Abstract:

The Bay Area is a center of innovation and has one of the largest concentrations of venture capital investors in the world.  Most local professionals have some understanding the venture funding process, but are often left with questions about how VC firms really “work.”   Maria will provide an insider’s view of a typical financing process and will offer valuable insights into:

·       How typical VC funds are structured and how they make their money

·       How funding decisions are made

·       How company valuations are typically determined

Biography:

Maria is a Senior Director in KPMG’s Venture Capital Practice working with venture funds and their portfolio companies.  She has more than 20 years of experience in finance and accounting including 10 years working with the venture capital industry.  Before re-joining KPMG in 2008, Maria was chief financial officer at Lightspeed Venture Partners in Menlo Park and prior to that, Administrative Partner and COO of Forward Ventures in San Diego. In those roles, she was a senior member of two firms raising and managing in excess of $1.7 billion. Her responsibilities included financial reporting and investor relations for those firms and she participated in structuring and negotiating financings of venture-backed companies and the management of investor exits from those investments. Prior to her work in venture capital, Maria was a member of the KPMG’s Healthcare and Life Sciences practice in San Diego where she worked with both public and private venture-backed companies.