MAVA Rings Bell to Open NYSE

Congratulations to Julia Spicer and her team at the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA) for orchestrating the opportunity to open trading at the New York Stock Exchange. Here are the details...

Leaders from the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA) and the entrepreneurial community gathered on the iconic stage above the New York Stock Exchange and rang The Opening BellSM today.

Representatives from MAVA member funds and guests, including Updata Partners, New Enterprise Associates, H.I.G. Ventures, Boulder Ventures, The Carlyle Group, Core Capital Partners, ABS Capital Partners, In-Q-Tel, Paladin Capital Group, Avansis Ventures, The Grosvenor Funds, Montague Newhall Associates, and Safeguard Scientifics and others, attended the bell-ringing and related events at the New York Stock Exchange to promote the vital role of venture capital and private equity in the capital markets and to celebrate MAVA’s more than two decades of leadership in the venture capital industry. In May, the NYSE Euronext was a sponsor of MAVA’s Capital Connection 2008 conference in support of mid-Atlantic venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.

Following the ceremonial bell-ringing, MAVA Board President John Burton, who is also Managing General Partner of Updata Partners, provided a perspective to the viewers of CNBC’s live broadcast from the Exchange, Squawk on the Street.

Burton’s remarks on the broadcast reflected the findings of MAVA’s recent member survey on the current state of the markets as well as highlights from last week’s Mid-Atlantic Bio conference, which boasted record attendance and highlighted the vitality of the global bioscience marketplace.

“The Mid-Atlantic Venture Association has been honored to ring The Opening Bell today. Venture is essential to economic growth, now more than ever as a catalyst for innovation and jobs. We are here at a pivotal time, and there is no question the economy and our industry are facing challenges. But we are seeing that not every fund and every sector has the same challenges to the same degree. For example, biotechnology has an inherently longer cycle from genesis to liquidity, which mitigates the extended time to exit that the economy is imposing on our industry as a whole,” Burton said. “The current financial crisis is serious, there is no doubt, but our funds, whether focusing on information technology or other areas, are telling us that deals are being done, and their portfolio companies are continuing to mature and evolve to meet the needs of their market niches.”