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Acton School of Business and MPOWER Ventures Partner for Launch of Second Annual RISE Entrepreneurs' Conference

02.19.08 riseaustin.org

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 18, 2008 – The Acton School of Business and MPOWER Ventures announced today a strategic partnership to support entrepreneurship with a commitment to co-host the second annual Austin-born RISE conference. RISE, a Relationship and Information Series for Entrepreneurs, is a free “un-conference” in which entrepreneurs are able to connect and exchange ideas that inspire the entrepreneurial spirit.

During the week of RISE, March 4-6, more than 1,000 entrepreneurs will gather in small groups led by successful business leaders at locations throughout the Greater Austin area. RISE sessions are available free of charge to entrepreneurs at all stages of business. Session registration occurs exclusively online at www.RISEAUSTIN.org

For a full list of RISE session hosts and topics visit www.RISEAustin.org and click on “Attend a Session” to see the calendar. Now in its second year, RISE is building on its success from 2007, when more than 500 entrepreneurs gathered in groups of 20 for 40 RISE sessions held across the greater Austin area.

RISE is the creation of brothers Roy and Bertrand Sosa, co-founders of NetSpend Corporation, and more recently, MPOWER Ventures and MPOWER Labs. In December 2006, the Sosas were contacted by the Kauffman Foundation to see if they would lead an Austin-based initiative as part of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA. The Sosas wanted to create a unique, “Austin” experience that would recognize and inspire the city’s vibrant entrepreneurial community.

With a vision toward continuing the rapid growth of RISE, the Sosas approached Acton, Austin’s leading school of business and entrepreneurship, to see if they would co-host the annual event.

“Our partnership with Acton is a natural one based on our mutual passion for entrepreneurship,” said Roy Sosa. Bertrand Sosa echoes, “Acton is ranked as one of the top MBA programs in the nation, and as we continue to build the most impactful entrepreneurship conference in the country, it makes sense to work with the best.”

“We are delighted to participate in this year’s RISE conference and partner with the Sosas to ensure its growth,” said Jeff Sandefer, Founder of the Acton School of Business. “Acton focuses on motivating the next generation of entrepreneurs to act with integrity and excellence. Extending this mission to support RISE means that we are contributing to a more vibrant and exciting entrepreneurial community.”

Austin Ventures, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, The University of Texas at Austin, the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas, Ernst & Young, GCI Read-Poland, GSD&M Idea City and Headspring also are sponsoring RISE 2008.

According to the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG), entrepreneurs account for approximately 20 percent of all jobs in the Austin economy, and entrepreneurs in Austin generate approximately $4.6 billion in income annually. The number of entrepreneurs in the Austin region has increased every year since 1969, adding an average of 4,437 new entrepreneurs each year.

About The Acton School of Business
The Acton School of Business, located in Austin, Texas, is a one-year MBA in Entrepreneurship program taught exclusively by successful, practicing entrepreneurs. The program is based entirely on experiential learning, featuring intensive 90-hour work weeks where students stand in the shoes of the entrepreneur in over 300 case studies, run real assembly lines and must sell products door to door in order to graduate. The student-faculty ratio is lower than any MBA program in the country, allowing students to develop strong bonds with their entrepreneur-teachers. The Princeton Review has ranked Acton’s teachers among the top five MBA faculties in the country for the past 4 year and rates Acton as one of the “Best Classroom Experiences” in the nation.

About MPOWER Ventures and Labs
MPOWER Ventures, LP, is a highly specialized double-bottom-line venture capital fund whose mission is to empower the world’s underserved by investing in companies producing innovative products and services that leverage technology and networks to deliver access. To that end, the founding partners of MPOWER Ventures established MPOWER Labs as both an accelerator and incubator for the portfolio companies of the venture fund. The collaborative model between MPOWER Ventures and MPOWER Labs was developed with the understanding that minimizing overhead costs and accelerating scale would enable the fastest realization of both profit and social impact.

MPOWER Labs, Inc., is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has offices in Europe and Latin America, and is led by a team of resident innovators and entrepreneurs who use the latest technologies and business strategies to advance entrepreneurship in financial services – payments; alternative debit, credit and asset-building products; affordable health care; and micro-economic development. MPOWER Labs is committed to the incubation of new ideas for the delivery of products and services that enable people to add value to their lives. www.mpowerlabs.com

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