with a PhD in Physics from University of Cluj. He worked in a couple of hi-tech R&D Romanian Institutes (nuclear technology, microelectronics and microtechnology). He also spent 10 years in UK, working as a scientist and professor.

We believe you will enjoy the event which I hope will be a successful and enlightening one, we are optimistic that you will find its content intriguing and thought provoking.

Registration is now open, please visit click here and register today to secure your place! Places are limited (due to the size of the conference hall) so book early to avoid disappointment.

We look forward to meeting you on May 20 and welcoming you at the Intercontinental!