MIT Looks into the Future of Competition with Leading Entrepreneurs, Innovators and Venture Capitalists

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2004--Leading venture capitalists and innovators from across the nation will meet on December 4 at the MIT Sloan School of Management to discuss the ways in which emerging technologies - from digital media to software to nanotech - are reshaping industries in a rapidly converging business environment.

The MIT Venture Capital Conference, organized by students from MIT Sloan and the MIT Venture Capital & Private Equity Club, includes keynote talks by Jeffrey Citron, a serial entrepreneur who is the founder and chief executive officer of Voice-over-Internet leader Vonage, and Michael J. Wolf, global leader of McKinsey & Co.'s Media & Entertainment Practice.

Featured panelists include Yogesh Gupta, chief technology officer of Computer Associates. The expected 400 attendees and 50 panelists include representatives from Atlas Venture, Bain Capital Ventures, Battery Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Globespan Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners, Matrix Partners and other top VC firms.

"MIT, because of its unique focus on innovation, serves as a rare meeting place for leading venture capitalists, successful entrepreneurs and revolutionary technologists to come together all in one place," said Manu Sareen, Chair of the MIT Venture Capital Conference.

The conference will also showcase the best of MIT innovation, including six ideas selected from a rich pool of promising MIT research by the Deshpande Center at MIT which awards proof-of-concept explorations with Ignition Grants.

"Years after the dot.com boom and bust, the promise of convergence is actually being fulfilled. Communications, software, and media are all being irrevocably transformed and merged," said Neil DeSilva, co-president of the MIT Venture Capital & Private Equity Club. "Technology is blurring the boundaries between industries in very direct and real ways. Five years ago, who would have guessed that Apple would be a leading player in music? The purpose of the event is to arrive at an understanding of these trends."

This year's MIT Venture Capital Conference is the centerpiece of the 2004 MIT Innovation Week beginning November 29 (http://www.mitvcpe.org/conference/i_week.htm). Other campus organizations including MIT Global TIES, the MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition, TechLink, the MIT Entrepreneurship Center and the Deshpande Center, will co-host events focused on high tech entrepreneurship and applications for emerging technologies.

For more information including a detailed agenda for the conference and the names of panelists, go to: http://www.mitvcpe.org/conference/.