The board of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority this week approved the first three venture capital firms that will be onboarded to the New Jersey Innovation Evergreen Fund:
- Tech Council Ventures LLC, based in Summit;
- Fin Venture Capital Management LLC, based in San Francisco;
- Signet Healthcare Management LLC, based in New York City.
Qualified Venture Firms will be able to apply and access up to $12.5 million annually from the NJIEF to co-invest in innovative, high-growth New Jersey-based businesses. The qualification of these three firms marks a significant milestone in the creation of the NJIEF, a first-of-its-kind tool to increase New Jersey startups’ access to venture capital and strategic resources.
Entrepreneurs seeking to engage with approved QVFs should click here.
Established in 2021, the NJIEF allows the state to become an equity investor in innovative early-stage businesses based in New Jersey, investing a total of up to $600 million in New Jersey companies alongside approved QVFs.
The application for firms to be designated as a QVF is available to venture capital firms located anywhere in the world that meet the program’s minimum requirements. Applications are reviewed on a rolling and open-ended basis.
Approved QVFs can apply for co-investment capital from the NJIEF, which can be used to make two Qualified Investments per year into eligible New Jersey businesses. They will also be able to leverage the support and insight of other NJIEF stakeholders, including large corporate businesses on the NJIEF advisory board and entrepreneurs directly engaged in New Jersey’s innovation ecosystem.
For more information on program benefits and requirements, click here.
EDA CEO Tim Sullivan is excited about the program.
“The NJIEF is a groundbreaking public-private partnership designed to fuel New Jersey’s innovation economy by connecting entrepreneurs with venture capital and corporate mentorship, which in turn will cultivate the next generation of leading companies,” he said. “Under Gov. (Phil) Murphy’s leadership, New Jersey remains poised to recapture our role as a national leader in innovation, with programs like the NJIEF serving as a testament to our state’s continued investment in high-growth startups, entrepreneurs and our innovation ecosystem.”
