Forum invests in the future

Michelle Dickman, the CEO of Post Falls-based TriGeo Networks, already has tentative offers of more than $2 million from regional investors eager to back her company. Even so, Dickman still plans to make a presentation during the Connect Northwest Investor Forum next Thursday.

She’s among 10 Spokane-area company officials who’ll gather at the Davenport Hotel to explain in detail why their firms stand to produce solid returns for early-stage investors.

More than 40 investors and investment executives — many from major venture capital firms in Seattle — will be there to survey what’s happening with Spokane-area companies.

Even though Dickman isn’t hunting for more money for TriGeo, which develops high-end network security tools, she said she’s ready to make a pitch during the forum.

“You never know. I’ve seen a lot of deals walk away at the last minute for any number of reasons,” Dickman said.

Even if no deals are struck, the forum’s main purpose is make the business community better aware of options and opportunities.

“It’s primarily for business development, for building relationships,” said Bill Kalivas, program manager for Connect Northwest. Connect Northwest is a new economic development program aimed at helping area companies grow and add jobs.

This year’s forum, running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is open only to accredited investors and to corporate sponsors of Connect Northwest, which relies on contributions for its funding.

A previous investors’ forum two years ago, also in downtown Spokane, led to strong interest by a number of investors in two area tech firms, Purcell Systems and World Wide Packets, said Kevin Cable, executive vice president of a Seattle investment bank. And in that case, no deals were struck directly at the forum.

“That session (in 2002) really catalyzed additional interest by us in two Spokane companies, World Wide Packets and Purcell Systems,” said Cable, whose company, Cascadia Capital, later helped arrange outside venture funding for both businesses.

Those two companies, plus several others, have pocketed more than $480 million in funding and financial backing from outside sources over the past 12 months, said Cable, who will also deliver the keynote remarks at next Thursday’s forum.

The full list of recent investments landed by regional companies includes: World Wide Packets, $25 million in two rounds of venture funding; Avista Labs (now ReliOn), $12 million in two rounds of venture funding; Purcell Systems, $16.6 million from venture funding; Nighthawk Radiology, $25 million in venture funding; Vivato, $44 million in venture funding; and Itron Inc., $365 million in a revolving credit line and a long-term bank loan.

That big infusion of cash, Cable added, is a clear sign that Spokane has developed and nurtured a core group of solid, well-managed firms.

It’s also a sign, he noted, that investors finally perceive Spokane as a prime area for good deals.

“Up to now, Spokane has been broadly overlooked and underserved by the venture capital and investment banking communities,” Cable said. Major venture firms on both coasts have stopped shopping for deals only close to home, he added.

Unlike the event two years ago, this summer’s forum will feature more than a dozen area investors, said Phil Sandifur, a coordinator of the Connect Northwest program.

“That’s one of the goals, to develop more interest among local investors for strong area companies,” Sandifur noted.

“If we can highlight the community’s top 10 companies every year, this will become a major event,” he said.