Tech Coast Angels Expands Assistance to Entrepreneurs Through New 'Meet the Angels and VCs' Streaming Video Conferences on Vokle Platform

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Tech Coast Angels (TCA), the nation's largest angel investment network, invites entrepreneurs around the world to participate in the new "Meet the Angels and VCs" program of live, streaming video conferences. The conferences, which launch on August 16, 2010, are designed to give people with exciting, game-changing ideas the chance to access investment and business professionals for information, advice and networking. Since the video conferences are held on the state-of-the-art Vokle platform, entrepreneurs, bloggers, podcasters and other interested parties are able to see the presenters live, submit questions via live video or text, and generally participate in a dynamic interactive international event.

The first official "Meet the Angels and VCs" event will be held on August 16 at 5:00pm PT. Those interested should go to http://techcoastangels.com/liveonlineevent to register. The presenter will be Richard Sudek, Chairman of TCA and a noted investor, entrepreneur and educator. Sudek will speak on "How to Pitch Without a Hitch," guiding entrepreneurs in the development of an effective presentation that can get the attention of potential investors. Most of the conference will be devoted to Q&A with Sudek answering questions both from video participants and those in the chat room. Sudek will share his experience of observing over 700 entrepreneur screening presentations combined with research that informs entrepreneurs on what attributes of the presentation are key to moving to due diligence with investors. This is a must see for any entrepreneur seeking funding. According to Sudek, "We recently did a pilot 'Meet the Angels' event for proof of concept and it was a big success. We expect our launch to be even more exciting. Now people don't have to travel, burn gas or miss dinner to meet an investor face-to-face and get personal advice. They can just grab their laptops and meet the angels."

Future TCA events on the Vokle platform will be of two kinds:

1. Official TCA events such as the launch on August 16 geared toward information, education and lots of Q&A. These events will also include noted business leaders who have worked with angels and VCs giving advice from their own experience.
2. TCA-sponsored events produced by industry bloggers and podcasters featuring TCA members as panelists and guests. Bloggers and podcasters who would like to host a live TCA event are encouraged to contact TCA at [email protected].

Sudek commented, "The Vokle broadcast platform enables TCA to meet with and support our local Southern California entrepreneurial community, while extending our reach and influence worldwide. While we primarily invest in Southern California companies, these conferences are another way that we're making ourselves even more accessible to a broader range of entrepreneurs to guide and mentor.

"Vokle is a Tech Coast Angels portfolio company and we're so impressed with the technology and what it offers to broadcasters, bloggers, hosts, companies and anyone with an audience, that we immediately saw the potential for our own events and entrepreneurs. We're always looking for new ways to get out into the community and meet more promising start-ups and get entrepreneurs connected with our investors, and Vokle provides the ideal environment for that. We're thrilled with the level of conversation and interaction we had during our pilot event with some very interesting attending entrepreneurs and are looking forward to the official launch on August 16."

Anyone interested in participating in the "Meet the Angels and VCs" event should visit http://techcoastangels.com/liveonlineevent. Those who want to ask questions on video will require a webcam and microphone.

About Vokle

Vokle provides an elegant, next generation interactive platform for broadcasters, bloggers or anyone wishing to reach their audience through live video dialogue. Speakers can easily broadcast to a virtual auditorium of viewers and take live video and text questions from the audience with a click of a button. Hosts have the option to assign staff roles to any attendee in the audience to help run the event. Roles include co-hosts to broadcast with the host, screeners to pre-screen video callers privately behind-the-scenes, and an editor to cut between live video streams for a more dynamic broadcast. Launched in December 2009, Vokle is the chosen online live platform of renowned influencers like Arianna Huffington, Willow Bay, Tony Robbins and Imogen Heap to interact live with their audience.

About Tech Coast Angels

Tech Coast Angels is the largest angel investor network in the United States. Its members provide funding and guidance to more early-stage, high-growth companies in Southern California than any other investment group. TCA members invest in companies in a wide range of industries, including the life sciences, biotech, IT, services, retail, Internet, financial, software, media, consumer products and tech startups. TCA members give companies more than just capital; they also provide counsel, mentoring and access to an extensive network of potential investors, customers, strategic partners and management talent. TCA has more than 250 members, including its venture capital affiliates, in five networks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Westlake/Santa Barbara and the Inland Empire. More information on investment with Tech Coast Angels can be found at www.techcoastangels.com, www.facebook.com/techcoastangels or twitter.com/techcoastangels.

SOURCE Tech Coast Angels