Serra Ventures at U Illinois hopes to raise $50M in new fund, invest in 50 startups
Serra Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on Midwestern companies is on its way to raising $50 million, and it’s eyeing a handful of potential investments. Serra Ventures, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Research Park, aims to nearly triple the size of its second fund and invest in 40 to 50 startups through its third fund, launched in […]
Venture Capitalist David Schwab on industry focused micro-investing and mining tech from the University of California system
David Schwab, who launched Vertical Venture Partners a couple of years ago after 20 years at Sierra Ventures, says he did that so he could pare down his investment focus. Micro-funds are the place to be, he believes, and it’s better to go deep into relieving specific industry “pain points” than to try to sell […]
Florida Institute -Funded Companies Selected to Present for $150K
The Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research (the Institute) announced today that four of its funded companies have been selected to present at the Florida Venture Forum’s 9th Annual Early Stage Capital Conference being held at the Hilton Carillon in St. Petersburg on Tuesday May 17, 2016. The Institute supports new company creation […]
Mayfield raises $525 million for two new funds for early stage startups
The majority of that capital ($400 million) makes up Mayfield XV, the fund focused on early-stage companies, while the rest ($125 million) will go to Mayfield Select for later-stage investing. Mayfield says that Mayfield Select is a first for the firm, which has traditionally focused on investing in younger startups. Even so, those late-stage dollars […]
Backed VC outs its “community-driven” €30M European seed-stage fund
Another day, another new European VC fund. This time it’s the turn of London-based Backed VC, which today is officially outing its €30 million pan-European seed-stage fund, although it’s been active since last year and has already made several investments. The aim, founding partner Andre de Haes tells me, is to bring a more “community-driven” […]
University of Michigan, Michigan State target funds for Venture Capital from endowments
The University of Michigan‘s endowment has bolstered its alternative assets with more than $100 million in commitments to venture capital and real estate funds. Separately, Michigan State University reported its latest endowment strategies. The school doubled its commitment to $60 million to an outperforming alternative investment fund run byDrake Capital Advisors. UM plans a new […]
Startups working with venture capital firms perform the best
It’s a familiar idea that venture capitalists, or VCs, are the “money of invention” and fund firms with high growth potential, helping bring their products to market. However, entrepreneurs have many options when considering funding. There are corporate venture capitalists (CVC), which typically work within a larger corporate structure and seek to acquire innovative startups […]
Venture capital funds, think tanks puzzle over start-up valley of death
Policy makers and start-up funders say Australia is one of the best at inventing new business ideas, but is the worst at actually turning them into businesses – and there are no quick fixes for this conundrum. And even if they do start a business successfully, they can still get lost in a funding “valley […]
TechAccel invests $400K in UC Davis research fund
A Kansas-based private capital company announced Thursday it is investing up to $400,000 in a University of California Davis program that develops campus research into commercial uses. TechAccel LLC is collaborating with Davis researchers in the fields of animal health, agriculture, food and nutrition. The investment firm, based in Shawnee Mission, Kan., and founded in […]
$35M Ohio University, Ohio State University Venture Fund Launches
Ohio University and the Ohio State University want their graduates to have the option to stay in the state to seek jobs in emerging technology when they graduate. The Ohio Innovation Fund was created in 2012 to accomplish that goal, but the fund has just gotten off the ground this year with a newly hired fund manager. “A lot […]