CVP and Michigan Ross to Co-Host Inaugural VC University LIVE Program in Conjunction with the 2019 MGCS
The Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance (CVP) at the Ross School of Business will co-host the inaugural VC University LIVE program in conjunction with this year’s Midwest Growth Capital Symposium in Ann Arbor.
The CVP is partnering with the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law through its Startup@Berkeley Law, which launched the VC University initiative in January.
VC University includes both an online certification program in venture finance and two live events at emerging venture ecosystems across the nation ─ the first of which kicks off on May 15 at the 39th annual Midwest Growth Capital Symposium.
“This joint event reflects the realization that the entire venture capital business ─ in tandem with the technological-innovation and business-model innovation process ─ has spread across the country and is no longer limited to just the East and West coasts,” says Dr. David Brophy, professor of finance, director of the CVP at Michigan Ross and founder of the MGCS.
“We have the technology, talent and institutional-investment potential here in the Midwest states, so entrepreneurial companies don’t have to migrate to the coasts to develop their businesses and procure venture funding,” Dr. Brophy continues. “This joint event will bring attention to the MGCS and the University of Michigan, and enable people from both coasts to see what kind of technology and innovation pump we have here in our state and region.”
Mary Nickson, associate director of the CVP, has indicated that the inaugural VC University LIVE program will begin on May 15, the second day of the 2019 MGCS (which runs May 14-15), with a joint MGCS-VCU keynote talk by Jan Garfinkle, managing partner and founder of Arboretum Ventures in Ann Arbor, and Scott Kupor, managing partner and CEO of Andreessen Horowitz in San Francisco.
Their fireside chat will be followed by an in-depth panel discussion on current trends in the venture capital industry, moderated by Dr. Brophy and featuring four leading venture capital investors. The four panelists are: Jon Lauckner, president of GM Ventures in Detroit; Kate Mitchell, partner at Scale Venture Partners in Foster City, California; Sam Valenti III, chairman and CEO of Valenti Capital in Bloomfield, Michigan; Ashley Yesayan, vice president of Revolution in Washington, D.C.
After the MGCS concludes on Wednesday afternoon, the joint UM/NVCA/Berkeley VC University LIVE program will continue for two additional days, May 16 and 17, at the Ross School of Business on the U-M central campus.
The agenda will feature panel discussions, breakout sessions and case studies designed to help entrepreneurs, angel investors, VCs, fund managers, attorneys and industry professionals hone their finance skills and knowledge. Participants will include U-M investment officials, local, regional and nationwide VC investors, prominent Midwest entrepreneurs and representatives from the host organizations who will serve as guest speakers and panelists.
“It is exciting to have the NVCA/UC Berkeley Venture Capital University LIVE inaugural program be hosted at the University of Michigan, in conjunction with the MGCS,” says Garfinkle, who is also Chair-elect of the NVCA board of directors. “This is a great opportunity to share best practices in venture with the venture community at large. It is an excellent program with lots of learning and networking. I hope all venture funds attending the MGCS will send several people to this seminar. It’s an opportunity not to be missed!”
