AUVSI's Unmanned Systems 2016

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Let’s Make a Deal: Venture Capital and M&A Perspectives from Unmanned Systems Dealmakers (Room 298-299)

PRESENTER Jonathan Rubin is a partner at the Westbury Group, an investment bank, and heads up the firm’s unmanned systems practice. BACKGROUND At AUVSI 2015, Mr. Rubin presented unmanned industry deal data as part of the panel session, "Unmanned Systems and the Capital Markets." That session also included a discussion by a panel whose members included an attorney, a corporate acquirer, an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist. This year Mr Rubin is proposing to split the presentation of deal data and the panel discussion into two sessions. He will moderate the panel in this session discussed in this proposal, and is proposing to present the deal data in a separate session ("Show Me the Money": Unmanned Systems and the Capital Markets). NOTE: If AUVSI believes that combining the two sessions, as was done last year, is a better approach - or simply needs to combine them for efficiency - Mr. Rubin would be happy to accommodate. SESSION DESCRIPTION As the market for unmanned systems expands, the need for capital does as well, along with the trend for consolidation. This session, which was well-received in 2015, will give executives, owners, and managers the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the ins and outs of raising venture capital and selling a company. Moderated by Jonathan Rubin, a leading unmanned systems investment banker, the panel members include the owner of an unmanned systems business who has recently raised venture capital, a principal from a venture capital firm, a senior corporate development executive from a larger corporation who has been an active acquirer in the industry, and an attorney well-versed in both deal-making and the laws and regulations of the unmanned industry. The topics of discussion will include how unmanned systems transactions have evolved over the past year, the current state of the industry, and predictions for what industry segments will attract the most interest in the coming year. The session will provide the audience with an understanding of the dynamics driving investors and acquirers. These dynamics will include characteristics of attractive target companies as wells as "dos and don'ts" in the capital raising and M&A processes. Other topics will include: • The unmanned systems areas that most excite venture capital investors, and how has that evolved over the last two years; • The feedback that unmanned systems entrepreneurs have received as they sought investment capital; • The challenges that corporations encounter in trying to find smaller acquisitions that match their broader strategic direction; • What small companies can do to facilitate the relationship with a larger corporate acquirer; • How broader unmanned industry issues may potentially affect an acquisition or a capital raise. Often, AUVSI participants focus primarily on technology when forecasting future change. This session will give the audience a sense of how the industry may evolve through a different and powerful lens: the perspective of capital investment.