Speed Venture Summit™ Taps CitySquares to Pitch
Nashua, NH, September 05, 2009 --(PR.com)-- The Speed Venture Summit™ vision is to help launch the best companies by providing them ready access to private capital. Boston-based CitySquares.com, a hyper-local search-and-advertising website, hopes to catch a ride on that launch as one of the first companies selected to pitch at the October 28 Summit, the premier speed-dating-style event for fast-growth businesses and investors in New England, co-hosted by the New Hampshire High Technology Council and the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center, and brought to you by Gold Sponsor Comcast Business Class.
The 2009 Speed Venture Summit™ explained the early selection of CitySquares this way: “The future of web advertising is making it relevant and compelling to a targeted consumer base,” said Summit producer Tim Platt, “and CitySquares’ hyper-local approach is designed to bring customers together with nearby businesses they are looking for.”
Matt Benson, chair of the Speed Venture Summit™ selection committee, agreed: “Our investors want to see a company keenly focused on serving a growing market with a differentiated product and a seasoned sector management team. CitySquares fits that bill.”
CitySquares was co-founded in 2005 by CEO Ben Saren and Bob Leland, Vice President--Product. In nearly four years it has achieved more than 1000 small business advertisers, with a 75% annual renewal rate and rapidly growing traffic, 2 million unique visitors per month and on pace for 3-4 million unique visitors by the end of 2009.
On the selection of CitySquares to pitch at Speed Venture Summit™, Saren said: “We are proud of the invitation to pitch at the Summit. It is an honor to be selected, and focuses a bright spotlight on what we do. More importantly, it helps us in a mission-critical activity, raising more capital to fund our growth, so we can serve our proven customer base. In these difficult capital markets, it is helpful to have a resource like Speed Venture Summit to bring us together with interested capital partners.”
The Speed Venture Summit™ will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, NH on October 28, 2009. Participating businesses will represent all sectors and development stages, from start-up to later-stage and will “speed pitch” to the region’s savviest and shrewdest investors, ranging from individuals and Angels to venture capital firms and private equity and mezzanine financers. Organizers expect that a total of approximately 50 companies will speed-pitch to 25 different investor groups in private 1:1 sessions throughout the afternoon.
The “speed-pitching” segment of the Summit will be held from 2:00 to 5:00pm, and will be followed by a two-hour business networking session open to the public that will provide an excellent opportunity for young companies to gain exposure and knowledge around seeking investment capital. The event will end with a pitch-off from among the day’s top companies.
For more information about the Summit, or to register for the networking segment, visit www.speedventuresummit.org
About Speed Venture Summit: The Speed Venture Summit™ is the premier speed-dating-style event for fast-growth businesses and investors in New England, brought to you by the New Hampshire High Technology Council and the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center. Featuring the hottest growing companies in New England, the Speed Venture Summit™ is open to businesses from all industries, and is promoted throughout the region.
About the NH Small Business Development Center (NH SBDC): The NH SBDC provides confidential business management consulting and educational programs to New Hampshire’s small businesses. NH SBDC is an outreach program of the UNH Whittemore School of Business & Economics and a cooperative venture with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New Hampshire (DRED), the University System of New Hampshire, and the private sector. For more info on the NH SBDC, visit www.nhsbdc.org.
About the New Hampshire High Technology Council (NHHTC): The NHHTC’s purpose is to bring together representatives from the private and public sectors to establish and maintain financial, technical, management, legislative and educational support programs that encourage innovative research and technology-based industrial development in NH. www.nhhtc.org
About CitySquares: CitySquares.com provides local, independent businesses with an opportunity to reach out to a highly targeted local online audience through its highly trafficked, consumer facing website. Local advertisers are able to take full advantage our search engine optimized information architecture and fully customize and personalize their CitySquares.com advertising campaigns through enhanced business profiles, display advertising, Email newsletters, and professional online video.
Contact:
Tim Platt
Producer, Speed Venture Summit™
603.410.1520
tcp@kinsmanco.com
Ben Saren
CEO and Co-Founder, CitySquares LLC
617.459.4922
bsaren@CitySquares.com
###
The 2009 Speed Venture Summit™ explained the early selection of CitySquares this way: “The future of web advertising is making it relevant and compelling to a targeted consumer base,” said Summit producer Tim Platt, “and CitySquares’ hyper-local approach is designed to bring customers together with nearby businesses they are looking for.”
Matt Benson, chair of the Speed Venture Summit™ selection committee, agreed: “Our investors want to see a company keenly focused on serving a growing market with a differentiated product and a seasoned sector management team. CitySquares fits that bill.”
CitySquares was co-founded in 2005 by CEO Ben Saren and Bob Leland, Vice President--Product. In nearly four years it has achieved more than 1000 small business advertisers, with a 75% annual renewal rate and rapidly growing traffic, 2 million unique visitors per month and on pace for 3-4 million unique visitors by the end of 2009.
On the selection of CitySquares to pitch at Speed Venture Summit™, Saren said: “We are proud of the invitation to pitch at the Summit. It is an honor to be selected, and focuses a bright spotlight on what we do. More importantly, it helps us in a mission-critical activity, raising more capital to fund our growth, so we can serve our proven customer base. In these difficult capital markets, it is helpful to have a resource like Speed Venture Summit to bring us together with interested capital partners.”
The Speed Venture Summit™ will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, NH on October 28, 2009. Participating businesses will represent all sectors and development stages, from start-up to later-stage and will “speed pitch” to the region’s savviest and shrewdest investors, ranging from individuals and Angels to venture capital firms and private equity and mezzanine financers. Organizers expect that a total of approximately 50 companies will speed-pitch to 25 different investor groups in private 1:1 sessions throughout the afternoon.
The “speed-pitching” segment of the Summit will be held from 2:00 to 5:00pm, and will be followed by a two-hour business networking session open to the public that will provide an excellent opportunity for young companies to gain exposure and knowledge around seeking investment capital. The event will end with a pitch-off from among the day’s top companies.
For more information about the Summit, or to register for the networking segment, visit www.speedventuresummit.org
About Speed Venture Summit: The Speed Venture Summit™ is the premier speed-dating-style event for fast-growth businesses and investors in New England, brought to you by the New Hampshire High Technology Council and the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center. Featuring the hottest growing companies in New England, the Speed Venture Summit™ is open to businesses from all industries, and is promoted throughout the region.
About the NH Small Business Development Center (NH SBDC): The NH SBDC provides confidential business management consulting and educational programs to New Hampshire’s small businesses. NH SBDC is an outreach program of the UNH Whittemore School of Business & Economics and a cooperative venture with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New Hampshire (DRED), the University System of New Hampshire, and the private sector. For more info on the NH SBDC, visit www.nhsbdc.org.
About the New Hampshire High Technology Council (NHHTC): The NHHTC’s purpose is to bring together representatives from the private and public sectors to establish and maintain financial, technical, management, legislative and educational support programs that encourage innovative research and technology-based industrial development in NH. www.nhhtc.org
About CitySquares: CitySquares.com provides local, independent businesses with an opportunity to reach out to a highly targeted local online audience through its highly trafficked, consumer facing website. Local advertisers are able to take full advantage our search engine optimized information architecture and fully customize and personalize their CitySquares.com advertising campaigns through enhanced business profiles, display advertising, Email newsletters, and professional online video.
Contact:
Tim Platt
Producer, Speed Venture Summit™
603.410.1520
tcp@kinsmanco.com
Ben Saren
CEO and Co-Founder, CitySquares LLC
617.459.4922
bsaren@CitySquares.com
###
Contact
Speed Venture Summit
Tim Platt
603.410.1500
www.speedventuresummit.org
Tim Platt
603.410.1500
www.speedventuresummit.org
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