My Dear Friends, Welcome!

I simply can’t believe that we are able to present the second in this new series of Global Venture Congress™ conferences within three months of the launch of the first one! Thank you for coming.

With literally no marketing budget and with a minimal promotion effort, we attracted attendees from France, England, India and South Africa to our first Biotech Global Venture Congress™, held in October 2004. The Silicon Alley Entrepreneurs Club has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1999 with 30 people on our list to more than 16,000 today.

One of our members described it well when he said, “It’s truly a grass roots organization.” I’m extremely proud of our accomplishments and contributions to society and thankful to everyone who made it possible.

The burst of the Internet bubble is history now. We can once again take pride in being entrepreneurs. The Internet is back in full force and will shape the global economy in the next ten years like never before.

The tremendous amount of money invested during the Internet years has given us a solid infrastructure that we are able to build upon. Record numbers of homes are now connected with broadband and before long, it will be part of every home, just like the telephone and TV.

As new wireless technologies are proven successful and reliable, geographical location and physical connectivity will become irrelevant. The 911 event, as tragic as it was, has created tremendous activity in the security space for consumers, businesses and Governments alike.

Once again, there is renewed interest in venture capital investment compared with 2001 and 2002. Let’s look at the hard numbers. According to the latest report, after three consecutive years of decline, U.S. venture capital investment increased nationally, with $20.4 billion invested in 2,067 deals in 2004. That compares with $18.9 billion invested in 2003. Most significantly, seed and early stage deals made up 37 percent of all venture capital rounds in the fourth quarter. We have recovered from the market slump and entrepreneurial activities have picked up commensurately.

This is a clear indication that we are ready for exceptional innovation. We at SAEC see a great and glowing future for start-up technology companies with a braod range of applications ranging from the bedroom to the boardroom.

On behalf of everyone I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all our sponsors and ask everyone to join us in this great endeavor. All of us that are part of SAEC are delighted to make this contribution to the future of technology. Thank you all for joining us and helping to make this conference such a success.

Best regards,

Gyan Parida, Ph.D., MBA
President, Silicon Alley Entrepreneurs Club (SAEC)
Chairman, Global Venture Congress™

Honesty, Integrity and Leadership – Our Hallmark.