PHILADELPHIA, PA (OCTOBER 1, 2012) – With just days until its 15th Anniversary milestone venture capital conference on October 4th at the historic Down Town Club, Early Stage East (ESE) proudly announces yet another memorable moment. ESE will present Philadelphia’s own University City Science Center with the distinguished ‘Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award. CEO and President Dr. Stephen S. Tang will accept the award on behalf of the University City Science Center.
“We’re honored to be selected as the winner of the 2012 Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award. Like Sal and past award winners, the Science Center is passionate about helping early stage entrepreneurs flourish,” said Dr. Tang. “This award is especially meaningful as we embark on our 50th anniversary year in 2013 and look forward to helping future generations of innovators succeed.”
Established in 1963, the University Science Center is the oldest and largest urban research park in the United States. The Science Center is committed to accelerating technology commercialization and the market availability of lifeenhancing scientific breakthroughs by bringing together innovations, scientists, entrepreneurs, funding, laboratory facilities, and business services. The Science Center offers a steady stream of networking, professional development, and entrepreneurial support programs designed to leverage the rich resources available on our campus and in the region.
The Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award is given to an individual in the venture capital and entrepreneurial community who exemplifies the passion of watching early stage companies develop. The award is named in memory of the late Salvatore Buccieri, a former partner at Arthur Andersen’s Growth Company Practice, who lost his battle to cancer in 2000. Buccieri was a tireless advocate for early stage companies and aided them with financial and business development support.
This year’s ESE ‘Club Pitch Philadelphia’ conference will highlight some of today’s most promising early stage companies in the Internet, Social Media and Social Enterprise industries. From hundreds of applications, 25 companies have been selected to present their best business pitch to the top venture capitalists and angel investors in the region.
Presented by KPMG, the 2012 Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award is a testament to KPMG’s own commitment and support of entrepreneurs and the emerging business community.
“We at KPMG are proud to present this honor to the University Science Center at this year’s Early Stage East’s Club Pitch Philadelphia conference. Dr. Tang and the Science Center exemplify the same passion that Sal had in seeing early stage opportunities succeed,” stated Brian Hughes, KPMG Partner and co-partner of the Venture Capital Practice.
Past recipients include Stephen M. Goodman of Morgan Lewis LLP, Walter “Buck” Buckley and Doug Alexander of Internet Capital, and Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital.
For more information on Early Stage East, the University City Science Center and KPMG, visit earlystageeast.org, sciencecenter.org and KPMG.com.
