Minneapolis, Minnesota — The Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) and the Minnesota Venture Capital Association will be hosting the 31st Minnesota Venture Conference on October 25, 2017 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The Minnesota Venture Conference attracts hundreds of investors, entrepreneurs and executives with the goal of highlighting Minnesota’s vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. Each year, participants gather for a day of knowledge-sharing, networking, and pitches from some of Minnesota’s most promising privately-held companies.

The Minnesota Venture Conference features Presenting Companies which deliver 7-minute presentations to conference attendees and are also available following their presentations.

Companies can also apply on a first-come, first-served basis, for the Entrepreneurial Showcase. Showcase participation is free for registered and qualified companies and includes a one-page profile in the conference event book, a one-minute introduction at the conference, and an information table.

“We’re excited about the range of great startups participating: from artificial intelligence to healthcare and medical devices, to 3D printing, to software and financial services,” said Margaret Anderson Kelliher, President & CEO of the Minnesota High Tech Association. “Combined with knowledgeable speakers, panels, and workshops, this is a can’t-miss event.”

Presenting Companies include:

The morning will kick off with a keynote from Andrew Downey, Managing Director of PwC’s Deals business based in Minneapolis. Downey advises strategic and financial clients on a wide range of M&A transactions including acquisitions, divestitures, carve-outs, joint ventures and other transformative deals.

In his role at PwC, he brings together cross-functional teams of incredible talent to assist clients on complex transactions at various stages of the deal continuum. He brings to these situations deep deal experience from having been involved in more than 150 domestic and cross-border transactions, ranging in size from $5 million to over $5 billion.

With a primary focus on the healthcare sector, his due diligence and merger-related consulting experience spans providers, payors, medical devices, health services and healthcare IT.

Later in the morning, attendees will hear from Gene Munster, Manager Partner and Co-Founder of Loup Ventures. Prior to Loup Ventures, Gene was a managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray where he covered technology companies including Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook. During his 21-year tenure, Gene received many acknowledgements including: Top Stock Picker from Forbes, Best on the Street from The Wall Street Journal, and was widely recognized for his work on Apple. Gene holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and entrepreneurship from University of St. Thomas.

Loup Ventures is a research-driven, early stage venture capital firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with offices in the New York area. Founded in 2017, Loup Ventures is pursuing The Future Perfect – an absolutely fantastic future created by the combination of virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and robotics.

To learn more, visit http://mnventure.org

About the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA)

MHTA is an innovation and technology association united in fueling Minnesota’s prosperity and making Minnesota a top five science and technology state. We help bring together the people of Minnesota’s science and technology ecosystem and lead the charge in directing science and technology issues to Minnesota’s state capitol. MHTA is the only membership organization that represents Minnesota’s entire science and technology-based economy. MHTA members include organizations of every size − involved in virtually every aspect of technology creation, production, application and education in Minnesota. Find out more online at http://mntech.org or follow MHTA on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MHTA.