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!
