Start-ups on parade.

It's a telling indicator about the scarcity of locally based funding for life science start-ups that a former Boston venture capitalist who's only been in town six months was recruited to co-chair this week's Southern California Biomedical Council Annual Investor Conference.

Dr. Anthony Natale admits he has felt somewhat like the belle of the ball since word hit the street that Boston-based Prism Venture Works now has a three-man L.A. outpost looking to make deals. Depending on how you define the region, there's at most only three to five VC firms here, including Prism, that focus on biotech and medical device firms.

Venture firms tend to take a hands-on approach to nurturing their investments, so they prefer to invest close to home. Many of the richest funds are based in Silicon Valley and in the Boston-Cambridge area.

That's why events like Thursday's SoCalBio conference, now in its ninth year, have become so important for the local industry. Executive Director Ahmed Enany and his board coax VCs to fly in from around the country for panels about the state of the industry and short pitches from companies developing everything from cancer therapies to implantable devices to treat incontinence.

"The market here is really hungry for venture money," said Natale, who has yet to arrange any locally based funding, but plans to check out many of the presenters. "It's a high priority for us to find deals in the local area. It's a wide open market here."

For information on the conference, go to www.socalhio.org.

Staff reporter Deborah Crowe can be reached at [phone], ext. 232, or at [e-mail]