Members of the P.E.I. startup and business community will gather on Wednesday, Feb. 4, to discuss ways to encourage more investment in the province’s startups.

The Island Advance: Capital Formation Luncheon will take place at Dunes Room of the Holman Grand Hotel starting at 11 a.m. The tickets are $20 and available here.

The luncheon, presented by the Greater Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce, follows the format of the Entrevestor-Entrepreneurs’ Forum Luncheons and Dinners already held in Fredericton, Halifax and St. John’s.

Following the Entrevestor presentation on the metrics of the Atlantic Canadian startup community, there will be a discussion on channeling capital into Island startups.

The discussion will be led by Ron Keefe, the CEO of BioVectra and a pillar of the biotech community on Prince Edward Island.

The goal of the discussion is to educate both investors and entrepreneurs on what they need to do to improve the flow of capital from one to the other.

For entrepreneurs, it will be a chance to learn more about how to become “investment ready”. The discussion will touch on how to develop a business that would attract investment, and how to establish links with the individuals and institutions that could make an investment.

For investors, the discussion will look at best practices for investing in young companies – what to expect, how to meet leading entrepreneurs and what to avoid.

The discussion will be followed by a luncheon and networking session.

The luncheon is being held as part of the Island Advance initiative, which is designed to support progress and business growth on Prince Edward Island.