Experts and entrepreneurs nationwide will gather April 29 for WhatsNext—a virtual start-up, venture capital, and M&A national business festival. The event features cutting-edge information, chances to network with leading VC and private equity firms, a pitch competition, and break-out rooms with musicians and pro athletes.
Panels will cover: software/hardware product development; branding; VC financing strategies; bootstrapping/scaling in a regulated industry; and M&A and exit strategies.
Participants include large companies (Comcast, DuPont, Ernst & Young and Silicon Valley Bank), VC investors (NEA, FirstMark and Siddhi Capital), and emerging companies (EarlyBird, Goody, Guru Technologies, Crossbeam, NeuroFlow). Last year, nearly 350 connections happened (when users clicked to exchange contact details).
Break-out rooms will feature performances from Langhorne Slim and Son Little; guitar lessons with Paul Green, founder of School of Rock; and a quick history of the bass guitar with Bets Charmelus of ILL Fated Natives.
The pitch competition includes hot startups from around the country, pitching in a Shark Tank format to pro athletes (Thaddeus Young and Jason Kelce), musicians, and entertainers as judges and a “phone a friend” Bay Area venture capital investor from NEA.
WHEN: APRIL 29, 2021, 10:45 AM – 5 PM ET
For more information, contact Alex Bolotovsky at [email protected]
“After last year’s virtual pilot of WhatsNext, we contemplated an in-person conference later this year, but our engagement was incredible on the virtual platform, as we utilized contacts from around the country to convey information and facilitate connectivity,” said Gregory L. Seltzer, co-Leader of Ballard Spahr’s ECVC practice. “We feel strongly that, given the firm’s resources and contacts, we owe it to the startup and venture capital community to aggregate, connect, and communicate information to emerging companies—free of charge—and to do that, we should remain virtual.”
