Almaz Capital Investors and Entrepreneurs Featured Speakers at Silicon Valley Open Doors Technology Investment Conference

PORTOLA VALLEY, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 8, 2015) - Almaz Capital, an early stage venture capital firm connecting and funding innovators from diverse regions of the world, and some of its top entrepreneurs will contribute inspiring and practical lessons at the annual Silicon Valley Open Doors (SVOD) annual event in Mountain View on June 10 and 11.

"We know that the best ideas come from atypical thinking and that bridging talent across geographies can lead to successful companies," said Geoffrey Baehr, an Almaz Capital general partner who will be among the investor judges in the Startup Competition. "We are proud to be a sponsor and participant in Silicon Valley Open Doors because we value the SVOD team's distinctive ability to bring together energetic, smart people who aspire to global success."

Since its inception in 2005, SVOD has hosted fireside chats and keynotes about innovation with gurus of technology, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. Through STARTUP PITCH sessions, SVOD provides access to a variety of pre-selected young entrepreneurs and startups that think outside of the box. SVOD is well known as a conference with the highest ratio between founders and investors, a key factor in helping many of the presenting companies find their first major investment.

Investor and Entrepreneur Speakers: Big Data and Internet of Things

Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, which has received funding from Almaz Capital, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, and Tenaya Capital, will join Alexander Galitsky, Founder of Almaz Capital to share insights on the future of big data management, how to raise funding from the best VCs in the Valley while working in a highly competitive market, and what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur coming to the Silicon Valley from Eastern Europe. Leading the session will be The New York Times deputy technology editor Quentin Hardy.

Roman had a zero chance of becoming a successful entrepreneur living in a communist Czechoslovakia. He wished to study computer science when he was 18, but didn't have access to computers. The first time he saw a computer or had access to a PC was when he was almost 25, which means that the '10,000 hour' rule of Malcolm Gladwell's 'Outliers' did not work here. And yet, Roman now heads a company with over $100M in funding from the best Silicon Valley VCs, operates in a highly competitive market and is a leader in the industry.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the big ideas changing our world and transforming industries. Automotive, health, energy, and connected homes are a few of the sectors seeing significant change. To address what is coming and parse how much is technological hype and how much is a value-creating reality are Hugh Martin, CEO, SENSITY; Munish Khetrapal, Managing Director, Solutions & Business Transformation, CISCO SYSTEMS; Rob Tiffany, Global Technology Lead, Internet of Things, MICROSOFT; Pankaj Kedia, Sr. Director, Smart Wearables Segment, QUALCOMM on a panel moderated by Owen Thomas, Editor-in-Chief, ReadWrite.

About Almaz Capital
Almaz Capital is an early stage investor in innovative technology companies. Its focus is investing in teams solving a range of problems for both enterprises and small businesses. In addition, the firm invests in consumer-facing businesses including Internet of Things, digital media and sensor technology. Almaz Capital implements a unique bridge model, finding talent and teams in diverse regions and helping them develop into global market leaders. Its portfolio includes market leaders such as Sensity (Internet of Things), Good Data (Business Intelligence), Jelastic ('Cloudifying' application development), GridGain (In-Memory Computing), Cinarra (Mobile advertising), and Yandex(Web Search). The fund's investors include Cisco, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. For more information, please visit www.almazcapital.com. Follow on Twitter @AlmazCapital.

About SVOD
Silicon Valley Open Doors (SVOD) is a premier Silicon Valley investment conference that brings together startups from all over the world with the prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms, leading technology companies, and business media. Learn more about SVOD here.