The speakers’ lineup for WRAL TechWire’s crowdfunding event keeps growing – and there’s more on the agenda than what crowdfunding means for startups as well as entrepreneurs.

Among the additions: Joan Siefert Rose, president of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

The Executive Exchange program “Crowdfunding in 2015” also will address other funding opportunities from angel investing to N.C. state-provided matching grants.

The event is set for Feb. 17.

Here’s the agenda We’ll be adding more speakers and details shortly):

  • 8 a.m.: Breakfast and networking
  • 8:30 a.m.: Opening remarks from WRAL TechWire Editor Rick Smith and sponsors
  • 8:35 a.m.: Investor Mark Easley, “2015 Can be the Year for Investment Crowdfunding in North Carolina,” including an introduction to the new NC JOBS Act for the 2015 session. Easley also will discuss other funding opportunities such as angels and angel list.
  • 9 a.m.: The Money Hunt – Entrepreneurs on the hunt for funding; how NCSU and the state is already helping. (John Hardin, Department of Commerce, head of Science and Technology grant program; entrepreneurs Justin Miller of WedPics, who has raised money from non-traditional sources and VCs, and John McDonald, who is seeking backers for his barbecue sauce; Lewis Sheats, director of NCSU Entrepreneurship Clinic.) Moderator: John Hardin. Q&A, time permitting.
  • 9:35 a.m.: Keynote – Commerce Secretary Jon Skvarla discusses “NC Commerce Department Innovation to Jobs Initiatives” with an emphasis on the importance of the investment crowdfunding initiative to startups and small business plus Q&A.
  • 9:55 a.m.: The Legal View – Panel discussion from attorneys on the legal challenges of crowdfunding; What’s happening at the federal level; the SEC’s impact on crowdfunding in N.C. Panelists: Jim Verdonik of Ward and Smith, Mitel Patel of Wyrick & Robbins, and Benji Jones of Smith Anderson Law. Moderator: Mark Easley.
  • 10:15 a.m.: The Rising Importance of Alternative Funding – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development’s Joan Siefert Rose recaps findings in recent CED study about where all startup funding comes from.

The buffet

By the way, the breakfast buffet will be served including: scrambled eggs, raspberry-Nutella stuffed french toast, home fries, turkey sausage patties, peach-strawberry salad and mini-cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing.

WTW Insiders receive a discount. See registration site for details.

Event registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wral-techwire-executive-exchange-crowdfunding-in-2015-tickets-15379068207