Press Release
Contact: Robert Caudle |
Phone: (919) 549-7500 ext. 107 |
CED’s Opportunity 2006 Showcases Entrepreneurial Community
Wilmington Investor Network Announces 2006 Investment Highlights; 300+ People Attend CED’s 4th Annual Conference in Wilmington
December 6, 2006, Research Triangle Park, NC – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development’s (CED) Opportunity 2006 conference attracted more than 300 entrepreneurs, investors and service providers to the Hilton Wilmington Riverside Hotel on Monday and Tuesday.
The 4th annual conference featured keynote remarks from Don DeBethizy, Ph.D., President and CEO of Targacept Inc.; John McConnell, former chairman and CEO of A4 Health Systems; and David Fussell, Sr., co-founder of Duplin Wine Cellars. Other speakers included North Carolina Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and UNC-Wilmington Chancellor Dr. Rosemary DePaolo, who each highlighted the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship to the region’s economy.
In addition to these featured speakers, CED’s Opportunity 2006 also offered business plan presentations from early-stage companies across the East Coast. Conference attendees also participated in multi-track breakout discussions on branding, angel investing, sales and marketing, grants and loans, corporate entrepreneurship and other topics on starting and growing a business.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Wilmington Investor Network (WIN) announced that it had invested more than $2.5 million in funding six early stage companies during the past year. WIN’s investments include Wilmington Pharmaceuticals, located in Wilmington, N.C., Affinergy and Visitar in Research Triangle Park, N.C., Amulet Pharmaceuticals in Baltimore, Md. and Chaologix in Gainesville, Fla. WIN plans close a deal with another RTP-based company by the end of the year.
“We have been very fortunate to find great companies to invest at an early stage and a great valuation for our investors,” said Michael Cain, WIN’s Managing Member. “We are pleased to have co-invested with other angel groups and VC partners.”
For additional information on Opportunity 2006 or to learn more about upcoming CED events, please visit www.cednc.org.
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to identify, enable and promote high growth, high impact entrepreneurial companies and to accelerate the entrepreneurial culture of the Research Triangle and North Carolina. Headquartered in the Research Triangle with a divisional office in Wilmington, CED is the largest and oldest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing over 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. www.cednc.org
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