Rainy skies or not, Roth Capital Partners LLC opened its annual investment conference Tuesday at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point Tuesday.
About 2,200 people are set to attend this year’s invite-only confab, which features about 230 companies with small to midsize market values.
That’s up from the 1,600 people who came last year.
The conference could be outgrowing its space. With the rain keeping attendees indoors, some mumbled about how packed the hotel’s meeting area hallways were.
Roth, based in Newport Beach, used to hold its event across the street at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel. But the St. Regis lured it away in 2003.
Themed to spotlight growth companies, technology businesses dominate. But
there are plenty of healthcare, consumer products and financial companies,
too.
Orange County-based technology companies expected to present include Epicor Software Corp., Lantronix Inc. and Autobytel Inc., all of Irvine.
Other presenters include the likes of Boca Raton-based Hollywood Media Corp., Yonkers, N.Y.-based EVCI Career Colleges Holding Corp. and Carlsbad-based Rubio’s Restaurants Inc., among others.
One of the biggest draws Tuesday was Interchange Corp., an Internet company that links online advertisers to Internet searchers. The company drew eyes when its shares shot up 340% in the weeks following its IPO, underwritten by Roth, last October.
Chat room posters and other investors fueled the stock’s gain, calling it “Baby Goog,” a reference to Mountain View-based Google Inc.
One of the best-known features of Roth’s conferences is intact this year: the evening entertainment. This year, it’s the Black Eyed Peas, a hip-hop band with a funk vibe. The band starts at about 7 p.m. Tuesday evening.
Roth has a history of luring top musical acts to entertain investors. Shaggy performed last year and Sugar Ray performed in 2003.
