Enter the Dragon: Shanghai, Sydney, Silicon Valley Venture Capital Forum, November 19/20

Is Shanghai the next Silicon Valley? Will China’s formidable economic presence on the world stage bring entrepreneurs and venture capitalists together to build solutions for the next generation?

Come find out the answers to these questions and more when Advance presents “Enter the Dragon”, a video conference linking Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Sydney, November 19/20. Click here for times and location in each city and to register now.

Learn more about: China’s emerging opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs in the global economy; the difference between Silicon Valley and China VC ecosystems; building your global networks for business opportunities; navigating a foreign market with trusted resources; China’s growing clean and green tech market opportunities; how Silicon Valley’s innovation and Australia’s unique blend of resources, clean fossil fuels, water and solar technologies will neatly fit in this vast market sector as the world reshapes itself in the next two decades.

Panelists include:

• Ford Tamer, Operating Partner, Khosla Ventures
• Matt Jones, Partner, Nth Power
• Ron Cao, Managing Director, Lightspeed Venture Partners, China
• Alison Leopold Tilley, Partner, Pillsbury, co-leader South East Asia team
• Darren Ho, Managing Partner, CMHJ China
• Tony Surtees, Executive Director, Prime Digitalworks Pty Ltd
• Dr. Mannie Liu, Director, Renmin University, Venture Capital Research Center
• Victor Westerlind, General Partner, RockPort Capital Partners

Moderated from Silicon Valley by Dr. Larry Marshall, Managing Director, Southern Cross Venture Partners and from Shanghai by Joseph W.K. Chan, Partner and Head of China VC & PE, Pillsbury.

This event is FREE to ANZA TechNet and Advance members. Sponsored by Advance, with support from ANZA TechNet, Southern Cross Venture Partners and Pillsbury. Click here to register as well as to get the locations and time for this event in Silicon Valley, Sydney and Shanghai.

Australia’s Innovation Programs and Venture Investment: It’s Just Not Good Enough

Brad Howarth has written an in-depth piece for Nett# Magazine on Australia’s current information infrastructure, as well as the government’s plans to strengthen it — and the answer he comes up with in a number of categories is that “it’s just not good enough.”

Of particualr interest to ANZA TechNet members is the section on “Innovation Programs and Venture Investment”, which says:

A critical area of growing Australia’s information future is our ability to produce home grown technology companies that can both generate revenue and jobs, and provide innovative reasons to attract and retain the best talent.

But it is a sector that was kicked in the teeth last year when the Government cancelled the Commercial Ready program. Twelve months later it has still not provided an alternative, despite commissioning the Cutler Report on innovation. Many start-ups relied on Commercial Ready to fund crucial research and development programs, and its cancellation has set some back by 12 months or more.

Serial entrepreneur Jonathon Barouch is critical of Australia’s lack of incentives for start-up businesses. He says the whole business culture of supporting entrepreneurs that occurs in the US seems to be lacking in the Australian psyche.

“In the US and Europe there are programs to help with training as well as tax incentives for SMEs and start-ups to encourage entrepreneurs,” says Barouch. “In Australia, policy makers seem to be determined not to extend any preferential treatment to start-up businesses, which is a real shame.

“In times of economic downturn, SMEs and entrepreneurs may prove the key in increasing employment opportunities for Australians.”

Access to venture capital has also been constrained, thanks in part to the poor performance of the superannuation funds that back them. According to investor and chairman of the IT think tank The Pearcey Foundation, Wayne Fitzsimmons, the number of new early-stage companies has diminished as entrepreneurs come to believe that raising capital will be too difficult.

Fitzsimmons says that only four venture capital funds remain interested in early stage IT companies in Australia – Southern Cross Ventures, Starfish Ventures, Innovation Capital and CM Capital – in comparison to the many dozens operating in the US.

While government funding is available through the Innovation Investment Funds, this still requires matching funds to come from the commercial sector.

Read the complete article by clicking here.

Advance Asia 50 Summit on in Shanghai

ANZA Technet CEO Viki Forrest will be in attendance at the Advance Asia 50 Summit in Shanghai, March 30-31.

The Summit will play host to 50 established and emerging Australian leaders and alumni from Australia’s universities living and working in Asia. They will meet to exchange ideas and seek practical solutions to the challenges facing the region, and identify opportunities for Australia and the region.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will welcome delegates via video. The Summit will include workshops on important themes such as sustainability, innovation, the economy and thought leadership.

Look for Viki’s Twitter updates from Shanghai. Follow her on Twitter at: @anzatechnet

Australian Government Pledges $83M to Save Tech Innovators

Big story out of Australia, reported in The Australian IT section — the Rudd government will inject up to $83 million into the local venture capital pipeline as a stop gap measure to try and prevent promising tech companies going under due to the global financial crisis. The Innovation Investment Follow On fund is aimed at supporting companies developing technology in areas such as ICT, biotech and clean energy at risk from VC capital drying up due to the economic crisis. Read it in full here.

Google Map Tracks Deadly Australia Bushfires

ANZATechNet has been following the news of the deadly fires in southeastern Australia and we’re sure you are too. Google Australia engineers have created a Flash map that shows the exact areas where the fires are burning, where they’ve been contained and those that are now considered safe.

For those who want to know more about how such a tool was created and is real-time reliable, read Elias Bizannes blog post on the Liako.Biz blog: “Data Portability Allows Mashup for Australian Bushfire Crisis.”