News Releases

ATLANTA, July 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Venture Atlanta, the premier venture capital conference in the Southeast, announces a program expansion with sessions dedicated to connecting growth-stage companies and investors with an all-star lineup of corporate development leaders, including:

• Marc Brown, Microsoft - Corporate Vice President of Corporate Development, Global Head of M&A and Strategic Investments
• Murphy Clark, Red Ventures - Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and M&A
• Chris Hecht, Atlassian - Head of Corporate Development
• Phil Kirk, Cisco - Senior Director, Investments
• James Loftus, Square - Global Head of Corporate Development
• Matt Schweickert, The Home Depot - Chief Strategy Officer
• Seksom Suriyapa, Twitter - Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy

The sessions will begin with a panel, moderated by Stephanie Cohen, Chief Strategy Officer, Goldman Sachs, discussing what strategy and corporate development leaders are looking, trends in the market, their process for evaluating deals, and will act as a starting point for discussions around growth-stage issues between entrepreneurs, investors and corporate business leaders. The growth-stage track will also include networking and 1:1 meeting opportunities and intimate roundtable conversations led by Venture Atlanta alumni and other local luminaries.

"One of the things more mature Venture Atlanta alumni companies tell us is they wish they were better prepared for acquisition conversations and understood what to expect," said Linnea Geiss, 2019 VA board member and SVP, Global Solutions and Services at PDI Software. "Through this panel we'll be able to hear directly from some of the most active buyers in tech, and by leveraging this forum to further connect the growth-stage community to later-stage investors and potential acquirers, we'll help our ecosystem of companies thrive as they grow."

"From its start 12 years ago, Venture Atlanta has been effective in connecting earlier-stage companies with investors," said Alex Estevez, VA's 2019 Chairman of the Board. "This initiative helps us to become more relevant with later-stage entrepreneurs, investors and corporations, especially those Venture Atlanta alums who have significantly grown since their early days with us."

Venture Atlanta 2019 will take place October 16-17, 2019 and is accepting applications from companies in all stages of growth through August 2nd. The organization is also invites premier investors who are on the hunt for proven and innovative companies to attend, with registration open until October 7.

Press Contact:
Erin Dwyer, erin.dwyer@marketwake.com, 408-458-6448

SOURCE Venture Atlanta