The founder of a San Francisco-based venture capital firm will be the keynote speaker at The Creative Coast’s Geekend conference this fall, the organization announced Thursday.
John Burke, founder and general partner of True Ventures, will host a “Pitch Circus” during the keynote session Friday, Nov. 14, giving a select number of entrepreneurs a chance to present their projects on stage in front of a group of guest venture capitalists.
“The startup community is the only bright light in the U.S. economy and is responsible for any current job growth,” said Burke in a statement. “So I personally dedicate my time and resources to building startup companies, and I embrace the opportunity to promote entrepreneurship at Geekend in November.”
Burke founded his company in 2005, focusing on supporting early-stage startups. True Ventures has about $600 million under management with 125 companies in its portfolio, focusing on software, media and commerce.
Geekend, an interactive tech and design conference, will take place November 13-15 at locations around Savannah, featuring speakers, panels, workshops and networking events.
Past keynote speakers have included Kickstarter co-founder Charles Adler, TwitPic founder Noah Everett and creative director of FX network Neal Holman.
The conference took a hiatus in 2013 after Creative Coast took full ownership of the event from local nonprofit Thinking Cap, whose founders launched the first Geekend in 2009. The event draws hundreds of people from across the Southeast to share and exchange ideas.
Projects at any level of completion are welcome to apply for a spot in Burke’s Pitch Circus. For consideration, Creative Coast is asking for applications to be completed by Sept. 18. Registration for Geekend is now open as well.
Find more information at geek-end.com.
