ALBANY—In an effort to support entrepreneurial enterprises that are transitioning from research to the marketplace and help ensure those operations remain in the Empire State, the state has launched a new $50-million Innovation Venture Capital Fund.
The fund is expected to leverage at least $100 million in private capital to support high growth areas including advanced materials, clean technology, life sciences/biotechnology and information technology, state officials say. The fund, announced on Friday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, will provide critical seed funding for the development of early-stage companies in high growth areas to create jobs and help launch, as well as attract new businesses to New York State.
“New York is home to some of the brightest minds in the world—and by launching this fund, we're helping these budding entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market right here in the Empire State,” Gov. Cuomo said. “With this action, we're continuing New York's legacy of innovation, as well as making another solid investment in this state's future.”
The fund will be comprised of two segments—the Technology Commercialization segment and the Seed and Early Stage Co-Investment segment, The technology commercialization segment will facilitate the commercialization efforts of start-up companies associated with New York's universities and make small pre-seed stage investments of up to $100,000. The seed and early stage co-investment segment will invest directly in seed and/or early stage companies, with an emphasis on strategic industries such as information technology and life sciences/biotech, as well as relatively underserved areas of the state, with investments ranging from $100,000 to $5 million. Empire State Development will review each and approve all of the fund's investments.
The fund will be administered by Empire State Development and managed by ESD's new Innovation Venture Capital Fund managing director Brian Keil, who previously served as vice president of strategy and corporate development at Nielsen Audio. Previously, Keil was a managing director and founding member of a $250-million venture capital fund sponsored by NBC Universal and GE Capital, where he sourced, executed and managed venture capital investments in the digital media sector.
Gov. Cuomo also announced that the fund will benefit from the knowledge and expertise of a volunteer Investment Committee, an advisory group comprised of experienced private investment professionals from around New York State. The Investment Committee will be chaired by venture capitalist and angel investor Howard Morgan, who currently serves as a partner with First Round Capital in New York and Philadelphia; director of Idealab, the Pasadena, CA-based creator and operator of Internet companies where he was first a founding investor in 1996 and later served as president of Idealab! New York; and a member of the New York Angels.
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
