Okla. Venture Forum pres.: Investment in venture biz maturing.

Byline: Brian Brus

The investment money in Oklahoma venture business opportunities ismaturing, said Oklahoma Venture Forum President Jeff Davis. We've certainly seen in Oklahoma over the last couple of years a strength in first-stage dollars for investment, Davis said recently. That's changing. We're not where I'd like us to be yet, but now we're starting tosee a maturity of investment starting to develop beyond that first stage, and I think that's a healthy trend. We're also seeing a corresponding improvement in the quality of investment opportunities. They seem to be more mature and sophisticated in their designs and approach, he said. And although we typically refer to venture capital, which will always be important, we're seeing a shift to more private equityand the acquisition of mature companies. Davis also is a partner in Oklahoma City-based Acorn Growth Equities and the founder and currentpresident of the Oklahoma Technology Executives Association, an organization of senior-level technology business executives in Oklahoma. He has also been involved in the formation of the Oklahoma Aerospace and Technology Association. This year's OVF-sponsored Bricktown Capital Conference attracted more than 300 people over the two-day event, including 25 investors from in and out of Oklahoma representing $1.1 billion in early, mid-stage, and latter-stage capital. So it's clear that there's a lot of enthusiasm for the quality of opportunity of what we have here in Oklahoma, he said. Organizations such as OVF and business incubators including i2E Inc., an Oklahoma City-based organization that helps startup companies, have helped consolidate capital in certain areas - the aerospace industry, for example, or biotech - and investors are likely to keep exploring those areas, he said. Investors tend to march to different drummers, so there's always something else out there that they'll find, he said. But we've seen a lot of biotechnology opportunities coming out of the Presbyterian Health Foundation and the OMRF (Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation). ... There's still a depth and breadth of investments in certain fields. The i2E structure has proven to be a strong focal point for investors and paying dividends in the short term and long term, and that's going toremain a strong force. Davis admitted that in his position at Acorn,he's always interested in aerospace, the state's largest developing industry. After that, though, he's looking for growth in digital forensics out of Tulsa and a smattering of other sectors.