Keiretsu Forum
3466 Mt. Diablo Blvd.
Suite C-205
Lafayette, CA 94549
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Keiretsu Forum Calgary - A Canadian Perspective
Over the last year, Keiretsu Forum Calgary has grown from humble beginnings to become the pre-eminent angel investor network in Calgary, enjoying significant growth in membership and deal flow. As the snow thaws and the golf courses open, I am reminded that a year ago in May Keiretsu Forum Calgary had the privilege of hosting Randy Williams, Art Monk, and Randy Hawks of Northern California at the SilverTip Golf Resort near Banff. This coming June we look forward to having Henry Kay of the Boston Chapter joining us at the Banff Springs to continue this legacy of great association within the greater Keiretsu network.
Last year’s event at SilverTip also marks the completion of the first year of operations for the Calgary Chapter, and since last May we have grown to over 25 members that have provided term sheets on five companies and financed four, something which was previously unheard of in Calgary. We are seeing tremendous growth momentum from our local investors. For example, six new potential members are joining us for our next forum on April 27th, the most new adherents for a single forum since inception, and a real show of confidence from our membership.
So why did our group want to become part of the Forum and the chapter model? Why not run as a stand-alone Canadian angel group? Why do writers always put rhetorical questions into their articles? The answer has to do with reach and experience, both attributes that Keiretsu Forum from all chapters share.
In the Calgary chapter, the desire to work with other investors is important, especially investors who are process literate across a diverse range of deal types. Also, the limited exposure the local entrepreneurs have to the investment community leaves some of our opportunities lacking in delivery. The deals we have seen come from other chapters has raised the bar locally, not to mention that 2 of the 4 deals that came north received investment. Finally, the reach of the Keiretsu network enables our deals to work in the global marketplace. A special thanks goes here to both Art Monk and Brian Frenzel, who introduced a local company around the Silicon Valley. The company is just closing with Intel.
The growing network of expertise and opportunity that is Keiretsu Forum has been exciting to be a part of. We look forward to growing with the rest of our investor colleagues across North America, and being the type of chapter whereby members are comfortable seeking out our great association, mindshare, expertise and deal flow.
Team
Randy Thompson
Chapter President, Keiretsu Forum Calgary
R Stewart (Randy) Thompson has been working in the technology venture space since 1999 when he started VentureAlberta, an organization that pre screens and pre qualifies opportunities for 55 investors. Since that time, he led a team that started Deal Generator, an Edmonton based Angel group, and recently started Keiretsu Forum Calgary, an internationally affiliated angel group.
In 2001, Mr Thompson started Alberta California Venture Channel with the thoughts that investors and companies in both regions could benefit from getting to know each other.
Prior to 1999, Mr Thompson built an Internet Service Provider in 1992 (sold in 1996) and a software publisher in 1997. He has sat on 2 public company boards, 6 private company boards as well as on a number of public policy boards including the Banff New Media Advisory committee, the National New Media Advisory Committee for the Canadian Conference of the Arts (Ottawa), the Edmonton Technology President's Club, and the Alberta Minister of Innovation ICT Committee.
Contact: Thompson@k4calgary.com
Spencer Ord
Entrepreneur Director, Keiretsu Forum Calgary
Since 1996, Spencer has worked internationally, focusing his efforts in the Pacific Rim. During that time, Spencer was liaison interpreter for the Government of Alberta Translation Bureau, interpreting on behalf of various government ministers from finance, agriculture, oil and gas, and, most recently, Alberta’s Innovation and Science Minister, Victor Doerkson, as they conducted trade missions with various ministries of the Chinese government. Spencer leveraged his Mandarin-speaking abilities and started his own recruiting company, Chenglish Recruiting Solutions, which serviced English schools in Southern Taiwan.
He is an active participant in entrepreneurial activities, where he has assisted in developing, drafting and critiquing business proposals for numerous startup companies at Purdue’s Discovery Park. Spencer is currently working toward his Masters of Business Administration at Purdue University with a specialization in Finance and e-Business.
Contact: sord@k4calgary.com
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