“Rocket Pitch + Power Networking,” a CONNECTpreneur Investor Network Free Virtual Event

We will email you the LINK to the event on the evening of January 27, as well as the morning of January 28.

This will be our 56th event over the last 9 years.

“Rocket Pitch + Power Networking” by CONNECTpreneur features 2 virtual networking sessions and a Rocket Pitch segment with exciting early stage companies.

CONNECTpreneur events are cited as "The Best Networking Events in the MidAtlantic" by independent media as well as over 70% of surveyed past attendees.

Program Highlights:

- "Virtual Networking" pre and post program. We will keep the Meeting open for as long as our attendees are actively networking (30-45+ minutes)

- Who will be online? We expect 600+ business leaders, including 300+ CEOs & Founders, as well as 150+ angels & VCs from around the USA.

- "Rocket Pitch" Showcase of 9 promising emerging tech companies

CONNECTpreneur is a bi-monthly networking mashup, which has been attended by 20,000+ business leaders over the past 9 years.

All attendees must be pre-registered on this Eventbrite site.

We will email you the log-in information and instructions after you register. Emails will be sent on the evening before, and the morning of, the event.

Please "Like" us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Connectpreneur

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @connectpreneur

And visit our Website at connectpreneur.org

DATE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

AGENDA (All times are Eastern Standard Time)

11:00 - 11:15 am - VIRTUAL NETWORKING (via Private Message)

11:15 - 11:25 am - WELCOME and INTRODUCTIONS

TIEN WONG, Founder and Host, CONNECTpreneur Community

11:25 - 12:25 pm - ROCKET PITCH SESSION - 10 Promising Early Stage Companies will present.

Companies will be introduced by:

ANTHONY MILLIN, Founder and Chair, NEXT by Shulman Rogers

SALIL GANDHI, Partner, Wilson Sonsini

Companies will be announced on January 21

12:25 - 1:00 pm - VIRTUAL NETWORKING (via Private Message)

PREVIOUS INVESTOR PARTICIPANTS (partial list):

Revolution Ventures, Carlyle Group, NEA, Columbia Capital, True Ventures, Sterling Partners, HIG, Grotech, UPDATA, In-Q-Tel, Motley Fool Ventures, New Atlantic Ventures, PROOF.VC, Edison Ventures, SWaN & Legend Venture Partners, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Venturehouse, Kinetic Ventures, Core Capital, Boulder Ventures, TDF Funds, Ballast Point Ventures, Multiplier Capital, Saratoga Investment Corp., Maryland Venture Fund, New Markets Venture Partners, Camber Creek, 500 Startups, Novak Biddle, Amplifier Venture Partners, DFW Capital Partners, Farragut Capital, NextGen Angels, CIT GAP Funds, TEDCO, BluVenture Investors, Leeds Novamark, 1776, Private Access Network, CAV Angels, Riverbend Capital, K Street Capital, Select Venture Partners, RLMcCall Capital, ID Private Equity, Cranbrook Capital, Baltimore Angels, SaaS Ventures, Pennington Partners, Acceleprise, Blue Marlin Partners, US Boston Capital, VentureCross Partners, Berman Enterprises, Dingman Angels, Neuberger & Co. Ventures, McLean Capital, Angel Venture Forum, Brilliant Keypoint Investments, Paras Ventures, NextSteps Capital, Noblestar Capital, Grindstone Partners, New Vantage Group, New Dominion Angels, Early Light Capital, Enhanced Capital, MTECH Ventures, Mosaic Capital, Opus8, Blue Heron Capital, Duncaster Investments, Next-Stage Development Group, Lancaster Angel Network, Decisive Investment Group, Harrell Partners, Ruxton Ventures, Blue Marlin Partners, Fortify Ventures, MIT Alumni Angels, and Conscious Venture Labs.

EVENT PARTNERS

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

NEXT, powered by Shulman Rogers

Association for Enterprise Growth

Modus Create

Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation

First Financial Group

SunTrust Bank

Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce

Maryland Tech Council Venture Mentoring Services

Refraction

Startup Grind

Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. (FITCI)

Keiretsu Forum

Dingman Center Angels

MIT Alumni Angels

Baltimore Angels

Angels + Life.Sci Investors

Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative

Institute for Excellence in Sales

Wharton DC Innovation Summit

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Founder Institute

Ryan & Wetmore

KoBE

U.S. International Development Center (USIDC)

Monte Jade Science & Technology Association

National Association of Business Owners and Entrepreneurs (NABOE)

TESTIMONIALS and MEDIA about our VIRTUAL EVENTS

PRESS: http://connectpreneur.org/press

“If I had a word to describe the video conference today, with respect to both content and platform, I would say ‘Flawless’!”

Todd Rowley

Chairman, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce; Market Executive, Old Dominion National Bank

Tysons Corner, Virginia

"Just a quick shout out to tell you how impressed I was with the virtual CONNECTpreneur event yesterday!! The technology worked flawlessly, the presentations were great, the format with the screen sharing worked well for the pitches, and SO MANY PEOPLE tuned in!"

Nikki White

International Trade Specialist, U.S. Department of Commerce

Washington, DC

"The CONNECTpreneur last week was awesome. I always get so inspired by seeing the next generation of entrepreneurs. Thanks for having this even in these uncertain times. It came off as good as ever. Well Done!!!!!"

John Kealey

Managing Director, Second Mountain

Moultenborough, New Hampshire

"What can I say that hasn't already been said? Thought it was fabulous!"

Pam Lubel

Vice President, Maryland Tech Council

Rockville, Maryland

"CONNECTpreneur's first virtual event was a home run! Because we could see and private message any of the participants on Zoom, the networking was possibly more efficient than at in-person events...Looking forward to the next one!"

Esther Lee

CEO, Refraction; Former Secretary of Commerce, Commonwealth of Virginia

Tysons Corner, Virginia

“Your event was an eye-opener. I'm now aware how much can be shoe-horned into a tight time-frame. You and your Team have exceeded all others in delivering more quality in less time than any other group -- very impressive!"

Dan Conley

CEO, New Jersey Angels

Somerset New Jersey

"The event was incredibly well run for having so many presenters and participants. Really appreciate all of your effort and drive in pulling off such a great series of events!

Steve Popielarski

CEO, Thermaquil

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"The Virtual CONNECTpreneur event was outstanding! You had amazing speakers and an incredible list of attendees from all over the world. Looking forward to future virtual events!"

Alyse Holstein

Principal, HPG Partners

Syracuse, New York

"Congratulations on the successful online premiere of CONNECTpreneur. It not only upheld the first class standards you have for your outstanding in-person networking & investor pitch events, it gave hundreds of us “attendees” the opportunity to network online with this entrepreneurial crowd of innovators and community leaders."

Janice Mandel

Communications Consultant and Multimedia Storyteller

Washington, DC

"I thought the event went amazing. The speakers and the chat we both very interactive."

Earl A. McCoy, Jr.

Regional Recruitment Coordinator, Webster University

St. Louis, Missouri

"Great event today. Very very good. You did a great job"

Margot DeFrance

Managing Director, Entoro Capital

New York, New York

"These are tough times for many and having leaders like you continue stepping up is critical for our community."

Mahan Tavakoli

Chairman, Leadership Greater Washington

Washington, DC

"I thought you guys did a great job with the virtual conference yesterday...Congratulations on getting it together so quickly and effectively. I'm looking forward to the next one."

Pete Jobse

CEO & Founder, Mariposa Grove Ventures

Northern Virginia

"Your focus on investing and getting early stage companies off the ground is tremendous. "

Neal Koller

CEO, Alphyn Biologics

Cincinnati, Ohio

"As a first time attendee joining one of your "Connectrepreneur Invest Network" events, let me tell you how very impressed I was with it all. It was efficiently organized and presented a roster of some of the most qualified and exciting companies that I have seen assembled in many a year. Bravo! I will be sharing what I learned with my own network of investor colleagues and hope to be back for more. It was time well spent."

Robert Sherretta

CEO, International Investor, LLC

Fairfax, VA

Thanks again for the invitation.

"GREAT Virtual event this morning!"

Mike Malloy

Social Entrepreneurship Program Director, Halcyon Incubator

Washington, DC

"Excellent event, thanks!"

Stephanie Hessler

Executive Coach, Proctor Gallagher Institute

Boston, Massachusetts

"Just wanted to congratulate you and your team for the virtual session yesterday. I think it went extremely well..."

Kevin Marz

CEO, Lumious

Erie, Pennsylvania

"Great virtual event and it was close to the real in-person conference. Kudos to your team for adapting to the current situation and still providing immense value to the DCTech community while we #StayAtHome!"

Brian Park

Managing Partner, SparkLabs Cyber + Blockchain Fund

Washington, DC

"Great virtual event yesterday. I actually think that format worked out very well!"

Ron Novak

Executive Vice President, Segue Technologies, Inc.

Arlington, Virginia

"It was a fantastic event and flawless."

Ines LeBow

CEO, Enterprise Transformation Solutions

Bethesda, Maryland

"Excellent event this morning!"

Scott Stephens

CEO, International Association of Arson Investigators

Crofton, Maryland

"Great event! Thank you for supporting us entrepreneurs!"

Sue Carr

CEO, CarrTech

Frederick, Maryland

"Phenomenal event this morning. Congratulations!"

Chris Haug

Chapter Director, Startup Grind Maryland

Columbia, Maryland

"Congrats on an awesome event today. You guys did a great job pulling it off. I thought it was great."

Anthony Millin

Founder and Chair, NEXT, powered by Shulman Rogersl General Partner, Urban Us fund

North Potomac, Maryland and Brooklyn, New York

"Great job today on the virtual event. My first attendance, and I really enjoyed it. Great speakers ... and darned seamless experience."

Gary Carr

CEO, Givio, Inc.

Centreville, Virginia

"It was an excellent meeting."

Mary Luceri

Program Coordinator, Tech Commercialization Office, George Washington University

Washington, DC

"I think the virtual event was a big success...and in some ways. It was a better event because we could more clearly hear and see the presentations. I also think it may be a quite productive channel for networking with other attendees. I’ve received unsolicited contacts from other attendees already."

Sylvanus Bent

President, BGS Consulting

Fairfax, Virginia

"Awesome, outstanding and well done."

Christopher Bennett, Esq.

Founder, Technology-Innovation-Law, LLC

Washington, DC

"Congratulations! So well done. Happy to have been part of it."

Urvi Tejani

Founder and Creative Director, Red Carpet Rocks

New York, New York

"Was terrific!"

Julie Kantor

CEO and Founder, TWOMENTOR

Boca Raton, Florida

"The online networking was better because you can 'approach' anybody. Also people 'introduced' themselves. That alone makes it 3x better than analog networking."

Dennis Defensor

President, Defensor Dynamics

Kilmarnock, Virginia

"I thought the first virtual CONNECTpreneur went remarkably well"

Larry Cynkin

Consulting CTO and FounderGreenBar LC

Washington, DC

FAQs

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?

You can e-mail the organizers at connectpreneur@opus8.com.

Can I update my registration information?

Yes

How can I apply to present?

If you have a promising early stage company that is raising capital or wanting to make a product announcement, please contact presenters@opus8.com. We have a Committee review process for prospective presenting companies.

When are your next events?

Here's a calendar of upcoming events:

2021

Jan 28, Feb 25, Mar 31, April 29, May 27, June 30, July 29, Aug 26, Sept 30, Oct 28, Nov 23, Dec 21