Key Takeaways
- • The Qodeo Global Democratising Venture Summit, a packed private conference at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club on Friday, brought Bermudian entrepreneurs together with venture-capital specialists to discuss how and when to identify and source seed funding.
- • Sixteen speakers, mostly from overseas, focused on improving access to capital for Black, female and senior investors and founders, according to The Royal Gazette.
- • Dame Anne Glover, chief executive and cofounder of Amadeus Capital Partners, stressed that entrepreneurship drives economic growth and that in-person knowledge exchange remains more effective than online channels.
- • Qodeo, a subscription-based fintech and matchmaking platform, says it connects more than 20,000 entrepreneurs with more than 7,400 investors.
Summary
Bermudian entrepreneurs gathered at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club on Friday for the Qodeo Global Democratising Venture Summit, an event promoted under the theme "Matching investors with diverse entrepreneurs," according to The Royal Gazette. The private conference featured sixteen speakers, most of them from overseas, and was attended by a packed room of local founders seeking guidance on identifying and sourcing seed money.
The discussion centred on the difficulties some founders and investors face in accessing capital, with particular attention to improving prospects for Black, female and senior investors. Speakers included Dame Anne Glover, chief executive and cofounder of Amadeus Capital Partners, a British venture-capital firm established in 1997 with offices in London, Cambridge and Oxford. Dame Anne, who has chaired the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association and Invest Europe and served on the Court of the Bank of England, told The Royal Gazette that the value of such events lies in knowledge exchange and relationship building. She said entrepreneurship is central to economic growth, job creation and addressing societal challenges.
Other speakers included Haley Bryant, a partner at California-based Hustle Fund, which specialises in early-stage start-ups, and Zakiya Alta-Hill Lee, a North Carolina-based entrepreneur and venture-capital professional and founder of Alta Business Solutions. Ms Lee cautioned founders to determine whether their company is venture-backable before pursuing venture capital, while Ms Bryant noted that bootstrapping and other funding mechanisms, such as those offered by Ignite, may suit some businesses better than venture capital or angel investment. Michael Branco, Mayor of Hamilton, and Leonardo Williams, Mayor of Durham, North Carolina, were also scheduled speakers.
A Bermuda-focused panel, "Where can Bermuda excel?", included Minister of Economy and Labour Jason Hayward, Erica Smith of the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, Sean Reel of Ignite Bermuda, and Andy Mielczarek, executive chairman and CEO of the Bermuda Commercial Bank. The agenda also covered local resources available to small start-ups and sessions on what investors actually want. Qodeo describes itself as a global, subscription-based fintech and matchmaking platform linking entrepreneurs, with a focus on underserved and diverse founders, to venture capital and private equity investors.
The discussion centred on the difficulties some founders and investors face in accessing capital, with particular attention to improving prospects for Black, female and senior investors. Speakers included Dame Anne Glover, chief executive and cofounder of Amadeus Capital Partners, a British venture-capital firm established in 1997 with offices in London, Cambridge and Oxford. Dame Anne, who has chaired the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association and Invest Europe and served on the Court of the Bank of England, told The Royal Gazette that the value of such events lies in knowledge exchange and relationship building. She said entrepreneurship is central to economic growth, job creation and addressing societal challenges.
Other speakers included Haley Bryant, a partner at California-based Hustle Fund, which specialises in early-stage start-ups, and Zakiya Alta-Hill Lee, a North Carolina-based entrepreneur and venture-capital professional and founder of Alta Business Solutions. Ms Lee cautioned founders to determine whether their company is venture-backable before pursuing venture capital, while Ms Bryant noted that bootstrapping and other funding mechanisms, such as those offered by Ignite, may suit some businesses better than venture capital or angel investment. Michael Branco, Mayor of Hamilton, and Leonardo Williams, Mayor of Durham, North Carolina, were also scheduled speakers.
A Bermuda-focused panel, "Where can Bermuda excel?", included Minister of Economy and Labour Jason Hayward, Erica Smith of the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, Sean Reel of Ignite Bermuda, and Andy Mielczarek, executive chairman and CEO of the Bermuda Commercial Bank. The agenda also covered local resources available to small start-ups and sessions on what investors actually want. Qodeo describes itself as a global, subscription-based fintech and matchmaking platform linking entrepreneurs, with a focus on underserved and diverse founders, to venture capital and private equity investors.
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