Entrepreneurs Showcase the Best in Russian and Ukrainian Start-Ups at Silicon Valley Technology Investment Conference

AmBAR Hosts Third Annual ‘SVOD’ Event in Mountain View, California

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Silicon Valley Open Doors (SVOD), the annual two-day technology investment conference hosted by the American Business Association of Russian Professionals (AmBAR), began today at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

SVOD has become a premier industry showcase for entrepreneurs from the Former Soviet Union, bringing together more than 300 innovators from Russia and the Ukraine with prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms, leading technology and business media and top US technology companies.

“With interest in the economic opportunities being created in the BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India and China) at an all time high, start-ups from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries have been thrust into the spotlight,” said Vera Shokina, President of AmBAR and vice president at Silicon Valley Bank. “The quality of those opportunities is reflected in the quality of presented projects, as well as in the caliber of speakers and investors participating at this year’s event."

2007 is a seminal year in the development of the Russian venture industry. In 2006, the Government of the Russian Federation government created the Russian Venture Company (RVC), a fund of venture capital funds, whose charter is to foster technology entrepreneurship in the country. At SVOD the Russian government will announce a significant increase in the funds now available to investment partners through RVC from US$600 million to more than US$1.25 billion. Simultaneously, RVC’s responsibilities for promoting partnership with the Silicon Valley venture capital community have been expanded. “There is enough venture capital money on the Russian start-up market,” said Yan Ruazantsev, RVC Investment Director. “We are looking for talents to boost the innovation of economy and let Russia break into the global high-tech market.”

"SVOD has become a critical venue for connecting entrepreneurs and fund managers from the FSU with venture capitalists in Silicon Valley,” said Dr. Evgeny Zaytsev, AmBAR Director and Partner at Asset Management Company. “We’re witnessing a historic event at SVOD: the creation of a new fabric of trans-Atlantic technology cooperation.”

Speakers at SVOD 2007 include: Franklin “Pitch” Johnson, Founding Partner of Asset Management Company; Andy Mattes, Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer, Technology Solutions Group, Hewlett-Packard; Ron Moritz, Managing Director, Moritz Technology Corporation (former Senior Vice President and CTO, Symantec Corporation); Kip Knight, Vice President of Marketing, eBay; Don Wood, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Will Price, Managing Director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners; and Peter Buhl, Partner, Blue Run Ventures.

The SVOD 2007 program features seminars and panel discussions by industry experts in information technology, biotech, security, business services, the formation of high-tech ventures, IP protection, talent management, recruiting, product launch and marketing strategies, and raising venture capital. A selected group of 16 start-ups, founded by the entrepreneurs originally from the FSU countries, will showcase their technologies and business plans to a panel of prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists from such prominent Silicon Valley firms as Woodside Capital Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, Alloy Ventures, Canaan Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Intel Capital, Opus Capital, and Charles River Ventures.

For additional information about SVOD or to register please visit the conference website at www.svod.org.

AmBAR

AmBAR is a non-profit business association of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, engineers, lawyers and other professionals with headquarters in Silicon Valley. Started as an organization of expatriates from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet Union countries that were involved in technology businesses in the United States, AmBAR has grown into a large network in which innovators and entrepreneurs of all origin can exchange ideas and business contacts. Today AmBAR's membership base consists of more than 1,800 business professionals.

AmBAR creates a unique platform to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and business contacts between technology entrepreneurs, professionals, and investors. The organization is also dedicated to accelerating access to capital for innovative projects and developing technology partnerships between Russia, Ukraine and other FSU countries and the United States. Through various seminars and conferences AmBAR provides educational programs that help entrepreneurs refine their business plans, and advance their product development and marketing efforts.