Press Release
Contact: Robert Albright |
Phone: 919-549-7500 ext.123 |
Leading VC Investor & Former NFL Star to Speak at SEBIO
Harris Barton, a Football Legend in College and Pros,
Also Co-Founded California-based Champion Ventures
October 28, 2003, Research Triangle Park, NC — Organizers of the 5th annual Southeastern BIO Investor Conference (SEBIO) today announced that Harris Barton, a former National Football League star and current general partner of Champion Ventures, will speak at an investor dinner during the region's premier life sciences investment event. Barton joins an already strong conference speaker lineup including previously announced keynotes Dennis Gillings, Chairman and Founder of Quintiles Transnational Corp., and James C. Mullen, Chairman and CEO of Biogen.
SEBIO 2003 (www.sebio.org), to be held November 10 and 11 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, NC, will highlight the Southeast's life sciences investment opportunities and will explore the latest industry trends and new business opportunities.
Barton, a 1986 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, received first-team All-America honors as an offensive lineman in college. He was a first-round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers in 1987, and during his 12 seasons in the NFL he garnered three Super Bowl rings. In 1999, Barton co-founded Champion Ventures with former San Francisco 49er teammate Ronnie Lott and in September 2000, Joe Montana became the third Managing Member.
Champion Ventures is an established private equity investment group in Silicon Valley, with over $400 million in assets distributed between five separate funds of funds in venture capital, with buyout and real estate. The limited partners of Champion Ventures include various universities and endowments, foundations, CEOs, venture capitalists, family offices and professional athletes.
Beyond SEBIO 2003's speaker lineup, 17 life sciences companies were competitively selected to present their business plans to an audience of venture capital firms, investment funds and angel investors on November 11. The conference also features an early-stage program for 12 pre-investment-stage biotech companies. Visit www.sebio.org/2003/companies for descriptions of all 29 participating companies.
About SEBIO 2003: Presented by the Southeastern Life Sciences Association (SELSA), SEBIO 2003 is the fifth annual life sciences investment conference that brings together biotechnology executives, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investment bankers and other industry professionals. In addition to highlighting the Southeast's life science investment opportunities, the conference will also explore research, market and financing trends with nationally recognized leaders from the investment and bioscience industries.
About SELSA: The Southeastern Life Sciences Association (SELSA) is a public/private partnership formed in 1999 to promote the growth of the life sciences economy in the Southeast. SELSA is committed to developing programs and events to further that goal, including the SEBIO conference. Today, the Southeast is recognized as one of the fastest growing life sciences regions in the United States, and is home to more than 350 life sciences companies. The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is a member of SELSA and is an organizational sponsor of SEBIO 2003.
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), located in Research Triangle Park, NC, is a private, nonprofit organization formed in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high-impact companies in the greater Research Triangle region. CED is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers, and professional firms. www.cednc.org
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