Press Release

Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. hosted a roundtable last Wednesday with local startups, venture capital investors, and incubators at his district office for Start-Up Day Across America. Start-Up Day Across America is an opportunity for Members of Congress to engage with the start-up community.

"I'm proud to participate in Start-Up Day Across America and am particularly proud of the progress our region is making to support start-ups and encourage them to grow and thrive in the 21st century economy," said Bera. "This roundtable provided an invaluable opportunity to bring together public and private stakeholders from our region to learn from one another about how we can cultivate and support start-up growth and job creation."

Rep. Bera has worked closely with the business and start-up community to find ways to support their efforts through hosting small business workshops to connect businesses with federal and local resources, inviting the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration to meet with local businesses and by personally touring businesses throughout the district. He is also a strong advocate of increasing investment in infrastructure, research and development, and looking for innovative ways to make capital accessible for entrepreneurs.

"We were extremely pleased to work with Congressman Ami Bera to bring together venture capitalists and technology companies from across the region to explore how to accelerate the success of the local tech economy," said Howard Bubb, CEO of SARTA - the Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance. "His commitment to our region's growth is clear and with Sacramento poised to emerge as a tech mecca with the development of the downtown area and rail yard, sessions like this one are important to preparing the way."

Congressman Bera was joined at the roundtable by:

• Monique Brown, Managing Partner of Venture Velocity Capital, Entrepreneurs Campus
• Howard Bubb, CEO of SARTA
• Casey Call, Founder and CEO of Green Wheel Gardens, Urban Farms
• Brett Engelkemier, Sacramento Angels
• Denise Ferre, General Partner and CFO of Moneta Ventures
• Rich Foreman, Founder and CEO of Apptology and Start Up Grind Sacramento
• Barb Johnston, CEO of Healthlinknow
• Matt Phillips, Director of MedStart at SARTA
• Lokesh Sikaria, Managing Partner of Moneta Ventures

Bera represents Sacramento County. Born and raised in California, Bera is a physician and the only Indian American currently serving in Congress. He's fighting to rebuild an economy that works for middle class families and to reduce our country's debt in a responsible way. A proponent for strengthening United States' strategic and trading relationship with India and Asia, Bera is co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He is working to open Asian markets to California products to create new jobs. He and his wife Janine live in Elk Grove with their daughter Sydra. For more updates on Rep. Bera follow @RepBera on Twitter, like Congressman Bera on Facebook, or visit https://www.bera.house.gov.

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