6th European Investor Summit
This past 13 May 2009, Microsoft hosted the 6th Annual European Investor Summit in Prague, organised in conjunction with the EU SME Week. Entrepreneurs from across Europe had the occasion to present and grow their business by facilitating contacts to an experienced and international network of venture capital and corporate investors, strategic partners, expert advisers and senior Microsoft executives
The event fostered investment and partnership opportunities by bringing start-up companies together with finance and investment communities while highlighting their business potential. The forum showcased 15 presenting companies, for the most part stemming from the Bizspark initiative, and five student teams from Imagine Cup who presented before panels of investors
The conference programme aimed at discussing how to better connect within the European Innovation ecosystem, and how to access capital at various levels on the ‘ladder of finance’. It certainly provided for an outstanding networking opportunity for both entrepreneurs and other people in the industry.
Facts about the European Investor Summit
The European Investor Summit took place on 13 April 2009 at the Hilton Old Town in Prague, fostering the investment in software technology across Europe as shown by the following facts:
1.Country of selected presenters (Total 20)
2. Country of the participants (Total 147)
3.Participants by role (Total 147)
Each company was assigned to a review session to present before a panel of 5-6 expert reviewers. During the session, reviewers rated each presentation based on seven criteria: business potential; team experience; product/technology merit; competitive position; investment or partnering interest; company profile quality; and, quality of the company presentation. These ratings enabled for the identification of the best presentation award, which the following four companies obtained:
Keynote speakers' presentations
Mr Jan Muehlfeit, Chairman of Microsoft Europe
”Innovating in a downturn: All the best ideas survive a recession!”
Mr Dan'l Lewin, Corporate Vice-President, Strategic & Emerging Business , Microsoft Corporation
