Accessing Venture Capital Funding

We are pleased to invite you to KPMG's Technology Executives Seminar, an exclusive forum designed to connect technology executives and promote discussions of how to access venture capital funding within the technology industry.

Topics and Speakers in this session include:

Funding story from the front lines

• Kevin Collins, CEO & Founder at Bit Stew Systems
  Kevin has more than 25 years of experience in architecting and designing enterprise-class software and systems solutions, both as a start-up entrepreneur and as a corporate executive. Before founding Bit Stew, Kevin worked closely with a number of companies in Silicon Valley. Prior to his time in the Valley, Kevin worked in the high-tech networking and security field, and led technology firms specializing in cryptography, public key infrastructures and high-performance and scalable networks. He also spent many years working on networking technologies in Motorola’s Wireless Research Group. As CEO of Bit Stew, Kevin established the vision and direction for the company, leads the evolution of the horizontally aligned Mix Core platform and acts as chief customer advocate. Over the past 12 months, Bit Stew has successfully raised over $30 million in venture capital funding led by Kevin.

Funding Panel

• Andrew Lugsdin, Partner in the IT Venture Fund at BDC Capital
  Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the IT and telecom sectors. Prior to joining BDC Capital, Andrew was the founder and president of a consulting firm for early-stage high-tech companies, providing business planning and development services. Previously, as VP of Sales and Client Strategy, he helped transform a Vancouver-based professional Web services firm into a Canadian leader. BDC Capital currently has over $1 billion under management and almost 30 years of investment experience.
• Brian Hersman, General Partner at JMI Equity
  Brian is based in San Diego and is currently a director of EMS Software, Innovative Interfaces and Intradiem. Prior to joining JMI, Brian was a senior associate at Vista Equity Partners where he executed software transactions and assisted portfolio companies with growth initiatives, strategy, acquisitions and operational improvement. JMI makes growth equity investments in leading software and technology-enabled services companies. JMI has over $3.1 billion of committed capital raised since inception and more than 20 years of experience in their target markets.
• Jeff Klemens, Partner at Sageview Capital
  At Sageview, Jeff has focused on the technology sector, with an emphasis on enterprise software and communications equipment. He is currently a director at Reflexis and holds observer seats with the boards of Alfresco, Avalara, GoPro, and Metric Stream. Before joining Sageview, Jeff was an Associate at SPO Partners & Co, where he was a part of the investment team managing a concentrated portfolio of public and private investments across industries, including media, software, and energy. Sageview provides growth capital to small and mid-sized companies in the technology, financial services and business services sectors. Sageview has over $2 billion raised across two investment vehicles and has a team with a combined 150 years of investment experience.

In addition, the seminar will include Tax Considerations by George Kondopulos, Tax Partner at KPMG. This presentation will cover the opportunities, pitfalls and questions that should be considered before accessing venture capital funding. 

Space is limited for this event, register today to secure your spot!

Please email us at gvaevent@kpmg.ca if you have any questions about the event. Please do not respond to this e-mail as this mailbox is not monitored.

We look forward to seeing you on June 7!