VC Update 2023: Strategies for VC Financing in the Current Economic Climate

ABOUT THIS EVENT: 

As we enter into a new year amidst a challenging environment for VC deals, we see that financings are still getting done, but that founders are often being confronted with new hurdles and difficult decisions. On Thursday, February 23rd, NY Tech Alliance will be presenting our 2023 update on the VC financing market for early-stage companies. This webinar will feature an accomplished panel, consisting of prominent VCs along with a corporate lawyer and a capital markets accountant who advise on VC transactions. Topics to be addressed include the following:

• Knowing how to identify the VCs who are currently most active in negotiating and closing financing rounds
• Recognizing the metrics that VCs are focusing on in their investment decisions
• Understanding the trade-offs between reduced valuations and more investor-friendly, structured deal terms
• Expectations for the VC market over the coming year

Whether you are currently pitching to VCs or are looking to do so in the future, this session will be a valuable opportunity to hear from this seasoned panel about the latest trends in a rapidly-evolving VC marketplace.

Bring your questions for the panelists, or send them in advance during the registration process – time has been set aside to address audience questions and concerns.

AGENDA:

11:30 - 12:00 - Virtual Networking
12:00 - 1:00 - Panel Discussion and Q&A
1:00 - 1:30 - Virtual Networking

HOST:

Paul Ellis, Managing Partner, Paul Ellis Law Group LLC

As Managing Partner of the 10-lawyer Paul Ellis Law Group, Paul counsels on issues including formation, early-stage financing (friends and family, angel and VC), joint venture and strategic partnering relationships, employment, equity plans, mergers and acquisitions, and, together with his colleagues, protection and licensing of intellectual property. His experience spans multiple industries including software, digital media, e-commerce, healthcare, fintech and blockchain and cryptocurrency. He has represented companies ranging from startups to multinationals, as well as funds, family offices and individual investors. Clients choose Paul to negotiate complex business matters and provide sophisticated, strategic legal advice for establishing, financing, operating and exiting highly successful, and often rapidly-growing, companies.

Joy Marcus, Co-Founder and General Partner, The 98

Joy is currently Co-Founder and General Partner of The 98, an early stage venture firm that invests in women-led, tech enabled businesses. She is also a Lecturer at Princeton University’s School of Engineering, where she teaches classes on entrepreneurship. Previously, Joy​ was Executive Vice President and ​General Manager Digital Video at Condé Nast Entertainment (CNE)​, a subsidiary of Condé Nast, the publishing giant whose properties include Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair.

Joy is an active and experienced Board Director. She is currently a Board Director and Chairperson of the Compensation Committee at publicly listed Perion (NASD: PERI), an ad tech conglomerate, and Chairperson of the Board of private equity backed Qwire, a music technology company with clients that include Warner Brothers and the NFL. She was most recently appointed to the Board of private equity backed BBC Maestro, a UK based Masterclass competitor. She has served previously on a number of private boards including Anyclip (video technology), ExpoTV (digital marketing) and Dailyworth (financial advice for women).

Joy’s​ work regularly receives public recognition. She was named to the Digital Power 50 by The Hollywood Reporter, Forty over Forty by Forbes, a Woman to Watch by Crain’s Magazine and a Woman of Power and Influence by the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Joy is a Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton University, received her law degree from New York University School of Law, and completed Columbia University’s Executive Program in Finance and Accounting. She is on the board of the non-profits New York Tech Alliance and MOUSE.

Jonathan Bresler, Managing Partner, EJF Ventures

Jonathan Bresler is the Managing Partner of EJF Ventures as well as a partner of EJF Capital, a financials focused investment manager in Arlington, VA. Jonathan presently serves on the boards of Verady, Inc. (dba. Ledgible) and Original Tech, Inc. (dba Prelim). He previously served on the board of Texan Bank, a Houston-based community bank and was a board observer for several other investments, including Silvergate Capital Corporation. Jonathan holds a BBA in Finance and Real Estate from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and is a member of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle.”

Alan Wink, Managing Director - Capital Markets, EisnerAmper

Alan assists clients with capital budgeting, capital structuring and capital sourcing. Alan has 20 years of financial and consulting experience, having served as Director of the Interfunctional Management Consulting Program at Rutgers Graduate School of Management, a program he helped build into one of the largest business school-based management consulting practices in the country. He started his career in accounting, spending six years on the audit staff of a Big 4 accounting firm and a Fortune 500 Company. Alan left the accounting field to expand his horizons in the area of Corporate Finance. Alan spent several years as Director of Financial Analysis for AmBase Corporation (NYSE), where he led approximately $2 billion of corporate acquisition activity. He is also a past Vice President of Capricorn Management, a $100 million private equity fund specializing in restructuring and turnaround opportunities.

In addition, Alan is a leader in the firm’s Technology Group, providing a variety of industry-specific services to technology and life sciences firms, including business and strategic planning, marketing and competitive analyses, financing assistance, and operational and financial benchmarking. He has worked with many early stage and emerging growth companies on developing the appropriate capital structure for their position in the business life cycle. He maintains an active contact base with angel investors, venture capital funds and private equity funds. Alan also understands the level of returns private investors are trying to realize and devises strategies that allow both entrepreneurs and their investors to achieve desired return thresholds.

RSVP on Zoom here