Bermudian entrepreneurs were able to connect with venture-capital specialists, and explore how and when to identify and source seed money, during a packed private conference at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club on Friday.

They were there for the Qodeo Global Democratising Venture Summit, an event pitched at “Matching investors with diverse entrepreneurs”. Sixteen speakers, mostly from overseas, were at RBYC for the event.

Up for discussion was the reality for some founders and investors who had difficulty getting access to capital. The exchange of views centred on improving the prospects for Black, female and senior investors.

A full day of scheduled speakers included Jack Conway from the British Consulate in Boston and Dame Anne Glover, chief executive and cofounder of Amadeus Capital Partners, a British venture-capital firm established in 1997, with offices in London, Cambridge and Oxford.

Dame Anne has chaired the British Private-Equity and Venture-Capital Association and Invest Europe, and served on the Court of the Bank of England.

She told The Royal Gazette the value of such events was in knowledge exchange and relationship building.

“There is always something to learn from both ways, from investors to entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs and back, and from one region to another,” Dame Anne said. “All this information exchange happens better person to person than just online.”

She added: “Entrepreneurship is the way to help an economy grow and to provide good value jobs and to make an impact on the world. So entrepreneurship is really the source of so many of the solutions to today’s problems.”

Michael Branco, the Mayor of Hamilton, and Leonardo Williams, Mayor of the City of Durham in North Carolina, were also on the list as scheduled speakers.

Mr Williams has combined a career in education and public service with entrepreneurship.

Speakers at the daylong event also included Haley Bryant, a partner at California-based Hustle Fund, which specialises in early-stage start-ups. She is the former chief operating officer of content marketing company Animalz, where she helped develop and scale its operations.

“We all know that talent is evenly distributed, but capital and knowledge networks are not,” Ms Bryant said.

“So the mission really resonated with me. I’ve been so amazed by how friendly the community is here, how tightly connected everyone is, and how driven everyone is around really core issues in health, in education, in finance, in climate, to help everyone grow together.”

Zakiya Alta-Hill Lee is a North Carolina-based entrepreneur and venture-capital professional, and has worked with founders on fundraising, business strategy and investor engagement. A graduate of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, she founded Alta Business Solutions.

She said it was important for entrepreneurs to know how to attract venture capital and to assess whether this was the best way to capitalise their start-up.

“I want founders to understand if they are a venture-backable company or if they’re not,” Ms Lee said. “If they’re not, that doesn’t mean they’re not a great company that can create high returns and generational wealth, and create jobs — they absolutely can.

“But I think it’s really important to identify if it’s a venture-capital business, because I don’t want founders wasting their time trying to get venture-capital dollars.”

Ms Bryant said there are many different potential sources of seed and growth capital to unlock the potential of a business, and entrepreneurs had to work out the best fit for them.

“It might be bootstrapping a company and figuring out how to do that with an organisation like Ignite, versus going after venture capital or angel investors,” Ms Bryant said. “There are all these different mechanisms you can use.”

The day’s agenda included an understanding of how-on-the ground resources in Bermuda, such as the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation and the entrepreneurial accelerator, Ignite Bermuda, can be valuable to small start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Speakers from Bermuda empanelled on the session “Where can Bermuda excel?” participated in the discussion on understanding the funding ecosystem and building networks.

One panel featured Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, Erica Smith, executive director of the BEDC, Sean Reel, executive director of Ignite, and Andy Mielczarek, executive chairman and CEO of the Bermuda Commercial Bank.

Sessions focused on a number of related topics, including the myth busting of what investors really want and the creation of true innovation.

Qodeo is a global, subscription-based fintech and matchmaking platform that connects entrepreneurs — with a strong focus on underserved and diverse founders — to venture capital and private equity investors.

The international platform connects more than 20,000 entrepreneurs with more than 7,400 investors, hosting events that help local businesses overcome one of the biggest obstacles to growth — accessing seed capital.