Neel Mehta
Mark Walsh, a top official at the Small Business Administration, will lead a fireside chat session with corporate executives and venture capitalists at the Big Idea CONNECTpreneur XVIII Forum April 28 at the Bethesda, Maryland-based Hyatt Regency.
Walsh joined SBA in late 2015 as associate administrator of the office of investment and innovation, an agency component responsible for initiatives that aim to bring small businesses into the government marketplace through competitive funding for research projects.
The office oversees SBA’s Small Business Investment Companies, Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
Walsh co-founded and served as CEO of crowdsourcing firm GeniusRocket prior to his SBA appointment and is also a former executive chairman of real estate services provider HomeSnap.
Forum organizers expect at least 250 business leaders — including more than 60 angel investors and venture capitalists and 150 founders and CEOs — to attend the four-hour event.
The forum will showcase eight early-stage companies and will include a networking session for industry executives.
Jonathan Aberman, managing director of Amplifier Venture Partners and TandemNSI, will moderate a panel discussion on “What’s Really Going on in Venture Capital.â€
Panelists include:
- Mark Levine, managing director of Core Capital Partners
- Elana Fine, managing director of Dingman Center Angels at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business
