04 Nov IU Ventures gathers Big Ten venture leaders for inaugural summit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bloomington, Ind. – Startup and new venture leaders from Big Ten institutions and beyond will gather in Chicago later this week Nov. 3-4 for the inaugural Big Ten Venture Summit.
“Bringing this world-class group of university affiliated new venture leaders together will lead to new opportunities for partnership and collaboration and help to accelerate venture related activity in the region and beyond,” said Jon Barada, vice president at IU Ventures, who is leading the summit’s coordination.
IU Ventures is Indiana University’s early-stage venture and angel investment arm. The summit will receive sponsorship support from Bridge Bank and Quarles & Brady, LLC.
In addition to networking and benchmarking opportunities, summit participants will hear from a panel featuring Bill Elmore, founder and managing partner at Handshake Ventures and Ira Weiss, partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners.
Participating institutions include:
University of Chicago
University of Illinois
Indiana University
University of Iowa
University of Maryland
University of Michigan
Michigan State University
University of Nebraska
Notre Dame University
Northwestern University
Ohio State University
Purdue University
Rutgers University
University of Southern California
University of Wisconsin
The summit continues the engagement of IU Ventures, which recently ranked among the most active venture capital firms in the Great Lakes region of the U.S., in strengthening a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in Indiana and the surrounding region.
Earlier this year, IU Ventures hosted the IU Founders & Funders Network Summit, which brought together leading IU-affiliated entrepreneurs, innovators, investors and others driving the development of the university’s global venture ecosystem.
About IU Ventures:
IU Ventures invests in and supports IU-affiliated early-stage companies. Its investment programs include the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, IU Angel Network, Shoebox Fund and Innovate Indiana Fund. It further supports IU founders through the Executive in Residence Program and IU Founders and Funders Network. Student support is provided through a variety of engagements, including the new IU Venture Fellows Program. Each program takes unique approaches to accelerate and support the positive impacts that entrepreneurs affiliated with IU already achieve across the world. IU Ventures is a recognized leader in increasing opportunities for diverse and historically underserved entrepreneurs and investing in Indiana startups with a shared commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Media Contact:
Ryan Piurek
IU Ventures
812-855-5393
rpiurek@iu.edu