Events

Summer Solstice Reception for Women Angel Investors

Keiretsu Forum, the world's largest angel investment network, will host its 8th annual Summer Solstice event for women investors and entrepreneurs on Thursday, June 13 at Hanson Bridgett LLP in San Francisco from 5:30pm until 8:00pm.

The panel will be hosted by members of the Keiretsu Forum Women Investing in and Supporting Entrepreneurship (WISE) committee. Early stage women-led companies are encouraged to apply to present by contacting Summer Williams, Associate at Keiretsu Forum, at summer@keiretsuforum.com. The program will feature 5 companies that will present for mentoring, feedback, and resources. Guest speaker will be Kathy Wilson from New Day for Children. New Day for Children rescues and provides for the needs of American girls ages 10 to 18 suffering from the desperation of human trafficking.

Agenda:
5:30pm-6:00pm Registration and Networking
6:00pm-6:15pm Welcome and Opening Remarks
6:15pm-6:45pm Panel Introductions
6:45pm-7:45pm Presentations
7:45pm-8:00pm Networking and Adjourn

The Keiretsu Forum Summer Solstice is a "Call to Action" for female entrepreneurs and investors to help spur economic growth and recovery at a local, national, and global level. The event will include a networking reception as well as a panel discussion about the importance of the role of women investors.

Randy Williams, Founder of Keiretsu Forum, said, "More than ever, the angel investor community is eager to attract women participants." He pointed out that a report by the Kauffman Foundation explains that while "women own half of this country's wealth... [they] make up no more than eight percent of angel investors." Women investors are considered a largely untapped market that is critical to "financial and mentoring support for new companies."

With this in mind, Keiretsu Forum members established in June 2007 a Women Investing in and Supporting Entrepreneurs (WISE) committee to encourage increased involvement of women angel investors and entrepreneurs in the Bay Area early stage venture eco-system.

To register for this event, click here: http://women-angel-investors.eventbrite.com/#

Structure Lab

New corporate forms are blurring the boundaries between for-profits and nonprofits.  Old silos of financing and funding streams are giving way to hybrid structures like social capital firms, public/private collaborations and venture philanthropy.  Entrepreneurs and established organizations alike are bending the marketplace to meet multiple bottom lines including a return on social capital.  While some nimbly explore the space between for profit and nonprofit, many more are struggling to make sense of the new landscape of social change.

Criterion Ventures is a leading voice in the structuring of social ventures.  Criterion's dual identity in launching social ventures, both for clients and by taking an equity position with internally developed ideas, has resulted in a nuanced understanding of what it takes to launch a venture.  It is itself a unique structure in the world of social ventures. As the world of social enterprise matures, Criterion is helping to create the methodology that can make it more accessible. Criterion has spent the past year creating an easy to engage process to understand how new forms are structured and how they might work to support the efforts of social change agents.

The Structure Lab provides participants with a roadmap of possibilities to navigate this new territory.  Participants will have a clear understanding of the range of possible legal structures that can be employed for their newly forming venture, pros and cons of each of those structures as it applies to their prospective venture, and will be prepared to work with legal counsel to take the next steps in understanding and establishing the optimal legal structure.

Structure Lab

New corporate forms are blurring the boundaries between for-profits and nonprofits.  Old silos of financing and funding streams are giving way to hybrid structures like social capital firms, public/private collaborations and venture philanthropy.  Entrepreneurs and established organizations alike are bending the marketplace to meet multiple bottom lines including a return on social capital.  While some nimbly explore the space between for profit and nonprofit, many more are struggling to make sense of the new landscape of social change.

Criterion Ventures is a leading voice in the structuring of social ventures.  Criterion's dual identity in launching social ventures, both for clients and by taking an equity position with internally developed ideas, has resulted in a nuanced understanding of what it takes to launch a venture.  It is itself a unique structure in the world of social ventures. As the world of social enterprise matures, Criterion is helping to create the methodology that can make it more accessible. Criterion has spent the past year creating an easy to engage process to understand how new forms are structured and how they might work to support the efforts of social change agents.

The Structure Lab provides participants with a roadmap of possibilities to navigate this new territory.  Participants will have a clear understanding of the range of possible legal structures that can be employed for their newly forming venture, pros and cons of each of those structures as it applies to their prospective venture, and will be prepared to work with legal counsel to take the next steps in understanding and establishing the optimal legal structure.