Jan. 24 VC Outlook program kicks off San Diego Venture Group 2012 event season

Jan. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- San Diego Venture Group kicks off its 2012 event season with its annual VC Outlook Program on January 24.

Mark Heesen of the National Venture Capital Association, Sigma Partners’ Peter Solvik and Dr. James Topper of Frazier Healthcare, will provide keen insights into the region’s prospects over the next 12 months.

“These three are renowned in the industry, and we’re privileged to have them at our event to showcase where they believe the next opportunities are,” said Dave Titus, president of the San Diego Venture Group. “The program also allows us to highlight the innovative cluster that exists in America’s Finest City. It’s one of our most popular events of the year, so we’re anticipating a strong turnout.”

Heesen has advocated for the venture capital industry, entrepreneurship and innovation for nearly two decades, first as NVCA's head of public policy and, since 1999, as the Association's president. Under his leadership, the NVCA has grown in both scope and scale as it relates to its public policy agenda, research initiatives, and member programs. Heesen is constantly engaged in legislative and regulatory issues surrounding information technology, life sciences and clean technology investing, providing strategic direction for the NVCA professional staff and managing a board of 26 venture capital practitioners.

With more than 20 years experience on leadership teams of successful, high-growth information technology companies, Solivk applies his background and perspective to helping entrepreneurs form and build successful businesses. He joined Sigma in 2002 and invests across the entire spectrum of information technology products and services. Solvik was named to the CIO 100 four times by CIO Magazine, selected as one of “The 25 Most Powerful Executives in Networking” by Network World, and featured in four Harvard Business School case studies on the successful use of information technology in the enterprise. He has often been quoted in articles on IT and eBusiness in Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, the Economist, the New York Times, Information Week, CIO Magazine and many other publications and books.

Dr. Topper joined Frazier Healthcare in 2003 as a Venture Partner and became a General Partner in 2005. Since joining the firm, he has led multiple biopharma investments, including Calistoga Pharmaceuticals that was acquired by Gilead in April 2011 for total consideration of up to $600 million, Alnara Pharmaceuticals that was acquired by Eli Lilly for total consideration of up to $390 million, and Cotherix (Nasdaq CTRX) that was acquired by Actelion for $420 million. Dr. Topper currently serves on the boards of Amicus Therapeutics (Nasdaq FOLD), Portola Pharmaceuticals, Incline Therapeutics, Anaptys Biosciences, Allena Pharmaceuticals and Alcresta Inc. In 2011, he was named to the Forbes Midas list representing the top 100 venture capitalists.

More information on the VC Outlook program is available at http://www.sdvg.org/events/.

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The San Diego Venture Group cultivates durable and high value relationships between entrepreneurs, capital providers and strategic advisors intended to promote the formation and funding of innovative new ventures in the San Diego area, community to educate San Diego entrepreneurs in strategies for obtaining venture funding and developing their businesses, and to promote the San Diego venture capital and entrepreneurial communities on a regional and national basis. More information is available at www.sdvg.org.