Roman Kikta to Lecture at the Amsterdam Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE) on May 10th, 2013. ACE is a cooperation between the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the VU University Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE) encourages the entrepreneurial climate by means of excellent entrepreneurial education, internationally recognized research, and outreach. ACE develops, organizes, and promotes education which inspires students to engage in ambitious and innovative entrepreneurship.
Prominent investors from Silicon Valley and Europe came to The Royal Palace to meet Serbian IT entrepreneurs and to find out more about the projects of their companies.
This evening The Royal Palace was again the place where the most interesting regional IT projects were presented to more than 30 investors and investment experts –board members of European Business Angels Network, investors from Silicon Valley and all around Europe and members of the Serbian Business Angels Network. The guests were welcomed by Mrs. Alison Andrews, daughter of The Royal Couple, Mr. Andrija Bednarik, general manager and Mr. Aleksandar Cabrilo, president of Serbian Business Angels Network.
One of Crown Prince Alexander Foundation for Education goals is to strengthen entrepreneurial opportunities in Serbia. The Royal Family is already recognized as a big supporter of entrepreneurship and investing in Serbia and recently has organized projects that connect these two initiatives.
“The startup ecosystem is moving forward rapidly. In the past month, we hosted Startup Weekend which allowed people to pitch ideas and create them into a business. Then Mini Seedcamp, which is early stage companies seeking seed money and now we have the Business Angels who are young companies to the next level of funding. Through my foundation, we will continue to foster the different stages of entrepreneurship all the way to venture funding. It is time for Serbia to show the world our incredible abilities, companies and business environment” - says HRH Crown Prince Alexander II
The Investment Evening was initiated by the Fundraise IT conference organized by Serbian Business Angels Network. The conference offers its participants live discussion panels among successful entrepreneurs and investors, where they will be able to hear some interesting personal stories, information about various investing models, success stories, experiences and valuable tips on how to fundraise for projects.
Participants in the forthcoming FundraiseIT conference, which will take place this week in Belgrade, will have an opportunity to learn about the ways in which to find funding for their projects and the things to do to successfully implement them.
The conference, which focuses on different forms of funding for IT entrepreneurs and companies, should secure the gratest value for each participant through direct contacts between company representatives and competent serial investors and entrepreneurs. The aim is to directly present a variety of investment models of business angels, venture capitals (VC) and private equity (PE) funds, local and foreign funds as well as EU funds.
So far, over 160 companies from more than 20 countries have applied for participation in this year's FundraiseIT event with some of the world's most famous investors and entrepreneurs taking part in this two-day conference. Roman Kikta, the founder of the Mobility Ventures company who will give a keynote presentation on Friday (April 19th), speaks about his impressions and plans for the Serbian market in an exclusive interview with eKapija.
eKapija: How much do you know about Serbia? What would attract you to invest here?
KIKTA: "I am pleased to have been invited by Mr. Andrija Bednarik, General Manager of the Serbian Business Angel Network and organizer of the FundraiseIT conference to participate at the event to learn more about what Serbia has to offer, and I applaud his efforts of creating a platform for Serbian companies to showcase and network. While this is my first trip to Serbia, I had engaged a software development/ IT company based in Belgrade about 2 years ago and have been very pleased with the quality of work they performed for my firm and also for some of our portfolio companies. I have found the Serbian development team to be highly capable, knowledgeable and professional, completing projects on time and budget.
I believe that Serbia for many venture investors is a well kept secret, especially Serbian human capital, which I have found to be well educated, thinks globally and is unafraid to take on challenges.
I do believe that an infrastructure like the one found in high tech centers, for example, in Finland, U.S. or Singapore is the fundamental basis for creating an innovative ecosystem—a place to learn, collaborate, create, develop, commercialize, work, live and play. Additionally this ecosystem must include experienced management teams with global insights that know how to instill a culture of successful collaboration, have consistently added value to emerging companies by working closely with the founding team in formulating and executing strategies and business plans, including business development. And equally important is to create a source of capital (venture capital, private equity, investment banking, gov’t grants, etc.) to fund these emerging companies.
I also believe that governments need to create laws and favorable tax incentives for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the IT sector. This, I believe will serve to attract company formation and relocation, creating good paying, high tech jobs for Serbians. "
eKapija: What kind of companies/projects do you invest in? Which sectors of the IT industry you find the most interesting?
KIKTA: "The Mobility Ventures team members are proven business leaders and entrepreneurs who have helped to lead the wireless revolution of the past two decades, built some of the world's most leading edge and successful companies, technologies, products and services, including the launch of cellular and PCS in the Americas, Asia and Europe. We invest in what we know and where we can add value.
Mobility Ventures invests in cutting edge companies that enable mobility and promote a digital lifestyle, focusing on the merits of the opportunity, rather than being confined to one category of investment. We define Mobility as solutions that leverage the convergence of wireless infrastructures, the Internet, applications and services which result in anytime, anywhere connectivity. Ours franchise is Mobility. We invest across the Wireless Ecosystem in technologies, applications, services and media that enable and promote a mobile society. These include areas such as, mobile marketing, mobile health, mobile commerce, location based services and energy & power management."
eKapija: How much do you usually invest? What is your usual exit strategy?
KIKTA: "Mobility Ventures’ investment philosophy is to work with best-in-class entrepreneurial teams that have created breakthrough technologies, strong intellectual property, innovative business models, and other sustainable advantages. Our proactive approach to the investment process is based on knowledge, experience, and success. We generally make investments between $50,000 in a seed round to several million dollars over the life cycle of the company.
We invest in companies that have the potential to be leaders in large growth markets, with technologies that enable significant market trends to occur, and we are a value added investor. Our primary objective is the success of our portfolio companies. We support our top-performing companies with additional capital and critical strategic management support needed for business and financial success throughout the company’s life cycle.
I believe that companies need to focus on the fundamentals of delivering revenues, profits, create market value. The typical exits we have experienced recently are merger & acquisitions."
eKapija: What would be your expectations from the Serbian market?
KIKTA: "I believe innovation can happen anywhere, certainly it’s not exclusive to the Silicon Valley and the U.S. Based on my dealings with Serbian software development teams, (while smaller in numbers than larger nations), I have found them to be experienced, professional, world class—performing as well as development teams in US, Europe or Asia.
I believe it will be only a matter of time before we start hearing about Serbian success stories—the leading edge software innovations and about the new generation of Serbian entrepreneurs emerging; and as a Venture Capitalist, I’d like to be at their side to help them succeed!"
Roman Kikta has been named a keynote speaker at the Fundraise IT Conference on April 19th in Belgrade Serbia. The conference, which focuses on different forms of funding for IT entrepreneurs and companies, is a leading event in Serbia for serial investors and entrepreneurs. Organized by SBAN, the aim is to present a variety of investment models of business angels, venture capitals (VC) and private equity (PE) funds, local and foreign funds as well as EU funds.
Over 160 companies from more than 20 countries have applied for participation in this year's FundraiseIT event with some of the world's most famous investors and entrepreneurs taking part in this two-day conference. Roman Kikta, the founder of Mobility Ventures will give a keynote presentation on Friday (April 19th), on the role of entrepreneurship, innovation and his impressions and plans for the Serbian market.
To register see: http://fundraiseit.talkb2b.net/
The Texas Foundation for Innovative Communities is hosting an SBIR/STTR workshop designed to inform and support companies seeking to submit SBIR and STTR applications. Nationally recognized expert Ray Friesenhahn will facilitate an informative one-day seminar with panel discussions including Mobility Ventures' David Sym-Smith on how to create a winning proposal. To Register: http://txfic.org/regional-sbirsttr-workshops
On April 3rd, 1973, the most important phone call in technology history was made. Using a prototype Motorola DynaTac, inventor Martin Cooper made the first call on a mobile phone.
Forty years later, it's considered a brick compared with the diminutive devices we carry around. The historic call took place in New York City. Cooper's inspiration? Captain Kirk's famous flip-top communicator from the Star Trek TV series. The original DynaTac was 10 inches long and weighed 2.5 pounds, a behemoth by today's standards. For comparison, most modern smartphones weigh between four and six ounces.
Cellphones are everywhere in 2013. According to the U.N., the world has 6 billion cellphone subscribers, and more of them are moving into the realm of smartphones. Last fall, the tech research firm Strategic Analytics claims the global smartphone population topped 1 billion.
Today, Cooper helps run the tech incubator Dyna LLC. He also works as an adviser for companies and the government on telecommunications issues.
Mobility Ventures Invests in Disruptive New Indoor Location & Positioning Technology Using Earth’s Magnetic Fields Offering Centimeter Accuracy
Mobility Ventures, a leading global venture capital firm in wireless, today announced an investment in a new disruptive indoor positioning and mapping technology company called Indoor Atlas Ltd. which is the world’s first company to utilize magnetic anomalies inside buildings and smartphones to accurately pinpoint positions indoors. The Finland-based start-up was founded in 2012 as a spin-off from the University of Oulu, Finland.
Mobility Ventures will be well represented at this year's Mobile World Congress held Feb. 25-28 in Barcelona with Lothar Pauly, Roman Kikta, Roy Gunter, Mark Fruehan and Edward Fernandez all attending this premier wireless industry event. With mobile technology companies impacting the global landscape across various industry sectors, Mobility Ventures is seeking to partner with entrepreneurs to create the next big idea. Contact us at partner @ mobilityventures. com to schedule meetings.
Mobility Ventures is a new breed of venture capital investors: Venturepreneurs™ -- venture capitalists and entrepreneurs possessing an unparalleled combination of domain focus, technical & market expertise, global operational and venture investment experiences to identify, invest and help build industry dominating companies. The Mobility Ventures team members are proven business leaders and entrepreneurs who have helped to lead the wireless revolution of the past two decades, built some of the world's most leading edge and successful companies, technologies, products and services, including the launch of cellular and PCS in the Americas, Asia and Europe. Mobility Ventures focuses on companies across the Wireless Ecosystem and provides both investment capital and critical strategic management support needed for business and financial success.