The Ritz Group began very modestly as a small, informal networking group meeting most Thursday afternoons in the main lounge of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Buckhead by Whit Blakeley in October, 1984.  Several years ago, Jim Munson also joined as a co-host.

Eventually, at the request of several early sponsors including SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Re/Max of Georgia, The Ritz Group was enlarged, moved upstairs into a private meeting room, and attended principally by entrepreneurs, investors and consultants.  At the request of the Ritz staff the size of the meetings was limited to 50 attendees because of fire codes and room size.

The Ritz Group meeting format has always been “meet and greet”.  We do not allow presentations or advertising.  Also, there is no charge to anyone attending a Ritz Group meeting.  All costs are paid for by sponsors.

We encourage attendees who are individuals or entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital for start-ups, multi stage financing or acquisitions.  Investors consist of angels investors, venture capital firms, private equity and investment banking companies.  In addition, we allow limited attendance by consultants and there is a waiting list of those consultants wishing to receive an invitation.  All participants are on an invitation only basis, but individuals and companies requiring capital are continually invited until funded. We encourage and partner with a number of investor resources to identify new entrepreneurs and new investors.

We are very pleased that on average about 4 to 5 participants receive funding each year as a result of their attendance at Ritz Group meetings.  Funding successes last year in 2006 ranged from $1 million to $11 million dollars.  In 2007, we were notified by 6 attendees that they were successful in raising money from $865,000 in angel money to $14 million dollars for an early stage software company's second round. In 2005, one participant obtained a $1.2 billion commitment from a Chicago private equity group as a result of his attendance and networking at a Ritz Group meeting.  So far this year, as of May, we have been notified by three companies of their success in raising money through Ritz Group contacts.

Our legacy continues into 2008 with the formation of a Ritz Group in Boston and Las Vegas, modelled after our Atlanta group.  We thank everyone for allowing us to be a small part of their big dreams.  Thank you.

Whit Blakeley