Oct
7
5:00pm
Demystifying VC - How has economic turmoil affected fundraising?
By Forge North
Join other founders on October 7 for Demystifying Venture Capital: Market Volatility and Startup Investing. Rob Weber, Managing Partner at Great North Ventures, and Matt Risley, Partner at QED Investors, will be your hosts for this conversation.
Rob and Matt are both seasoned investors with different vantage points on the startup investing world. Rob's work at Great North Ventures focuses on earlier-stage startups, with a focus on the Upper Midwest, while QED Ventures invests in fintech companies at many stages from around the world.
This year's economic turmoil has impacted each of them differently, so together their perspectives may help you understand how VCs see the investing landscape. How has the slowdown in the economy impacted the pace of new investments made by VCs, and the kind of investments they are making? For the companies which are closing VC rounds, what kind of terms and valuations are they now seeing? Are startups still meeting their financial forecasts?
Agenda:
- 12:00 - Welcome + Introductions
- 12:05 - Panel Discussion
- 12:45 - Audience Q&A
Meet the Presenters:
Rob Weber is a founder backing founders at Great North Ventures where execution is their North Star. Great North Ventures is an early stage venture fund focused on helping founders launch and scale companies in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. Prior to Great North Ventures, Rob co-founded NativeX (formerly named W3i/Freeze.com) which went on have several exit events through its final exit in 2016. In 2006, Rob shared the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award with his twin brother, and business partner, Ryan Weber. Rob also volunteers his time on the board of non-profit Minnestar.
Matt Risley is a partner at QED, investing in consumer and B2B fintech businesses in the US. He has spent his career in fintech and payments in a variety of roles, including finance, marketing, product development, and risk management. He has experience in both the U.S and in Europe, having spent much of his career working in Spain and Sweden. Prior to joining QED, Matt served as the CFO & Chief Credit Officer at European payment unicorn Klarna where he managed Klarna’s machine learning strategy and equity offerings, among other initiatives. He lives in Minneapolis
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