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The First Annual Columbia Venture Showcase was held last night at the beautiful New York land-mark Chrysler Building. A group of over thirty, many from the investment community, came together to listen to nine entrepreneurs, including Lang Fund portfolio companies, present their three-minute pitch. The event concluded with networking, providing investors and presenting entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet, offer feedback and make business connections.

The event was created in response to students asking for additional support post graduation to launch their ventures. "In no other time in history have we had the opportunity to connect truly amazing, driven and talented people together to do extraordinary things," said Entrepreneur in Residence Professor Clifford Schorer. "The current economy is an opportunity to tap into that pool of innovative talent and make a real difference in the market."

Nearly half in attendance were representatives of the investment community including NYC Seed, GC Andersen Partners, RoseTech Ventures, RRE Ventures and Milestone Venture Partners.  Lang Fund recipient Thomas Bowen Wright '09 presented Neighborhood Hero, a digital communication tool to help merchants and local consumers connect, to the participants. "Raising capital for early stage businesses tends to be such an inefficient, time consuming process but events like this really make a difference," Wright commented.  "To get a broad spectrum of VCs not just present, but sat down and captivated, is tough at any event and Columbia did a wonderful job attracting a motivated group of investors."

Bernhard Keppler was invited to present by David Lerner of Columbia's Science and Technology Ventures.  Keppler is the CEO NLP International Corporation, a software company that  uses an application to extract clinical codes from typed or dictated free text medical narratives and converts the data into computerized clinical information. "The introductions during the networking session were most helpful to me. I look forward to meeting several interested investor groups after this event," said Keppler.

"We understand the real challenge to sustaining and growing your business begins after you graduate,"said Professor Murray Low, Director of The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center.  "We want to lend our ongoing support and guidance as you continue on your entrepreneurial path."

The lang Center and Science and Technology Ventures wishes to thank James Alterbaum, Esq. and Moses & Singer LLP for hosting this event.