Finance Speaker Series at Penn State Behrend: Venture Capital September 7, 2011

The Finance Speaker Series at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will host a presentation on venture capital funding on Wednesday, Sept. 7.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the Samuel P. “Pat” Black III Conference Center, located on the first floor of the Jack Burke Research and Economic Development Center. Admission is free and open to the public, and parking will be available in the deck located behind Burke Center, off Technology Drive.

The evening’s presenter will be Craig W. Gomulka, chief investment officer at Innovation Works, a Pittsburgh-based seed fund that has invested over $53 million in more than 145 companies since 2000. Gomulka oversees IW’s investment fund, chairs its investment committee and helps IW find, evaluate and invest in the region’s most promising startups.

Gomulka previously was a partner with Draper Triangle Ventures, the Pittsburgh office of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a nationally renowned early-stage venture fund with 25 offices worldwide. In his Finance Speaker Series appearance, Gomulka will discuss venture capital’s role in the economy, how that role has changed over time, what types of projects typically are funded, and how funding occurs. A question and answer session will follow, and refreshments will be served.

The Finance Speaker Series is an outreach program of the Sam and Irene Black School of Business at Penn State Behrend. For more information about the event, contact Dr. Greg Filbeck, professor of finance and the Samuel Patton Black III Chair in Insurance and Risk Management, at mgf11@psu.edu or phone 814-898-6107.