River Ecosystem is more than just Mike Rothenberg. It's a fucking ecosystem of hungry innovators and tech talents looking to prove themselves. Check out just a few.

River Ecosystem, a consulting firm that provides services to frontier technology startups and hosts the annual River Accelerator program, today announced veteran Bay Area entrepreneur Jimmy Ku, and Techstars and River Accelerator alumnus Nick Canafax, as partners.

Ku brings over a decade of entrepreneurial experience and networking expertise to River Ecosystem. His new role at River Ecosystem draws upon his experience as a three-time founder -- Loup, Mobiley and GoPlanit, which was selected as a finalist for the TechCrunch 50 Conference -- and his passion for connecting people through immersive and insightful programs and events.

"River Ecosystem and its accelerator program have a stellar track record helping innovative companies push the boundaries of frontier technology," said Ku. "Like any early stage entrepreneur, I understand the importance of connecting with the right people to bring big ideas to life. As a new partner at River Ecosystem, my key role is to infuse fresh thinking and energy into our members business plans, and help them address the tough questions so that they're able to flourish."

Canafax has worked behind the scenes as the president of River Ecosystem since September 2016, while continuing to serve in an advisory capacity with Artificial Intelligence company Rival Theory, where he is also a founding member. As a partner with River Ecosystem, Canafax will assume greater responsibilities interfacing directly with its class participants. Prior to joining River Ecosystem, Canafax graduated from the second River Accelerator class, and graduated from the Techstars accelerator program before that.

"As a River Accelerator alumnus, I know first-hand what the program can offer to budding frontier technology entrepreneurs, including unparalleled visibility and networking opportunities with investors and industry luminaries, and access to developmental resources during the critical first year," said Canafax. "Having worked with dozens of inspiring founders and entreprenuers, River Ecosystem is one of the most dynamic and creative startup consulting firms in the world. It's through this experience we'll help the next generation startups achieve their vision -- turning dreamers into doers."

Ku and Canafax take on their respective leadership roles at a busy time for the firm. Both will oversee the selection process for the Fall 2017 class of River Accelerator, an innovative startup incubation program focused on indentifying and fostering frontier technologies such as VR/AR, AI, machine learning, computer vision, drones, 3D printing, and more. The River Accelerator provides startups with mentorship from top frontier tech leaders through the River Network, creative space in the River Lounge in SOMA, and the opportunity to present at the River Accelerator Demo Day and Founder Field Day at AT&T Park. River Ecosystem partners with Rothenberg Ventures to provide $100,000+ of investment to startups in the River Accelerator.

This fourth River Accelerator program, set to launch September 12, will ultimately join the prestigious River Accelerator alumni network of over 40 companies, including Fove, Emblematic, Roqovan, Psious, Boom Supersonic, and EmergentVR, that collectively have gone on to raise over $100M in funding from investors including Accel, Google Ventures, Samsung NEXT Ventures, and Colopl VR Fund.

Following the kick-off of the new River Accelerator program, River Ecosystem will host the fourth-annual Founder Field Day at AT&T Park on November 13. Ku and Canafax will be an intergral part of the team bringing together sponsorship partners, investors, and founders within the River Network to facilitate valuable connection between frontier technology entrepreneurs, startups, and investors.

"When given the opportunity to bring Jimmy and Nick into River Ecosystem as new partners, I immediately knew I was bringing together the dream team to foster a new phase of growth," said Mike Rothenberg, chairman and founder of River Ecosystem. "Between their shared experience as founders of previous startups, combined with their extensive networks and accelerator backgrounds, we're poised to take the firm, its programs and community experience to the next level."

To learn more about River Ecosytem and the application process for the Fall 2017 River Accelerator program, visit the website at: http://riverecosystem.com/riveraccelerator/

A River Resurrection Part One

In 2014, identifying the huge potential in VR, Mike Rothenberg decided to build the world's first startup accelerator focused on VR companies, and named it The River Accelerator Program. The program founded by Mike Rothenberg has evolved to now be part of a bigger vision called River Ecosystem.

Oh and yes it is THAT Mike Rothenberg, the one who earlier this year was described by many a media outlet as a VR Great Gatsby, a person with a Wolf of Wall Street personality, a man steering his VC fund Rothenberg Ventures like it was the Titanic. Come to think of if I think tech media really has a thing for Leonardo Dicaprio films.

Well perhaps those things about Mike are true, I don't know the guy personally but I can say he sure has some Steph Curry like attributes to him. First one up is vision. Just take a look at some of the companies Rothenberg Ventures has helped in some sort of fiduciary capacity. I mean come on this is just in the VR/AR space. I know the word ecosystem gets tossed around a lot but really how do you describe what the River/Rothenberg team were trying to pull together before a lot of news came out about a lot of alleged things.  We still have no true answers on those allegations so I can really only do one thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERm_WNxGs1U

River, Rothenberg, Frontier Tech, or whatever the team was using as its main identity for the past few months continued pushing for a goal of a true VR/AR future of growth not a constant stream of fads. In fact Mike threw a small intimate post AWE 2017 event in which he spoke about his vision of a VR/AR ecosystem and a future of content creators not just tech evangelists. Check that video at the top of the page. Robert Scoble was in attendance and you know if Scoble is jumping on the bandwagon the team must be doing something right at this time. That was a joke Scoble, lets grab a drink sometime. 

Oh back to Steph Curry, one of the biggest things about Steph Curry is his ability to understand the value of the players around him and maximize their potential. Just look at how Javale Mcgee is playing this year. Just look at how KD seems just happy to be able to work like a teammate with Steph. This brings me to the point of the people River has on the squad. VR/AR evangelist and all around good person Dulce Baerga was brought on to be the CEO of River Studios. That is that a major free agent acquisition for River Ecosystems that brings a lot of passion to the court. Dulce is a #WomenInVR #WomenInTech #PERSONINVR #PERSONINTECH to look out for as she helps grow the ecosystem. Check her talking about the future of River Studios including a new version of Quarteback Snap. QB Snap was one of the first if not the first football game for the HTC Vive.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/482210/Quarterback_SNAP/

Just like the Golden State Warriors, the River Ecosystem team has a solid lineup including Nick Canifax, Skye Jordan, and many more. Skye was on site and Dulce made sure to point out the value Skye is brining to the table with the events element of the River Eco equation. 

Check out just some of the interesting events and programs River Ecosystem have done in the last few months. 

All in all there has been a lot of negative press thrown at Rothenberg and by proxy the River team. I however am not getting paid to write negative press, in fact I am not getting paid for positive press either. I am however willing to give a team who is trying to grow VR/AR and actually understand what ecosystem means a chance. River may not be dead in the water. What that means exactly is for another day, thats why this is called A River Resurrection Part One. The Future Iz Meow!

http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/ 

https://riverecosystem.com