SAN JOSE, CA - 06/16/2006 — Close to 1,000 technology, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and life science innovators, venture capital firms, government agency representatives and corporate investors will meet in San Jose June 28th and 29th at The Venture Forum’s (www.theventureforum.com/) annual event to connect early stage innovators with funding sources. Since its inception 11 years ago, The Venture Forum has facilitated $600 million in venture capital, corporate and government investment, thereby helping innovators move high-value technologies closer to commercialization.

“The venture capital funding stream has begun to flow again, so we felt the timing was right to move The Venture Forum from Los Angeles to Silicon Valley, the epicenter of innovation,” says Rohit Shukla, founder of the Los Angeles-based Larta Institute which sponsors The Venture Forum.

During the two-day event, the Venture Forum will “offer seed and startup capital investors a glimpse into the future of every major technology sector, from nanotechnology to the Internet,” explains Shukla. “We believe entrepreneurs are our seed corn, the genesis of technology companies of the future, and we will connect them with venture capital and other funding sources so they can bring their innovation to the commercial marketplace,” says Shukla. “It’s possible the next Google is one of our startup exhibitors!” he declares.