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The Enterprise Network of Silicon Valley Announces Spirit of Silicon Valley Campaign; TEN Aims to Build Major Philanthropy to Support Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs

Posted on: Friday, 18 November 2005, 09:00 CST

The Enterprise Network of Silicon Valley (TEN) is announcing a three-year fundraising effort to raise $25 million under its Spirit of Silicon Valley Campaign. Co-chaired by Harry Kellogg, Vice Chairman of Silicon Valley Bank, and directed by Dick King, formerly VP of Fund Development with the Health Trust and the Tech Museum of Innovation, the plans for the campaign will be unveiled at TEN's $2 million U.S. Department of Commerce EDA grant award celebration on November 18th at TEN's Sobrato Center for Innovation in San Jose.

To date, TEN has raised over $11.5 million of the campaign goal. The balance of $13.5 million is needed to meet the growing demand to support entrepreneurs and emerging technology companies in Silicon Valley, including the facilitation of entrepreneurial bridges between Silicon Valley and technology partners around the world. The campaign is targeted at raising $3 million in program support funding associated with the cost of operating TEN's business acceleration facilities in Santa Clara and San Jose, CA, $3.5 million in capital funds for the modernization of TEN's Sobrato Center for Innovation, and $7 million in endowment funding to provide sustaining financial support for its entrepreneur support operations.

Funds to be raised will be augmented by the equity that TEN takes in its member companies, which is expected to grow in value and add to TEN's capacity to fund an expanding number of programs to support startups. Today, TEN is supporting over 50 technology startups, and this number will steadily increase as TEN completes the modernization of its Sobrato Center for Innovation, and establishes additional business acceleration facilities and partnerships in the Bay Area in the years ahead.

Remarked Harry Kellogg, "The Spirit of Silicon Valley Campaign is extremely important in generating the capital for a long-term support system in Silicon Valley to meet the needs of pre-funded startups. I am honored to be working with TEN to bring together the community support and philanthropy to ensure that we meet our goals." Added Dr. Bill Musgrave, president & CEO of TEN, "What drives Silicon Valley are exciting startups that cause an infusion of talent, innovations, jobs, and capital into our economy. We at TEN are privileged to be doing our part to support Silicon Valley's most valuable resource, our entrepreneurs." Commented Dick King, director of TEN's Spirit of Silicon Valley Campaign, "Other regions around the world are going to great lengths to develop an entrepreneurial culture. Just like university students, whose education is subsidized, we must devote the necessary resources to continue to keep Silicon Valley in the vanguard of entrepreneurship and innovation."

In step with globalization trends, TEN is expanding its international reach to bring more technology and entrepreneurs from around the world to Silicon Valley. With its increasing activities to build partnerships with technology regions around the world, TEN is realizing a vision to become a global innovation hub to drive business formation between Silicon Valley and Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

In February 2005, the Mexico-Silicon Valley Technology Business Accelerator (TECHBA) was inaugurated at TEN's Sobrato Center for Innovation through an alliance with the United States-Mexico Foundation for Science (FUMEC) and Mexico's Ministry of Economy. TEN also has formed alliances with ParqueSoft in Colombia and ParqueTec in Costa Rica, and is in discussions with organizations in Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Latin America on formation of entrepreneurial bridges with Silicon Valley.

Under the leadership of former State Senator Becky Morgan, the founder of Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network (JVSV), TEN was spun out of JVSV in 1993 to help support Silicon Valley's ailing economy by providing mentoring to technology entrepreneurs. For several years, TEN was supported by a grant under a cooperative agreement with NASA to operate the Ames Technology Commercialization Center (ATCC). After TEN's NASA program ended in 2002, the organization turned to philanthropy as its primary means of financial support. In 2003, TEN was successful in gaining the approval of the Internal Revenue Service and California's Franchise Tax Board to convert from a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization to a 501(c)(3) educational and charitable organization, eligible to receive tax-deductible donations.

About TEN, The Enterprise Network of Silicon Valley (www.tensv.org) -- TEN has helped launch over 80 successful ventures, including eBay, iPrint, Xros, Vertical Networks, Right Works, Vertical Networks, Tukaroo, and Sensant and created thousands of jobs in the process. TEN is an independent 501(c)(3) public benefit California Corporation.

Source: Business Wire

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