Twenty-one (21) of Florida's best prospects for equity capital will be showcased before a nationwide investment audience at the 13th annual Florida Venture Capital Conference. Florida's only statewide conference for the venture capital community, with a proven track record of attracting millions of dollars of venture capital to Florida, will take place January 22-23, 2004 at The Peabody Hotel in Orlando. The 2004 lineup of conference presenters features software developers, e-business enablers, wireless, IT, aerospace and biotech/biopharmaceutical representing the West Coast, South, Central and North Florida. For an up to the minute listing of approved presenters and a company descriptions, visit http://www.flvencap.org/2004_presenters.shtml.

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Don't Miss the Conference's Educational Panels!

On Thursday, January 22 and Friday, January 23, the Florida Venture Capital Conference will present several panel discussions led by seasoned venture capitalists, professionals and entrepreneurs on a variety of topics. The seminar topics on January 22 are: Valuations and Raising Money in a Changing Economy; Private Equity & Mezzanine Alternatives and Strategic Alliances; The State of Early Stage Investing; and Exit Strategies/Mergers & Acquisitions. On Friday morning, don't miss our annual Venture Capital State of the Industry breakfast panel, featuring leading venture capitalists from Florida and nationwide. Attendance at the panel discussions is included in the Conference registration. For additional information on the moderators and speakers of each panel, visit our web site at www.flvencap.org.

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Florida Lieutenant Governor to Speak at Welcoming Reception Honoring Scripps Research Institute

Florida Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings will be a special guest speaker at the 2004 Florida Venture Capital Conference on Thursday, January 22 at 6:30 p.m. at The Peabody Hotel. She and Governor Jeb Bush will be recognized for their efforts in bringing Scripps Research Institute (www.scripps.edu) to Florida. She will also introduce Kara Ewalt, Senior Staff Scientist with Scripps who will discuss their plans to locate in Florida and their vision concerning Florida's unique potential.

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Thanks to Our Sustaining Sponsors of the Venture Capital Conference

The Florida Venture Forum wishes to thank the following Sustaining sponsors for their financial and volunteer commitment to the Conference and to Florida's venture capital community:

American Venture Magazine (www.avce.com); AON Risk Services, Inc. (www.aon.com); Atlantic American Capital Advisors, LLC (www.atlanticamer.com); Bank of America, N.A. (www.bankofamerica.com); Ballast Point Venture Partners, L.P. (www.ballastpointventures.com); Banyan Mezzanine Fund (www.banyanmezzanine.com); Bowne (www.bowne.com); C/max Capital Corporation (www.cmaxcapital.com); Central Florida Innovation Corp. (www.cfic.org); Chrysalis Ventures (www.chrysalisventures.com); Citrix Systems, Inc. (www.citrix.com); Crossbow Ventures (www.cb-ventures.com); Cross Match Technologies, Inc. (www.crossmatch.net); Deloitte & Touche (www.us.deloitte.com); Enterprise Florida (www.eflorida.com); Heidrick & Struggles (www.heidrick.com); Hill, Ward & Henderson, P.A. (www.hwhlaw.com); Hyde Park Capital Partners (www.hydeparkcapital.com); Lasher Associates (www.lasherassociates.com); Lovett Miller & Co., Inc. (www.lovettmiller.com); Merrill Lynch Investment Managers Private Equity Partners (www.ml.com); Nabi Pharmaceuticals (www.nabi.com); National Venture Capital Association (www.nvca.org); Noro-Moseley Partners (www.noro-moseley.com); RBC Centura (www.rbc.com); Ruden McClosky (www.ruden.com); Russell Reynolds Associates (www.russellreynolds.com); SI Ventures (www.siventures.com); Steel Hector & Davis (www.steelhector.com); Stonehenge Capital Corporation (www.stonehengecapital.com); University of Central Florida, Office of Research (www.ucf.edu); The University of Tampa (www.ut.edu).

Special thanks to our Venture Capitalist Breakfast Sponsor, Akerman Senterfitt (www.akerman.com) and our Venture Capitalist Hospitality Suite Sponsors: Comerica (www.comerica.com); Edwards & Angell LLP (www.edwardsangell.com); Ernst & Young LLP (www.ey.com); Holland & Knight LLP (www.hklaw.com); Raymond James & Associates (www.rjf.com); RBC Centura (www.rbc.com) and Ruden McClosky (www.ruden.com).

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Conference Speakers at a Glance

The 2004 Florida Venture Capital Conference is pleased to feature the following speakers. The Opening Day Luncheon speaker on Thursday, January 22 at 12:30 p.m. is Noel J. Fenton, General Partner, Menlo Park-based Trinity Ventures, a $1 billion venture capital firm that provides capital, networks and resources to software and networking technology companies. Mr. Fenton will discuss cycles in the VC industry, 'hot' investment categories and Florida's continued growth potential within the Southeast.

Mr. Fenton has been a part of the Silicon Valley venture capital community for over 35 years. He was a co-founder of three successful venture capital backed start-ups and CEO at two of them, Acurex and Covalent Systems. Trinity Ventures is an active investor in Florida and the Southeastern U.S.

On the second day of the Conference, the Keynote speaker will be Michael Tchong. Tchong, a Trend Analyst, will speak on Friday, January 23 at 12:15 p.m. about the latest market trends and forecasts driving our economy. He is the founder of Trendscape, a San Francisco-based media and entertainment company and publisher of an e-mail newsletter called Trendsetters.com.

Throughout his career as a futurist, Michael has been at the forefront of the hottest trends. He has been successfully involved in home computing, desktop publishing, personal communication and the Internet. Since 1987, Michael has launched five successive start-ups, the best-known of which are MacWEEK, acquired by Ziff-Davis in 1988, CyberAtlas, acquired by I/PRO, now part of BPA, in 1996, and ICONOCAST, sold to Imagine Media, now part of The Future Network, in 1998.

Michael just completed Trendscape 2004, a compilation of the top 200 hottest trends, just published in November 2003.

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Understanding Changing VC Terms Well Attended

On Friday, December 12, the Florida Venture Forum presented "Preserving Equity Capital: Understanding Term Sheets, Valuation Metrics, Mezzanine Financing and other Capital Raising Tools" at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando, FL. Full rachets, liquidation preferences, retroactive repricings and valuation were discussed in a lively role playing session by a panel of successful professionals who explained how a company gets funding. They also addressed VC terms for the audience. More than 125 high growth companies, investors and professionals who wanted to learn more about equity capital attended this special insider's view of how to negotiate a venture capital term sheet. The experts, including Robert Brighton of Ruden McClosky, David Felman of Hill, Ward & Henderson, Dawn Olivardia of Deloitte & Touche, Ravi Ugale of Crossbow Ventures and Jeff White of Silicon Valley Bank, played the role of entrepreneur, venture capitalist, attorney and CPA in a typical venture capital transaction describing offering terms, how to calculate company valuation and pitfalls to watch out for.

Following the educational session, a panel of entrepreneurs, including Michael Gallagher of FDN Communications, Lawrence Keim of Solicore, Inc. and Chris Morton of SkyCross, Inc., all of whom had successfully raised capital or completed a 'liquidity event' in the last 12 months, shared their personal experiences. These entrepreneurs recently negotiated a funding transaction, receiving follow-on round or completed an acquisition. The group gave helpful advice for those still seeking capital. Moderator for the panel discussion was Steve Lux, Managing Partner of Stonehenge Capital Corporation and 2003 Chair of the Florida Venture Forum.

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2004 Annual Programming

Mark your calendars now for another year of outstanding programs for entrepreneurs and investors statewide from the Florida Venture Forum in your area. Planning is underway and the complete 2004 Program Calendar will be posted on the Forum website soon. For additional information, visit www.flvencap.org.

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Facts, Figures and Fortunes

Universal Chemical Technologies, a Stuart, FL-based provider of wear and abrasion resistant metal coatings, is in the process of raising its second round of institutional capital. Crossbow Ventures led the company's $5 million first round, which closed in September 2001. For additional information, please visit www.universalchemical.com.

Enporion, a Tampa, FL-based gene provider of e-commerce technology and services for the energy utility industry, has received $9 million in its fourth round of venture capital. Founding members are responsible for the investment including UGI Corp., PPL Corp., Alleghany Energy and several other utilities. For additional information, please visit www.enporion.com.

Website Pros, a Jacksonville, FL-based company that develops web sites for small businesses, raised $10 million in its second round of financing. New investor, Insight Venture Partners, provided the entire round. For additional information, please visit www.websitepros.com.

Computer Repair Systems, a Boca Raton, FL-based developer of location software to connect companies with computer service providers, has raised $1 million in its second round of financing. Previous investors returned for the inside round. For additional information, please visit www.computerrepair.com.

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January 22 - Tampa Bay Technology Forum's Monthly Breakfast Meeting - Featured speaker is U.S. Congressman Jim Davis, D-Tampa. For more information, visit www.tbtf.org.

February 5 - Tampa Bay Technology Forum's Monthly Breakfast Meeting - Featured speaker is CIO Kim Bahrami. For more information, visit www.tbtf.org.

March 25 - BioTech 2004 Conference - Hosted by the Enterprise Development Corporation, the conference will highlight "Today's Bioscience Environment in South Florida." The Keynote Speaker will be Dr. John Kozarich, President of ActivX and Professor with Scripps Research Institute. It will be conducted at Florida International University in Miami. For more information, visit www.edc-tech.org.

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