Fairfield StartUp Announces the 2020 Showcase Investor Panel - Your Chance to Vote Starts April 29!

Four solopreneurs and one team will pitch their business ideas to investors for seed money as part of the new online format for the Showcase, debuting April 29 at fairfield.edu/startup.

Join the Fairfield community for the University’s annual celebration of entrepreneurship Wednesday, April 29, 2020. This year’s StartUp Showcase has moved online and will debut as a video series that will document each team’s journey, showcase the excitement as teams make their pitches through video conferencing, and reveal feedback from the investors at fairfield.edu/startup.

As in previous years, the Showcase investor panel is comprised of alumni and local business professionals who have a passion for entrepreneurship and who support the Showcase teams with constructive feedback and much-needed funding for students to launch their businesses. Fairfield StartUp is pleased to announce the 2020 Showcase investor panel:

Joseph Bronson ’70
Joseph (Joe) Bronson is currently principal and CEO of The Bronson Group, LLC, a business advisory group focused on operational and financial consulting. In addition, he is a strategic advisor and managing director of Cowen Group, Inc., a New York City-based investment banking firm, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Fairfield University. Bronson is a CPA and holds a BS in accounting from Fairfield University and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. He was inducted into the UConn Business School Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Fairfield University Entrepreneur Hall of Fame in 2017. Bronson also serves as a regent at Santa Clara University and Loyola Marymount University and has served as the chair of the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University for the past 17 years.  

Michael Garvey ’89 P’23
Michael Garvey has more than three decades of business experience, including a career in law enforcement in New York State. He is an active angel investor and entrepreneur, involved in numerous start-ups and early stage companies, several of which have gone on to successful exits. Mr. Garvey founded License Monitor, Inc. (LMI) a SAAS provider of proactive license monitoring and risk management services, which he sold to a private equity group. LMI was voted High Tech Company of the Year and Mr. Garvey was inducted into the New York State Business Hall of Fame for extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit. He received his BA in marketing and management of information systems from Fairfield University. Mr. Garvey is beyond thrilled that his eldest daughter, Lauren, is currently in her freshman year in Fairfield’s Dolan School of Business.

Mary Anne Rooke P’20
Mary Anne Rooke is the president and managing director of Angel Investor Forum, the Connecticut-based angel investor group. She is also a managing partner in Mystic River Ventures (MRV), which serves as fund managers for the UConn Innovation Fund. Rooke was on the co-founding team and now serves as treasurer of the board of directors for Thames River Innovation Places (TRIP) - a CTNext program to support catalytic projects that stimulate the local innovation system. She is founder of Rooke & Associates, a boutique management consulting firm that specializes in helping early stage technology companies on the verge of high growth. Rooke also advises and mentors startups in many regional accelerators and has held leadership positions in multiple industries, ranging from startup ventures to Fortune 500 companies. She graduated from Annhurst College with a BS in accounting and has her MBA from Golden Gate University’s Executive MBA Program. Rooke serves as a Fairfield Dolan Investor-in-Residence.

Save the date: Wednesday, April 29, to watch the 2020 Fairfield StartUp Showcase video series and to vote for the CTNext/CI Audience Favorite at fairfield.edu/startup.