By Randy Schreckhise and Amy Duncan 

As a benefit to SDEE member companies, SDEE started a new program called Investor Day. SDEE Investor Days are a way for SDEE members who are looking for funding to gain exposure to top tier venture capital (VC) firms. SDEE members benefit through introductions to VCs that might otherwise be challenging to obtain without connections to fund principals, partners or associates.

Venture Firm Focus

The venture firms that participate are typically focused on earl stage investments and novel technologies, and thus are interested in meeting with SDEE member companies. A large part of the VC industry is deal flow: Venture firms typically receive and review hundreds of business plans and pitch decks per month. Creating a forum where they can pre-select applicants to meet with allows them to gather more information than they otherwise would from just reading slides.

The program not only showcases SDEE member companies, but it also increases the visibility of entrepreneurism in the San Diego region, and helps build relationships between founders and the venture community.

Benefit to SDEE Members

All SDEE member companies are eligible to apply for 1:1 meetings with participating VCs. While not all applicants will be selected to pitch in one-on-one sessions, CEOs and founders from companies that apply are invited to attend a lunch or breakfast forum where they will have a chance to network with the VCs and other CEOs and founders. During the forum, participating VCs will also provide fund overviews describing what investment opportunities they are looking for, and will also answer questions from participants.

More Investor Days Coming in 2018

Read about our first Investor Day with Wu Capital USA here. Several SDEE Investor Days are planned for 2018. SDEE will send email announcements and post submission deadlines on our website, through our emails, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.  Simply look for our Investor Day announcements and submit your investor deck!