Seminar and Workshop Announcement
“Desperately Seeking Capital, the pros and cons of various types of capital for early stage technology companies”
Dennis R. Costello, Braemar Energy Ventures, Massachussetts, USA
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2.00pm – 4.00pm
Venue: Room 4.02 Western Gateway Building, UCC
Dennis R. Costello, venture capitalist and one of the world’s leading experts in financing energy start-ups, will give a public seminar and workshop on financing start-ups at University College Cork on Wednesday July 2nd from 2.00 pm to 4.00pm. The seminar, a joint initiative between MaREI and Imerc, is open to all and will be of interest to anybody who has or is thinking of setting up their own start-up as well as policy makers and incubation centre managers. After the seminar there will be an informal workshop where Mr. Costello will answer questions from the audience, followed by a networking coffee session, sponsored by the Cork Convention Bureau.
Overview:
The seminar will be an informal review of the pros and cons of early stage capital provided by angel investors, venture capitalists, strategic corporate investors and government sources. Personal insights into the experiences working with each of these types of investors will be shared based on almost 30 years of experience as a venture capitalist. An overview of common fund raising mistakes will be included along with some examples of approaches that have stood out from most other business plans. The seminar will be followed by an interactive workshop so that your specific fund raising questions can be addressed (including questions on common deal terms, valuation issues, presentation materials, etc.)
Dennis R. Costello is a Managing Partner of Braemar Energy Ventures II. Mr. Costello has been an active venture capital investment professional for over twenty-five years. Mr. Costello was previously a partner with Advent International, an international private equity firm where he rose to chief investment officer for North America. Mr. Costello began his career in alternative energy with positions as a project manager at Midwest Research Institute and as a member of the original staff of the National Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), which is now the National Renewable energy Laboratory (NREL).
Mr. Costello holds an M.S. degree in business from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. He also holds an M.A. in economics from Ohio State University and a B.A. in economics from the State University of New York (SUNY), College at Fredonia.
