ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Board of Regents Approves $25 Million Early Stage Investment Fund
Adelphi, Md. (June 10,
2016) -- The ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø (ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø) Board of Regents today
approved a $25 million pool of venture capital, known as the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Early Stage
Investment Fund(ESIF), focused on investing in ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø-affiliated companies.
These companies include start-ups that are based on
ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø-owned intellectual property, companies founded by ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø faculty, students, or
recent graduates, and companies located in ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø research parks, incubators or
RISE (Regional Institution Strategic Enterprise) Zones. The
approval came today during the board's June meeting, held at the University of
ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, Md.
The policy establishes a framework for ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø to invest $10 million over
four years in the fund. An additional $15 million would be raised from venture funds,
the state of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø, foundations, and friends of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø.
The genesis for the venture fund came at a March 31 meeting of the
board's Committee on Economic Development and Technology Commercialization,
chaired by Regent Gary Attman.
"We think this will advance the creation of great companies in
ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø, and retain them in ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø as both standout companies and employers.
We think it's important for the university system to put our own money up and
show how much we believe in these companies," Attman said.
"We also feel that we're going to attract a lot of outside capital. We
feel there's a lot of interest in our scientific research, and our innovation
is first-rate," Attman said. "Many
other states have these sorts of funds. We do not. With the amount of patents
we're creating and innovation occurring, the new company formation, we are a
bit behind and this will help us catch up."
In fiscal year (FY) 2014, the board approved the Policy on Investments
and Loans to ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø‐based Businesses that License University Intellectual Property (Policy No:
VIII - 14.00). The policy helped establish investments and loans totaling
$400,000 in five start-ups during FY 2015 from , joint program through
the MPowering the State initiative that has brought together the University of
ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø, Baltimore (UMB) and University of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø, College Park (UMCP) to commercialize discoveries by
engaging partners in industry and social ventures.
This funding has already helped to attract an additional $17 million
into these start‐ups, leading to the creation of more than 20 jobs. Despite this
early success, the program has been limited. It has been under‐funded and excludes promising
start‐up companies closely affiliated with ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø but ones that have not licensed ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø
intellectual property.
"This fund will play a critical role in advancing the
success of start-up companies in our system and expanding economic development
for our state," said ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø Chancellor Robert L. Caret. "This is a well-conceived,
bold initiative that will allow the ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø to help push ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø toward the
success areas such as Silicon Valley and the North Carolina ‘research triangle'
have experienced in technology transfer. We are positioned well in our state to
make similar advances."
Four ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø research institutions - UMB, UMCP, UMCES, and the University
of ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø, Baltimore County have identified 17 ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø‐affiliated start‐ups that
are strong candidates for early stage investments. This group includes biotech,
medical device, cyber security, environmental sciences, and energy companies
affiliated with these universities.
Since FY 2011, there have been 450 companies facilitated by ϡȱÁÔÆæÍø institutions.
Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu