UTEN January technology transfer workshops on capital sourcing

31 Jan 2010

UTEN Portugal opened its 2010 training program with two two-day workshops on capital sourcing for early-stage technology startups.

The January 25-26 workshop was held at the Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL).  The January 29-29 edition was held at the University of Porto Faculty of Engineering (FEUP).

The workshops featured two speakers from Texas: Ms. Laura Kilcrease, Founder and Managing Director of Triton Ventures and Mr. Jamie Rhodes, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Central Texas Angel Network (C-TAN) together with 17 colleagues representing key leading capital sources in Portugal (venture funds and business angels).

The first UTEN Training Week in 2010 brought together US capital sources (VC and Angel), existing and potential capital sources in Portugal (including venture capital firms, business angels and their networks, as well as government programs providing capital to early-stage technology start-ups), along with university technology transfer officers (TTOs), incubator managers and a select group of researchers/early-stage entrepreneurs.  The workshops were designed to train Portuguese TTOs and to foster dialogue and constructive interaction between these stakeholder groups to align interests to successfully fund and launch Portuguese emerging international technology companies. 

Participants were provided the opportunity to interact and learn from one another on a host of subjects ranging from deal terms and documents to norms and trends in the industry, common “do’s and don'ts” when pitching capital, and how to manage investor relationships for success.  This introductory UTEN workshop was intended to serve as a starting point to be followed and reinforced throughout 2010. 

UTEN would like to thank ISCTE-IUL and FEUP for their hospitality and leadership in hosting these events.  Special thanks also goes to the Portuguese capital sources who attended as well as the TTOs and entrepreneurs who pitched their ideas.  It was an extraordinary training experience and UTEN appreciates all participants for contributing to make these workshops a success.  

Full details on the speakers and program are available at utenportugal.org.

Anyone interested in presenting or participating in future UTEN workshops should please contact Maria José Francisco (maria.francisco@utenportugal.org).