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 designers and industry leaders (GPs, LPs academics and experts) responsible for encouraging high-potential entrepreneurship and venture capital from all major economies. Its objectives are 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 fifth year, it is an invitation-only event building upon the international audience already 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 father of 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 2010 PPF (Click here to view document ) and in a context where VC industries around the world are facing disappointing returns, LPs’ growing dissatisfaction and a very difficult environment for fund raising, the 2011 Forum will focus on efforts to facilitate IPOs and exits, harness alternative sources of funding and build an environment supportive of venture capital.
International panels and presentations on specific topics related to the overall theme will be complemented by a Harvard Business Case prepared specifically for the Forum under the supervision of Dr Josh Lerner and Dr Thomas Hellmann (Sauder School of Management). The PPF will also create an opportunity for peer to peer roundtables on related topics prepared in advance.
The 2011 PPF will be held at the Fairmont Château Frontenac in Quebec City on Monday, October 24, beginning at 8:30 am and ending at 5:00 pm. All guests of the PPF are invited to the Conference, which will begin immediately thereafter (5:00 pm on Monday, October 25) and end at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, October 25.
Now in its eighth year, the Quebec City Conference is a private and not-for-profit annual meeting of senior international investors focused on innovation or long-term investment (VC and PE firms, family offices, institutional and strategic investors, and sovereign wealth funds), government leaders and industry experts in a well-designed format intended for high level exchanges and reflection. It is by invitation-only. Service providers and intermediaries are not invited. In 2010, the Conference attracted nearly 450 participants from 22 countries from North and South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle-East and Oceania. Chartered jets are being made available for the exclusive use of QCC attendees from and to Boston and New York.
Additional information is on QCC’s web site at www.QuebecCityConference.com