WASHINGTON, DC – The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) will convene tomorrow venture investors, policymakers and other stakeholders from the entrepreneurial ecosystem for two days of policy discussion and meetings to support new company creation at the NVCA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

“We are totally rewriting the script this year for the NVCA Annual Meeting to focus exclusively on policy and direct engagement with policymakers,” said Bobby Franklin, President and CEO of NVCA.  “We are bringing VCs to DC to so that the venture community can better understand how policymakers approach our policy issues and in turn how policymakers can better understand how the policies they are working on are impacting new company formation.  Now more than ever, it is imperative that the venture capital community come together to advance NVCA’s pro-innovation agenda in support of greater entrepreneurial activity in the U.S.”

Highlights on tap include:

  • Keynote address from Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) who will discuss his work on legislation to create a Startup Visa.
  • Keynote address from Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) who will discuss his work as part of the leadership team in the Senate Democratic Conference.
  • Panel discussion on capital market reforms featuring Bobby Bartlett (Berkley Center for Law, Business and the Economy), Milan Dalal (Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs), Barry Eggers (Lightspeed Venture Partners), Scott Kupor (Andreessen Horowitz) and Brett Paschke (William Blair)
  • Panel discussion on tax reform featuring Ray Beeman (EY), Steven Franklin (Gunderson Dettmer), Justin Field (NVCA), Lori Prater (Rep. Mike Kelly) and Jon Talisman (Capitol Tax Partners).
  • Panel discussion on immigration reform featuring George Fishman (House Judiciary Committee), Bobby Franklin (NVCA), Brendan Parets (Senate Republican Policy Committee), Shervin Pishevar (Sherpa Capital) and Scott Sandell (NEA).
  • Panel discussion on the intersection of policy and innovation featuring Paul Edattel (House Committee on Energy and Commerce), Jeff Farrah (NVCA) Lisa Maki (PokitDok), Nick Rossi (Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation) and Rich Wong (Accel Partners).
  • Panel discussion on government agencies accessing venture-backed innovation featuring Justin Antonipillai (U.S. Department of Commerce), Scott Frederick (NEA), Kyla Fullenwider (U.S. Census Bureau), Dan Tangherlini (U.S. General Services Administration) and Sean Singleton (DIUx).
  • Public policy briefings and a day of advocacy on Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers and staff to on NVCA’s policy agenda.

VIEW THE FULL AGENDA