Evan Vitale

Accounting Professional

VC News: Grand Rapids New Fund Announced

by

By Evan Vitale

What stories are making headlines in the world of venture capital? Let’s find out:

MiBiz.com is reporting a new venture capital fund has launched in Grand Rapids to target early-stage companies.

Grand Ventures I LP will invest $1 million to $3 million in early-stage capital in each deal and provide “strategic support” for startup businesses involved in agriculture, manufacturing and transportation. The fund will pursue investment prospects that are nearing or have entered the marketplace with an innovation and have the potential for high growth, said co-founder and general partner Tim Streit.

Details: http://bit.ly/2kIr3S5

Meanwhile, The Daily Universe (Brigham Young University) is reporting Utah ranked 9th in venture capital per deal value nationally in 2016.

Utah companies raised $170 million of venture capital in Q4 of 2016 across just 19 deals, which translates to an average of $8.9 million per deal.

“The companies that we’ve seen coming out of Utah and surrounding states are phenomenal,” said Kickstart Seed Fund Analyst Minna Wang. “Quantity — and more importantly, quality — have gone up year after year.”

Details: http://bit.ly/2lFwEH8

VentureBeat.com has an interesting piece – “Dumb money and other myths about corporate venture capital.” You can find it here: http://bit.ly/2l4Dw2V

From Bloomberg, Green Technologies gets a boost from EU’s venture capital fund.

Green technologies from rooftop solar to projects that turn waste into electricity are getting a boost from venture capital funds, which raised their investments in clean energy at the fastest pace in nine years in 2016.

VC funds funneled $834 million into the clean-energy industry last year, the third consecutive annual increase and the most since Bloomberg New Energy Finance started collecting data in 2004. For a second year, VC for green projects surpassed private equity, which dropped to its lowest level since at least 2004.

You can read the story here: http://bloom.bg/2kuEHbo

Have a great week!

Evan Vitale – China, Women, VC News!

by

By Evan Vitale

Here are some of the venture capital stories and events making headlines recently.

Bloomberg is reporting that China is calling for more government financing in venture capital.

China’s government is developing a bigger appetite for venture capital.

The country’s powerful State Council is encouraging more government agencies and companies to funnel money into private startups while getting the state to take part in the nation’s technology boom. In a new document published on its website Tuesday, the country’s cabinet urged government-led funds to play a greater role in guiding venture capital investment, while promising to level the playing field for foreign VCs.

The full story is here: http://bloom.bg/2cINSDQ

Speaking of China, women there have launched more than half of all new Internet companies there.

The largest venture capital fund ever raised by a woman isn’t in Silicon Valley or even the U.S. It’s in Beijing and is run by a former librarian who keeps such a low profile that she’s a mystery in her native China. Chen Xiaohong rarely attends industry conferences or events. She hadn’t given a media interview in more than a decade until agreeing to break her silence this summer. “I don’t like being part of a club,” said Chen during a four-hour discussion at her firm’s headquarters. “I believe in staying independent, making your own decisions.”

The story, also by Bloomberg, is here: http://bloom.bg/2cZcvbV

And, speaking of women, the “Women Who Fund Forum” in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is designed to connect those who want to break into the venture capital and private equity investing field.

The second annual Women Who Fund Forum next week will showcase and connect women who are breaking through the gender barrier of the traditional male strongholds of venture capital and private equity investing.

The program is 11 a.m. -4 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Graduate hotel in Ann Arbor. The keynote speaker will be Margaret Gibson, a partner in the Chicago-based law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Check out the details here: http://bit.ly/2clQYaX