Sponsors

Founded in 1875 by Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet in the Swiss village of Le Brassus, Audemars Piguet is the oldest Manufacture of Haute Horlogerie never to have left the hands of the founding families. Today, its range encompasses complex mechanical watches, Haute Joaillerie creations as well as a line of jewellery. At each stage in its history, the Manufacture has daringly adopted avant-garde techniques in order to place them in the service of traditional craftsmanship. This approach has earned it an unparalleled number of world firsts in the field of Haute Horlogerie.

Endeavour Vision is a premier European venture capital firm investing in high potential companies in the information technology and life sciences sectors. Since 1989, the principals have made over 63 investments in 12 different countries. The goal of Endeavour Vision is to contribute to the success of companies who demonstrate great potential by teaming up with entrepreneurs and sharing skills, expertise and network To better support Entrepreneurs, the firm has developed two institutions: the European Tech Tour Association, a non-profit foundation generating networking opportunities for Entrepreneurs with VCs, Corporations and other Entrepreneurs, and the CEO-Circle, a group of world-class entrepreneurial CEOs who are committed in helping with the development of portfolio companies.

Some investments made by the principals include Sandisk, Dolphin Interconnect, SCM Microsystems, Virata, Altitun, Cirpack, Media Lario, Tagsys RFID and Sequans, (Information Technology); and Actelion, Axovan, Endoart and Novimmune (Life Sciences).

GrowthPoint Technology Partners is a different kind of investment bank. We provide M&A, fundraising and strategic advisory services to a wide range of technology companies. As former CEOs, executives, board members, investors and advisors, we bring a wealth of strategic and financial experience to our clients with the sole objective of helping them achieve success. In 2005, four senior members of SVB/Alliant, formerly Alliant Partners (sold to Silicon Valley Bankshares in 2001) left to form GrowthPoint Technology Partners. We created a new firm to provide the very best advisory environment for our clients. Our highly experienced senior advisors deliver a quality, research driven service, in a variety of technology sectors.

Weber Shandwick is a Communications Partner of the European Tech Tour, supporting both the European level organization and the various country tours.  Weber Shandwick, a unit of The Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG), is one of the world's leading public relations agencies, with offices in major media, business and government capitals around the world. Weber Shandwick is a leader in marketing public relations, public affairs and corporate communications counseling, and also provides services in advocacy advertising, market research and visual communications.

BayTech Venture Capital is an independent, internationally oriented venture capital fund based in Munich, Germany. The fund predominantly concentrates on extending early-stage financing to high-growth, high-tech companies. BayTech Venture Capital excels thanks to a management with outstanding technological background and extensive sector expertise. Large institutional investors provide a solid financial basis.

Calibre One (www.calibreone.com) is a leading specialist executive search firm with offices in London, UK and San Francisco, USA. Operating from these two key technology hubs we have aligned ourselves with some of the world’s leading investors helping them to recruit senior management teams and board members for their portfolio companies.

Our focus on technology, new media and telecommunication high growth companies enables us to assess our client’s requirements quickly and recommend the most appropriate solution. Over the past eight years we have completed in excess of 850 senior level searches (Chairman, CEO/COO/VP/Board Level/Non-Execs) and we pride ourselves on our strong delivery track record.

We work with world-class venture capitalists such as Kleiner Perkins, Balderton, Index Ventures, Advent Venture Partners, Accel Partners, Hummer Winblad and 3i on both sides of the Atlantic. Most recently we have placed extraordinary executives into their fund and portfolio firms Last.fm, QYPE, LoveFilm, Betfair, Echovox/Zong, Bytemobile, CacheLogic, Rawflow/LiveStream, Pageflakes, AVG, Openet, The Cloud, Real Girls Media, Wallop, Blue Lithium, Gomez, Autodesk, Everyclick to name a few.

A Tier One VC General Partner quoted: “What differentiates Calibre One from other leading senior executive search firms is their ability to work hard. Whereas, in my experience, most top recruiters rely on their brand name to attract a candidate, and hope someone who fits your profile comes in the door, Calibre One took a different approach They were extremely proactive at mapping the industry to identify what firms a good candidate might be found at, and then worked through a list of over 100 firms to go out and find our Vice President. This aggressive approach to search fits well with our needs.”

Since 1998, Holtzbrinck Ventures has funded young companies with risk capital and, having invested in over 40 companies, is one the largest early stage investors focusing on the new media sector.

We invest in media oriented business models employing digital technologies (Internet, mobile, communication, broadband). As an experienced early stage investor, we will gladly participate even at the company’s foundation. Having built up many companies, either independently or in collaboration with business entrepreneurs, we have an enormous amount of operational know-how at our disposal, regarding both setting up a company and its growth.

By providing active supervision and long-term support for the investment, as well as by using the established brands and media services developed by the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group, we can offer optimal value management until we exit.

The emphasis of our current investments is on online networks (dating, social and professional networks), e-commerce (auction sites, online shops, classified advertising and P2P), entertainment, information commerce (portals, LBS, UGC) and their supportive technologies and applications. Above all we are seeking entrepreneurs with convincing concepts in the new media sector, who can impress us with their innovative ideas.

With revenue of CHF 7.2 billion for the first three quarters of 2006 and a workforce of 16'875 full-time employees, the Swisscom Group is Switzerland's leading telecoms company. Swisscom is present nationwide, delivering all services and products for mobile, fixed and IP-based voice and data communications.

Wellington Partners (www.wellington-partners.com) ranks among the most successful pan-European venture capital firms. With € 500 million under management, the firm invests into opportunities throughout Europe that have the potential to become global leaders, mainly in the areas of Information Technology, Media Convergence and Life Science. Since 1991, Wellington has established a worldwide network to aid its entrepreneurs in building companies on a global scale. Wellington Partners has invested in 90 companies in Europe and Israel, including now publicly traded Actelion, SAF and XING, successful privately held companies like Alando (acquired by eBay) and ImmobilienScout24 (acquired by Deutsche Telekom) as well as current portfolio companies like Astaro, Negevtech, Questico and Truphone.

Logitech designs, manufactures and markets personal peripherals that enable people to effectively work, play, and communicate in the digital world. The company's products combine essential core technologies, continuing innovation, award-winning industrial design and excellent price performance.

Our Mission is to provide a window into emerging technology and business opportunities and help establish strategic partnerships with innovative startups. We are seeking emerging companies with exceptionally sound management, that have a technology, product or service with significant, sustainable growth potential, a competitive business strategy, and that are a good strategic fit with Sony. We foster a rapid identification and decision-making process that includes interaction with Business Groups across Sony including Sony Electronics, Sony Pictures, Sony BMG, Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Corporation in Tokyo.

JupiterResearch provides unbiased research, analysis and advice, backed by proprietary data, to help companies profit from the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on their business. The company helps online businesses make critical decisions about technology selection, spending, staffing, and Web site effectiveness; advises consumer-facing companies with online advertising, marketing, and customer service strategies to understand, attract, convert and retain customers; and guides technology vendors and service providers on market opportunity, positioning, product definition, and pricing. JupiterResearch is headquartered in New York City and has offices throughout the US and Europe.

With kyte, you create your own live TV shows and broadcast them on your own interactive channel, on your website, blog, social network or mobile phone. You can share your kyte channel with your friends and collaborate with them so that they can also be a part of your shows, by adding their own content, by voting and by chatting live with other viewers. With kyte, you can share your experiences live with the world and be the star, director and producer of your own live TV channel, wherever you are and however you want.

The Chilli is a unique media platform for high-tech entrepreneurs, investors and advisors. The Chilli is an established global brand in the technology entrepreneurial food chain in Europe, US and now expanding out in Asia. Our information and in-depth analysis are available through regular newsletter updates, online products and live at seminars, conferences and events.

Red Herring is a media company whose mission is to cover innovation, technology, financing and entrepreneurial activity. Its staff of award-winning journalists tell readers what's first, what matters and most importantly, why.