Allyson Eman serves as the CEO of Venture Atlanta, one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious venture capital conferences. Venture Atlanta will hold its 17th annual event on October 8-9, 2024 at The Woodruff Arts Center and Atlanta Symphony Hall.
Allyson Eman has more than 30 years of marketing, communications, sales leadership, and business development experience. In 2007, she took on the role of Executive Director for the newly created Venture Atlanta annual conference. Allyson has worked with key business leaders across the country and founding organizations Metro Atlanta Chamber, Atlanta CEO Council, and Technology Association of Georgia to build Venture Atlanta into the premier event it is today. In 2020, she was promoted to its CEO. Now in its 17th year, the conference is the Southeast’s largest investor showcase with over 1,500 attendees including venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and senior business executives. With a primary mission to connect companies with capital, Venture Atlanta has helped launch 843 companies and raise $7.7 billion in funding, also spinning out $17 billion in successful exits.
Prior to joining Venture Atlanta, Allyson was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for SouthStar Funding, a wholesale mortgage lender headquartered in Atlanta. During her nine-year tenure with the firm, she helped it grow from eight to 800 employees with 30 offices nationwide. SouthStar Funding grew to be one of the most reputable and respected wholesale mortgage lenders in the country under Allyson’s leadership. Prior to SouthStar, she worked for SouthTrust Bank as a Branch Marketing Manager overseeing the marketing platform for 100 branches across Georgia. Allyson received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. She resides in Marietta with her husband and two children.
Learn more about the latest news of this year’s conference and view the list of this year’s 88 hottest tech companies, as well as register to purchase tickets at https://www.ventureatlanta.org/
Q: Venture Atlanta is now in its 17th year and one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious venture capital conferences. That’s quite an accomplishment. What are you most excited about this year?
Allyson: Venture Atlanta 2024 is anticipated to draw over 1,500 attendees including 450 funds from across the nation. While we’re continuing our most popular programs, including last year’s highly attended pitch competitions, we’re also providing even greater in-depth networking opportunities and exclusive Executive sessions for founders, amazing speakers, including University of South Carolina Gamecocks Women’s Head Basketball Coach Dawn Staley. We are continually raising the bar to deliver the best experience.
Q: As someone who engages with so many startups currently, what would you say startups are experiencing in today’s ecosystem?
Allyson: Based upon our record number of applicants this year, our startup ecosystem is thriving despite the current economic challenges. However, truth be told, the fundraising environment is hard. That’s why opportunities like Venture Atlanta are so important. We have a lot of returning alumni who continue to come back. Even for companies that aren’t on the stage, there are still connections to be made and funding opportunities to secure. I think the election has a lot of people on the fence and is creating uncertainty about the economy, but I do a lot of reading about what’s going on and funds are continuing to raise capital and deploy it. In 2020-2022, there was so much money out there. While it isn’t exactly the same landscape this year, there’s still money being invested and Venture Atlanta is playing an important role in this process.
Q: What sort of doors have opened for startups who present at the event that may have otherwise not become opportunities if they had not come to Venture Atlanta? Do you have any favorite examples over the years that you would like to share?
Allyson: Wow, there are so many awesome examples to share! Wherever I go, there is almost always someone who tells me that they met an eventual customer, a key businessperson who became part of their organization, or an investor who funded them, at Venture Atlanta. Game-changing connections are made there. A few years ago, we did a whole “Venture Atlanta Connections” thing and one of my favorite examples is Car360. They presented at Venture Atlanta, they found their CEO, John Hanger, at Venture Atlanta, and they returned as alumni because Ernie Garcia, the CEO of Carvana, was a speaker. They stalked him in the bathroom—this is a true story—and he ended up buying their company. Talk about connections! And there are so many funding stories. Another company, Cognosos, was very last minute and reached out to me for a ticket. We were sold out, but I was able to accommodate them. They ended up sitting next to a fund at a lunch or something, which led to closing a $25 million financing round. You can’t make these stories up, and they’re amazing. I’m sure there will be more stories to tell after this year’s conference.
Q: Why is Venture Atlanta a hot networking opportunity for the broader business community?
Allyson: We attract the Who’s Who of the Atlanta tech and business community, as well as the largest contingent of investors in the Southeast. Also, I like to point out that the conference isn’t just about content—you know, sitting in session aft session. While we do provide great topics and speakers, Venture Atlanta is really more about networking and making connections. We have over 100 meeting tables set up to accommodate meetings. Bottom line, if you’re a startup looking for funding, Venture Atlanta is the clear place to be. And, even if you’re not fundraising, Venture Atlanta offers so much more, including the ability to connect with those who can further your success, from industry visionaries and top tech talent to potential mentors, partners, and customers.
Q: Considering that the Venture Atlanta conference has taken place for 17 years, and the amount of investment that companies are awarded every year at the event, could you provide any high-level numbers on the financial impact the conference has made on startup funding in the region?
Allyson: To date, Venture Atlanta has helped launch 843 companies and raise $7.7 billion in funding, also spinning out $17 billion in successful exits. The conference’s successful alumni include Bark, CallRail, Car360, Clearleap, Flock Safety, Florence, HealthSnap, ParkMobile, Rigor, Roadie, Salesloft, Stax, Terminus, and many others. We’re also once again hosting pitch competitions for early-stage and growth companies—as well as our Startup Showcase Live competition for pre-seed and seed-stage companies, with the winner of the latter receiving a $500,000 investment prize.
Q: How can ecosystem builders around the Southeast partner with Venture Atlanta and what could that look like?
Allyson: This year, Georgia represented only 30 percent of the companies selected. We have truly expanded our reach throughout the Southeast. Over the last year, Venture Atlanta has also partnered with a number of highly recognized accelerator programs, incubators, and venture conferences outside of our area, including Seed the South Capital Summit, Florida Venture Capital Conference, Capital Factory, gener8tor, Idea Village, Nashville Entrepreneur Center, South Carolina Research Authority, Tampa Bay Wave, RevTech Labs, and more. We all try to play nice in the sandbox, so to speak, and there’s amazing synergy between the groups. Everyone bolsters everyone up and strengthens each other’s efforts. We’re excited about our many partnerships with other entrepreneurial organizations and look forward to many more in the future.
