Private investment and advisory firm investing in life sciences, health tech, and CRM.We also help companies and fund managers (private equity, VC and hedge funds) raise private capital from our community of 4000+ family offices, UHNW individuals, and institutions. opus8.com

The Big Idea CONNECTpreneur Forum is a global community of 30,000+ CEOs, investors, entrepreneurs, VCs, angels, and business leaders.Our unique content and events celebrate innovation and support high level connection and engagement among investors and entrepreneurs. We host the world's largest monthly virtual investor pitch events with 500-1000 attendees online.Our monthly in-person Forums mash up 400+ top founders, investors, angels, CXOs, VCs, & early stage ecosystem players featuring awesome networking, newsmaking speakers, and a showcase of emerging tech companies. Event locations: Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, Baltimore, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco, Orange County, CA.Previous speakers include Steve Case, Governor Terry McAuliffe, Reggie Aggarwal, David Trone, Seth Goldman, David Steinberg, Dave Gardner, Tim Chi, Mark Ein, Joe Payne, Chip Paucek, Mark Walsh, Michael Bronfein, Doug Humphrey, Tommy Davidson, Tim Hwang, Don Rainey, Rick Rudman, and Sudhakar Kesavan, among others. Over 70% of our attendees surveyed rank CONNECTpreneur as the Number One tech networking event in the Mid-Atlantic region. Partners include JP Morgan, Capital One, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Forvis Mazars, BDO, RSM, Bank of America, Modus Create, New York Life, TEDCO, CBRE, Deloitte, Wilson Sonsini, INOVA, NFP, Truist Financial, WeWork, Georgetown U, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, George Washington U, Womble Bond Dickinson, Howard Hughes Corp., NEXT, powered by Shulman Rogers, MD Department of COMMERCE, MD Tech Council, Northern VA Tech Council, NOVA Chamber of Commerce, and the Association for Enterprise Growth. Multiple media outlets have called CONNECTpreneur one of the top tech and investor networking events in the USA.Join our LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8204767LIKE us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConnectpreneurFollow us on Twitter and Instagram: @connectpreneurWebsite: connectpreneur.org#connectpreneur

$25 million AUM initial fund. Currently raising $75 million second fund. Our mission is to direct capital to the highest-performing ventures in the advanced technology arena, with a specific focus on innovations in aerospace, defense and intelligence, and national security that have dual-use applications in the civilian economy.IronGate Capital Advisors is managed by a multidisciplinary team of experts in finance, national security, and technology.

Virginia Venture Partners (VVP) is a strategic venture investment platform of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation. Since 2005, Virginia Venture Partners has placed direct equity investments in Virginia’s leading technology, energy, life science and scale-able non-tech start-ups through a family of seed and early-stage investment funds. Through VVP Fund of Funds, Virginia Venture Partners invests in venture capital fund managers committed to the Commonwealth of Virginia and aligned with VVP’s early-stage investment thesis. VVP’s complementary investment strategies enable the Commonwealth of Virginia to partner with and catalyze both fund managers and entrepreneurs in contribution to the next generation of Virginia’s technology and technology companies.

The Association for Enterprise Growth (AEG) helps business owners grow, create value, exit and align business and personal goals. Our network of professionals from over 25 disciplines uses proven processes to accomplish this mission for the owner.

FITCI is the largest business incubator & accelerator in the State of Maryland and one of the largest in the Mid-Atlantic region. Since 2004, FITCI has served over 260 companies which have received coaching, capital and connections support. FITCI programs include Startup University and CEO advisory boards along with pitch fests. FITCI Companies have created over 1160+ jobs, raised $160 million, and contribute over $84 million to the economy annually. Currently, FITCI is home to 74 companies. The community Accelerator has expanded to include the F3Tech Accelerator designed to better support Agrotech Companies, life science related commercialization and manufacturing and attract new companies to Maryland through FITCI’s Soft Landing Program. 54 Volunteer CEOs serve as company advisors as part of FITCI’s Strategic Growth & Advisory Boards. FITCI actively partners on workforce development, apprenticeship and internship programs with a focus on attracting, training and inspiring a new generation of life science workers from historically underrepresented segments of our population.

ANB Technologies is a leading technology consulting firm that provides end-to-end Enterprise Service Management solutions and services to help clients achieve business transformation outcomes. Our mission is to help customers digitize and automate their enterprise processes in a cost-effective manner.

Nanobiofab is a nanotech-based healthcare company that provides smart nanosensors (such as pressure sensors, gas sensors) for health management.

GO Virginia is an initiative by Virginia’s senior business leaders to foster private-sector growth and job creation through state incentives for regional collaboration by business, education, and government.

Advanced technology training and content development and delivery.Lumious (TM) learning analytics platform provides insights into all learning activities. LRS (learning record store) and analytics engine built on the xAPI e-learning standard enables personalized learning.Lumious.com

IT services firm providing enterprise network engineering and datacenter services to Government, commercial, and association clients.

Lecture and Speak on entrepreneurship, leadership and capital markets at McDonough School of Business, Georgetown Venture Lab, and Georgetown Law Center. Serve as entrepreneurship resource and advisor for Georgetown's faculty, alumni, and MBA and undergrad students.

MindShare is a network of chief executive officers (CEOs) from the most promising emerging and high growth technology companies in the Washington, DC region. Almost 1000 CEOs of highly innovative and dynamic technology companies have joined forces through the MindShare Alumni Network to:- Drive further growth of individuals and companies by establishing a vibrant community that develops long-term trusted business and personal relationships.- Build a strong peer-to-peer network of CEOs that fosters collaboration and entrepreneurship to build high-growth technology companies.- Increase awareness of our region as a technology innovation hotbed to attract investment capital, develop entrepreneurial talent, and share valuable resources.The MindShare Alumni Network mission is to strengthen networks, gain direct access to recognized thought leaders and advisors, and build long-term successful technology companies in the Washington, DC region.

Mentor and advisor to security startup founders at Mach37, an accelerator focused on information security product companies. Twice a year, Mach37 invests in a class of 6-10 security startups, each of which participates in an intensive 3-month program of coaching and validation of their products and markets.

Conscious Venture Lab® (CVL) is an early stage business accelerator with the goal of developing companies and leaders who embrace capitalism as a force for good in society. We work to help extraordinary entrepreneurs in their goal to build companies with societal purpose at their core; to give them all the tools and support they need to create engaged happy employees, loyal and joyful customers, deeply authentic partnerships, caring and safe communities and all manner of wealth for all their stakeholders.

Appointed by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley to the 9-member Maryland Venture Fund Authority, whose mission is to oversee implementation of InvestMaryland, a public-private partnership to spur venture capital investment and fuel Maryland’s innovation economy.The Authority allocates and manages $84 million of capital which is invested into the Maryland Venture Fund and other top VC funds including Grotech, Kinetic, New Atlantic, Core Capital, and New Markets Venture Partners.

CIT GAP Funds is a family of seed and early-stage investment funds placing equity investments in Virginia-based technology companies. CIT GAP Funds invests in companies with a high potential for achieving rapid growth and generating significant economic return for entrepreneurs, co-investors and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

FounderCorps is an organization that is managed by experienced technology entrepreneurs for the benefit of entrepreneurs in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. Our members have started, managed or exited successful technology businesses. We share a common purpose – to promote a broader and deeper technology entrepreneurial community in our region.Website: foundercorps.org

The DDCTF provided grants ranging from $25,000 to $250k to early-stage tech entrepreneurs located on or moving to the DC Tech Corridor, which is a designated area identified to bolster the District of Columbia's burgeoning tech sector.

Digital finance platform that helps globalizing, export-driven companies connect and transact with accredited investors, funds, and lenders to raise $100K-$50m in debt or equity to propel their growth and sales.

The Startupland documentary series captures the journey of five entrepreneurs alongside interviews with legends of the technology industry. Startupland brings an immersive and engaging experience that we hope will educate and inspire innovators everywhere. The series premiered on March 13th 2014 at The E Street Landmark Theatre in Washington, DC to two sold-out seatings totaling 500 people. Startupland is currently touring the east coast and mid-west for premiere screenings through May and the west coast tour kicks off in June. Learn more at Startupland.tv or https://www.facebook.com/Startupland. Follow us on twitter @startup_land

One of the nation's leading networking and education organizations. Members include over 700 CXOs at companies with a minimum of $10 million in annual revenues

In 2017, Progress Software acquired DataRPM, an industry pioneer in cognitive data discovery, the next generation of big data technology, delivering hyper-fast results to organizations challenged by the volume, velocity and variety of their big data. Our patent-pending Computational Graph Search technology enables hyper-smart, automatic modeling of data from disparate sources using semantic algorithms, eliminating the need to manually build complex data warehouses for discovery. DataRPM also creates hyper-fluid data lakes, enabling a more agile way to access and manage big data from multiple sources. Using a hyper-aware, natural language search interface to analyze and visualize data, DataRPM provides an easy, question-and-answer user experience for big data discovery. DataRPM was named “Cool Vendor” in 2014.

Startup Maryland supports a network of startup communities dedicated to advancing the success of Maryland startups. Dozens of passionate founders, entrepreneurial leaders, investors, mentors and executives are working together to strengthen their local communities and help young companies grow.We highlight the importance of startups as innovators and job creators. We give startups access to the relationships, opportunities, and knowledge they need to succeed. We celebrate entrepreneurship as a core American value. We aspire to make creating or joining an American startup the most desirable job in the world.

Leading CRM software company acquired by Microsoft for $100 million in January, 2014.

Lecture and Speak at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Serve as entrepreneurship resource and advisor for University of Maryland's faculty, students and alumni entrepreneurs.Assisted in resurgence of Dingman Angels (formerly Capital Access Network). Liase with Smith School's programs in China and promote annual nationwide Business Plan Competition in China. Selected by University of Maryland Provost to serve on Search Committee for new Dean of the Smith School.

The Maryland Tech Council (MTC) is Maryland's largest technology trade association which brings its 500 plus members access to technology industry leaders throughout the MidAtlantic.MTC helps the region's technology organizations grow through its membership and activities such as networking events, cost saving programs, and advocacy initiatives.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is internationally recognized as having achieved a preeminent place among the world's most important orchestras. Acclaimed for its uncompromising pursuit of artistic excellence, the BSO has attracted a devoted national and international following while maintaining deep bonds throughout the Maryland community.

NFTE is an organization which supports youth entrepreneurship and personal development on a world-wide basis. www.nfte.com

Partnership of investors and entrepreneurs was formed to acquire and relocate to the Washington, DC region the Montreal Expos Major League Baseball franchise. Our group was one of 3 finalist bidders, but ultimately was not selected.

Diversified customer relationship management (CRM) and contact center company offering customer care, tech support and customer lifecycle solutions to Fortune 500 corporations in the telecom, technology, consumer products, healthcare and financial services sectors. One of the 3 largest private contact center companies in North America, over 2300 employees and $80 million in annual revenue. Operated 9 facilities in 6 states throughout the USA. "Inc.500" honoree 4 years in a row. Profitable for 11 consecutive years, backed by Allied Capital Corporation (NYSE: ALD). Company was acquired by Fortune 500 company Affiliated Computer Services in 2003, and then subsequently XEROX Corp. It is now one of the largest contact center operations in the world as a $2+ billion BPO unit of Conduent (NYSE: CNDT).

Trade association which represents the North American call center industry