Westmont Magazine A Second Venture

Wireless communications devices for the hearing impaired. A scrumptious mango sorbet. A “body-contouring system” that shrinks fat with microwaves. Companies offering these products and services were just a part of the scene in May at the second annual Westmont Venture Forum, held at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara.

More than 300 people—investors and company representatives alike—came for the day-long event, which highlighted the potential of 40 new and growing companies seeking capital. Twelve of the firms made formal presentations to the group.

Sponsored by the college and organized by a number of local businesses, the forum is also a real-world laboratory for Professor Roy Millender’s economics and business students, many of whom helped out at the event.

The Forum included a panel of venture capitalists and advisers as well as an address by Pamela Lopker, chairman and president of QAD in Carpinteria.

California is a hot market for venture capitalists, attracting nearly $1 billion of the more than $12 billion invested in new U.S. companies in 1997.