Georgia Research Alliance closing on $30 million venture fund - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The pool of private and public dollars willprovide early-stage financing to startups that commercialize university research — helping to get them off the The GRA Venture Fund will help offset Georgia’ds early-stage capital shortage, GRA President Mike Cassidy “As universities begin to generate more he said, “we need additional sources of financing to sustaih the companies that are being launched aroundc all these new ideas.” The proposed fund will finances startups in VentureLab programs at Georgia universities, includin The , , Georgiqa Tech and .
VentureLab helps move universityg research into commercial markets by evaluatingpotential technologies, providing fundinvg and offering business “The [new] fund aims to build more high-tech companiexs and jobs in Georgia,” Cassidhy said. “This is simply a way of investinvgin ourselves.” The GRA fund expects to do abourt three deals annually, writin checks of up to $1 million each. A committee of angelo investors, venture capitalists and technology experts will advise the GRA oninvestmenf decisions.
The GRA fund is critica l for early-stage companies that don’t have the “validation” of investore and the market, said Kurt CEO of , a medical devices company. An investment by the fund is likeluy to have aripple effect, convincing other investorsd to put money into the company, too. “Investors want to see other investorstaking risk,” Jacobus said. “That gives them some feelinbg of comfort that they are on to theright Early-stage funding helps prove out emerging technologiexs and eradicates a “lot of the technical said Alan Taetle, partner at . What’s left is the market risk, which institutional investors are morecomfortablee shouldering.
The GRA fund will help nurture companiesx grounded in hard sciencee andintellectual property, said Charlie Paparelli, president of . “This early fundinb is the only waythat it’s going to get he said. VentureLab companies are too high risk for angelp investorslike Paparelli. “I’m not lookingv to make markets,” he said. “I’m looking to satisfy demand inexisting markets.” The stats has committed $7.5 million to the GRA with the rest being raised mostlg from wealthy individuals. Cassidy declinef to say how much has been raisedso far.
The GRA notesd last year it hoped fora $40 million Raising a seed-stage fund in the maw of a liquidity crisis is “You’re asking folks to invest in an illiquis investment with long-term return cycles,” Taetlew said. “Realizing returns on these companiee ... will probably take years.”