Presented by the Orlando Tech Council, a signature program of the Orlando Economic Partnership
Orlando Economic Partnership Vice President of Innovation Sheena Fowler and the Orlando Tech Council hosts a panel discussion on how COVID-19 has impacted the process for raising capital. COVID-19 has changed the startup funding environment across the world. If you’re an entrepreneur or work for a business trying to raise capital in this environment, hear from investors and founders alike on how to approach raising capital going forward.
HOST
Sheena Fowler
Vice President, Innovation
Orlando Economic Partnership
MODERATOR
Dennis Pape
Co-founder & CEO
SeeFundersOrlando
Dr. Dennis R. Pape is the CEO of SeedFundersOrlando, an angel capital group that invests in pre-revenue Central Florida technology startups. Prior to co-founding SeedFundersOrlando, he co-founded and managed Catalyst Spaces coworking space, founded and managed the VentureScaleUp Accelerator program as well as founded, scaled and exited Photonic Systems, a photonics startup in Melbourne, FL.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Chris Morton
Founder & CEO
NanoPhotonica, Inc.
Dr. Chris Morton is the CEO of NanoPhotonica, a provider of innovative nano-materials and fabrication techniques that enable higher quality electronic displays. He has more than 30 years of entrepreneurial and corporate leadership experiences in the communications industry.
Kunal Patel
Co-founder & CTO
BrandXR
Kunal Patel is the CTO of BrandXR, a builder of augmented, virtual and mixed reality tools to help clients access the most cutting-edge technologies and distribution strategies. He is a huge contributor to the Orlando startup community, having founded the Orlando Game Space coworking offices and community organization Indienomicon.
Ben Patz
Founding Partner & Managing Director
DeepWork Capital
Ben Patz is a founding partner and managing director at DeepWork Capital, an early stage investment firm focused on finding and supporting technology startups in the state of Florida. The firm has been in operation since October 2015. Prior to starting DeepWork Capital, Ben was COO for Presidio Networked Solutions, a multi-billion-dollar information technology solutions provider. He joined Presidio in 2009 through the acquisition of Coleman Technologies, Inc., the firm he co-founded and ran as CEO. He was Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for Florida in 2002 and received UCF’s Professional Achievement Award in 2006 and 2016.
Kenny Totten
Co-founder & COO
Bacarai
Kenny Totten is the COO of Bacarai, a startup that is helping the airlines industry bring group airfare programs online. He is an experienced airline industry professional whose startup Bacarai was invited to the prestigious SAP Concur Accelerator in San Francisco.