I was recently invited to be a guest on WTNH’s Good Morning CT at Nine on the first day of the annual Yale Innovation Summit. I was interviewed by anchor Laura Hutchinson about the event and the role FML plays in the start-up landscape in Connecticut. Watch the full interview here.
Frank: The Yale Innovation Summit is the largest gathering of venture capital firms in the state of Connecticut. They’re here this week to participate in a showcase of Connecticut’s brightest young entrepreneurial companies that are being developed out of Yale and throughout Connecticut.
Think about a pitchfest, kind of like a Shark Tank pitchfest, where these companies get to present, for five minutes, their business plans with the goal of getting funded by these venture capital firms to continue to develop here in the state of Connecticut and to grow their businesses.
It’s a virtual event this year. FML is a sponsor of the event, we’ve been sponsors for a couple of years, and we’re also helping with moderating one of those pitch sessions this week that’s focused on biotechnology and the oncology areas that the companies are trying to develop with it.
WTNH: Wow. And we’ve noticed in this pandemic just how important it is to support local. Local business certainly the backbone of our economy, that’s for sure. Tell me, how does FML work with some of these start-ups?
Frank: Well, FML’s been involved in the entrepreneurial start-up community for a long time. It’s surrounding these companies with technical expertise so when they form they have an understanding of what’s going to be in front of them as far as formation, tax issues, accounting issues and even capital-raising activities.
We try to basically support them from the earliest stages of their formation all the way through their growth and exit.