At Forum, Venture Capitalists Lend an Ear to Entrepreneurs

Today, entrepreneurs from 21 start-up firms will make their pitches for financing to a group of venture capitalists and top private and corporate firms at the fifth annual Southern California Technology Venture Forum.

"This is the best crop of companies I've ever seen here," Jon P. Goodman, director of USC's entrepreneur program EC2 Incubator Project, told The Times. "The sophistication of these companies, the stage of development and the level of investors--well, it says a lot about what's happening in our Southern California economy."

The forums, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. and the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance, have helped raise more than $60 million for companies over the years.