Held annually within the Quebec City Conference, the Public Policy Forum on Venture Capital and Innovation (“PPF”) has evolved into the premiere gathering of public policy makers and industry leading GPs, LPs, academics and other experts responsible for encouraging high-potential entrepreneurship and venture capital from all major economies. Its objective is to give participants an opportunity to exchange views, experiences and concerns regarding public policies in support of a buoyant venture capital ecosystem to finance emerging technology companies. Now in its fourth year, it is an invitation-only event building upon the international audience developed by the Quebec City Conference. Despite substantial demand, attendees are limited to 100.
The Chairman of the Forum is Yigal Erlich, founder of the Yozma Group (Israel) and the Israeli venture capital industry. Dr Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Shiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School and a world-leading authority on venture capital and private equity is Special Advisor. The President of the Forum is Canadian expert Dr Gilles Duruflé.
Based on the conclusions reached among participants at the 2009 PPF (2009-PPF-MainConclusions-Web.pdf), and in a context where VC industries around the world are facing disappointing returns and LPs’ growing dissatisfaction, the 2010 Forum will focus on efforts to reshape the existing VC model, better align interests among investors, fund managers and entrepreneurs and improving returns.
International panels and presentations on specific topics related to the overall theme will be complemented by a Harvard Business Case on the British Columbia VC Program designed to support both venture capital and business angel investment. This business case is being prepared specifically for the Forum under the supervision of Dr Thomas Hellmann (Sauder School of Management) and Dr Josh Lerner (see program at http://www.quebeccityconference.com/eng/program/program-ppf.php).
The 2010 PPF will be held at the historic Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City on Monday, October 25, beginning at 8:30 am and ending at 5:00 pm. All guests of the PPF are invited to the Quebec City Conference, which will begin immediately thereafter (5:00 pm on Monday, October 25) and end at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, October 26.
Now in its seventh year, the Quebec City Conference is a private, by invitation-only and not-for-profit annual meeting designed for leading international VC and PE firms, institutional and strategic investors, sovereign wealth funds and family offices whose activities produce tangible economic gain and societal benefit, and for public policy makers, industry experts and leading academics supportive of this investment activity, in a format intended for high level exchanges and reflection.
In 2009, the Conference attracted nearly 400 participants from 21 countries from North America, Europe, Asia, Middle-East and South America. Service providers are not invited. Chartered jets are being made available for the exclusive use of guests in transit from and to Boston and New York. No other conference of this kind exists anywhere else in the world.
Additional information is on QCC’s web site at http://www.quebeccityconference.com/