Hailed as a golden opportunity for fledgling Irish technology companies to "interface" with potential US investors, the third annual Technology Investment and Partnering Opportunities conference in Boston this week proved something of a disappointment for the more-hopeful attendees.

While the best and brightest emerging Irish companies were out in force, the US investors were scarcely anywhere to be seen. The 17 presenting Irish companies had to vie for the attention of a handful of venture capitalists and investment bankers, when the promotional material had rather optimistically predicted 150 representatives from the industry.

All was not lost, however, as many of the companies were only participating with a view to testing the environment in the US. Though they would be glad of any kind of investment, very few were confident of attracting the ambitious sums they sought.

The event will also have proven to be a good exercise in presenting to the US market and a useful starting point for potential contacts further down the line.

The conference, organised by the Cullinane Group in association with the University of Massachusetts, focuses on technology companies from the Republic, Northern Ireland and Israel. And this year the event was heavily stacked in favour of the Irish because of the Israeli general election, which apparently kept most executives from Israeli companies at home to vote. The presenters were put through their paces at the John F. Kennedy library in the University of Massachusetts. Each was given eight minutes to pitch their vision to the investment market, which appeared to be largely comprised of representatives from Hambrecht and Quist, Advent International, Peabody & Arnold, Mintz Levin, Goodbody Stockbrokers, A&L Goodbody and the Irish venture capital community.

The conference has succeeded in previous years in leading to US funding for Irish firms such as Softech Telecom, Trintech, Aimware and Integrated Silicon Systems.

There is a definite sense that these companies have cast about for venture capital investment in Ireland and realised there is not enough money available or the culture of risk to satisfy their requirements. Mr Liam Booth, head of corporate finance for Goodbody Stockbrokers, said as much during his presentation on the investment banking climate in Ireland.

"Irish companies are increasingly recognising what they need to do to attract investment. They now know they need scale, a US presence and a strong management team to tackle the US market. At this event last year, no company sought funding in excess of $5 million (€4.7 million). This year there are very few looking for any less. This is a mark of our growing confidence."

Among the companies were a number of well-known players on the Irish tech circuit, including FMS, Millennium Solutions, Massana, Nua, Card Services International and Graphite HRM. An enforced ban on "powerpoint" presentations made a very welcome change from the usual crutch they offer. Instead the focus was entirely on the speaker, underlining the necessity for a well-founded business proposition.

According to Mr Aidan Browne of A&L Goodbody, this is the key challenge for companies seeking investment. "People out here are only looking for steep revenue growth. Some of these companies are coming over with very conservative predictions, where they need to be more aggressive if they want to attract interest. A company seeking less than $5 million will have more difficulty than one seeking more. In those circumstances they're looking for angel investors."

Many attendees, though excited by the US opportunities, expressed regret that the venture capital industry was so under-developed in Ireland. A lot of the sideline talk centred on invigorating a bigger risk culture, and more partnerships emerging with US counterparts. Former Tanaiste, Mr Dick Spring, who was present in his capacity as lawyer with legal firm, Mintz Levin, believes Ireland is about 12 months behind in its development of e-commerce.

"Talk is cheap, it's action we want. We're turning out very good companies, and reaping our investment in education, but we don't have the capital base or risk culture in Ireland. We still have an awful lot of work to do," Mr Spring said.

In the meantime, the good news is that compelling Irish companies are still emerging. There were two clear favourites at the Boston event - Massana and eWare.

Massana, a UCD spin-off, is attracting the interest of investors globally, and chief executive, Mr Paul Costigan is in the enviable position of selecting which investor to take on board.

It has unique intellectual property, making major inroads into improving high speed bandwidth communication.

Once it secures this round of funding to the value of around $5 million, a listing on the stock exchange will not be far behind.

eWare develops software which enables efficient customer management. This market is widely viewed as the next big thing as companies strive to use their customer information to their advantage once it is stored electronically.