Outstanding! That’s the word that best summarizes the 2009 ATDC Entrepreneurs Showcase this year. Nearly five hundred people came to the event yesterday. As one participant said “Everyone is here, if the roof were to fall in, it would set back the Atlanta technology community ten years.” The biggest problem that we have experienced, was that we have outgrown the space. That is not a bad problem to have!
ATDC’s “Start Strong” theme reigned true yesterday when we graduated 4 very strong members, CAMotion, Innovolt, Suniva, and Synthis. Wain Kellum, Omnilink Systems CEO and ATDC Advisory Board member, opened the graduation by focusing on the strong impact and imprint ATDC has on the technology community, as well as the significant gratification he has personally received by being an ATDC volunteer. Charles Ross, ATDC General Manager, gave a quick overview of ATDC’s strong programming and thanked all the volunteers that help make those programs a success. Ross proceeded to hand out the awards to the ATDC graduating companies and then passed the mic on to Stephen Fleming, Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute’s Chief Commercialization Officer, who spoke on ATDC’s strong “cousin”, VentureLab.
If you missed yesterday’s event, you missed an excellent opportunity to network with and be inspired by all of the latest and greatest technology startup companies. Don’t miss out next year when ATDC celebrates 30 years of strong startup success!
And thanks again to all our great group of sponsors including DLA
Piper, Noro-Moseley Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, Bennett Thrasher,
Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, Imlay Investments, Microsoft BizSpark, Morris, Manning, &
Martin, RBC Bank, TechCFO, StartupLounge, TechDrawl, and TechLinks. As Kathy Harris of NMP summed it up “the crowd of 500+ rivals the major conferences in the region.”
And she is not alone. The Atlanta technology community is a buzz about the showcase. Here are some links.
Suniva CEO: Solar industry closer to grid parity. AtlanTech
ATDC showcases high-tech optimism. Atlanta Unsheltered.
ATDC Shows Crown Jewel Qualities. TechLINKS