Monday, February 23rd, 2009
at 9:44am
In response to a dimming economy, many venture capital firms have scaled back their current obligations and future investment plans. Faced with hostile capital markets and an absence of exit opportunities, the reluctance of VCs to take on new investments has led to a breakdown in the startup ecosystem, at least according to one local venture capitalist. Striking a decidedly different tone, Amplifier Ventures has announced a new initiative in an attempt to rebuild the investment cycle. Managing partner Jonathan Aberman was kind enough to talk with Contribune about its new Amplifier Business Accelerator Program.
The program will offer six existing DC-area businesses an initial investment of up to $50,000 plus a host of intangible benefits: private bi-weekly meetings with managers of the program to direct and track progress of the business’ development, exclusive members-only classes taught by recognized experts on a variety of topics of interest to growing businesses, access to numerous networking contacts and relationships mediated by program leaders, and a continuing relationship with Amplifier Ventures after conclusion of the program.
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Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
at 12:30pm
Paul and Kady of the DC New Media Technology Web 2.0 Meetup group put together another Social Rockstars Happy Hour at Lotus Lounge last Thursday. The event was an opportunity for local startups and projects to demo their work, attract users and recieve feedback. A significant number of ventures were present, speaking again to the growing size and scope of the Washington, D.C. tech scene. Those on hand included
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