Hundreds of business leaders, local and Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs are making deals and exchanging ideas at the GROW 2011 conference in downtown Vancouver.
This is the second-annual GROW conference held in Vancouver and this year’s conference attracted over 600 people.
About 40% of people at the conference are from early stage companies, 30 per cent are investors (including venture capitalists, angel investors, incubator reps), 25 per cent are senior executives from companies such as Google, Facebook and Paypal and 5 per cent are from the media.
Angel investors typically invest $50,000 to $100,000 to help get a company off the ground. Their investment can determine whether or not a product or idea becomes successful.
Local tech success stories such as social media dashboard provider Hootsuite attended GROW, plus emerging local start-ups hoping to secure funding and partnerships from the many investors in attendance.
Vancouver is an attractive location for such an event, said Melissa Burnell of Dealmaker Media, who organizes the conference.
“Vancouver is the easiest for Silicon Valley to get to, and somewhere like Toronto seems a little too far for them,” she said.
“Sand Hill Road is a little half-empty today,” referring to a road in the Silicon Valley notable for its concentration of venture capital companies.
Burnell added Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson had been instrumental in attracting the conference to the city.
You can find more information about GROW 2011 at www.growconf.com
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