Your link to potential investors and mentors in Silicon Valley!

- Advance Innovation Program session at Innovation in Australia, Brisbane, 7 December 

Advance, Australia's largest global network of Australians working overseas, will deliver a session at Innovation in Australia on 7 December 2011 via live video link to investors and mentors in the US Silicon Valley. Registrations are now open. Please specify that you want to attend the Advance session in addition to any sessions you wish to attend for the remainder of the day.

Open to start-ups, investors, academics, researchers, and executives from all disciplines,  the session will offer practical guidance aimed at helping early-stage businesses plot the path to successful commercialisation - how to refine strategy and the business proposition, and how to then attract the attention of VCs and angel investors

The broader Advance Innovation Program

This session is part of a broader Advance Innovation Program. Advance's 50 for the Future Advance Innovation Program was launched in November 2011 with successful workshops in Sydney and Melbourne attended by over 200 Australian entrepreneurs. The annual program harnesses the impressive knowledge base and networks of successful Australians and alumni of Australian universities abroad. These 50 'Advance Angels' are passionate about innovation and want to 'give back' to their Australian roots by offering personal mentoring and support to help pull Australian innovation towards commercialisation. The program includes delivery of an online Australian Innovation TV and the Advance Global Australian Awards, and will culminate in an Innovation Summit in May 2012 in Silicon Valley. To participate in this program, start-ups and entrepreneurs will apply for an opportunity to pitch to a Panel of Advance Angels, and to join the global Advance Innovation mentor program in 2012. For further details, please see the Advance Innovation Program website.  Future Advance Innovation Program Summits will be held in China and in India.

Previous Advance Innovation Program Events

Business networking events - Sydney 15 November and Melbourne 17 November 2011

The highly interactive sessions, open to start-ups, investors, academics, researchers, and executives from all disciplines, will offer practical guidance aimed at helping early-stage businesses plot the path to successful commercialisation. For example, attendees will learn how to attract the attention of VCs and angel investors, and how to refine strategy and the business proposition.

Commercialisation Australia CEO Doron Ben-Meir will be among the presenters at the Melbourne workshop.

NSW Trade & Investment Centre, Level 47, MLC Centre, 19 Martin Place, Sydney NSW

Session 1: 9.00am to 11.50am

Session 2: 11.20am to 5.30pm

Victorian Government Investment Centre, Level 46, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC

Session 1: 8.00am to 11.15am

Session 2: 10.45am to 5.00pm

The Advance Innovation Program 2011-12 will culminate in the 50 for the Future Advance Innovation Summit in Silicon Valley, May 2012, where the focus is on IT, biotech, cleantech and creative industries. For this reason, registrants at the November 15 and 17 workshops in Sydney and Melbourne will also be able to apply for an opportunity to pitch to VCs and angel investors based in the US Silicon Valley, and to join the global Advance Innovation mentor program, which connects start-ups with 50 experienced Silicon Valley-based Australian entrepreneurs.

Future Advance Innovation Program Summits will be held in China and in India.

Advance receives funding support from the Australian Government