Watch the entrepreneurial funding process as it actually happens - not what you see on Shark Tank! The event will feature four startup firms honing their pitches to a panel of angel investors - the last step before they hit the big stage. Format: 30 minutes per company - 8 minute presentations followed by 22 minutes of panel feedback. Entrepreneurial companies considering a fund raise down the road are encouraged to attend as observers.

Awards: Best pitch & most fundable - Gratis attendance at the National Business Investment Forum in New York on October 30 for the purpose of meeting investors and distributing company materials, valued at $3500. The audience will include Private Equity Groups, Family Offices, and Venture Capital Groups. In addition, the second place company will receive a gratis legal consultation with a senior lawyer of Sheppard Mullin valued at $1000.

Lora Gaston is the Founder of GastonWhite, which focuses on increasing value, accelerating development, and raising startup capital. It provides financial modeling, strategic and marketing planning, and alliance and partnership recommendations. Previously, Lora ran Innovation R&D in Asset Management at JP Morgan. Further, she has been an Adjunct Professor in Statistics for Business and Quantitative Modeling at a local college.
 
Lawrence Poster is Managing Director of Catalyx Group, which helps startup companies to raise capital, and builds management teams for entrepreneurial firms. Catalyx focuses primarily on firms in the healthcare, advanced materials, cleantech, and renewable energy sectors. Previously, Mr. Poster served as a Manager at Arthur Young & Co's technology consulting practice, and as an Economist with the Federal Government.
 
John Hempill is a Partner at Sheppard Mullin in the Corporate Practice Group. He has extensive experience in private and public finance, representing private emerging growth companies, venture capital funds, and strategic investors in seed rounds and later stage private financings. He has advised clients in both acquisitions and dispositions of companies and lines of business, as well as in other types of negotiated business combinations.

Bruce Crawford, Founder of the Entrepreneur Forum, will serve as moderator. Prior to founding the Forum in 2008, he was Co-Head of Ratings Advisory at Salomon Smith Barney, where his primary responsibility was preparing corporations for bond rating presentations to agencies. Previously, he was a Director in Corporate Finance at Standard & Poor's, responsible for firms in the automotive, chemical, energy, and pharmaceutical industries.