A Venture in Capital

 

 

UW’s new venture capital club gives students hands-on experience in private equity funding while aiding Wyoming early startups. 

 

By UW Communications and Micaela Myers
 
Emerging companies in Wyoming need venture capital — private equity financing — to get off the ground. In addition, business students need to learn hands-on about private equity funding and due diligence. Teaming up with the University of Wyoming Foundation, Robert Macy — who is director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation — put the two needs together to create an entrepreneurial finance class that will now morph into a year-round club. 

“There’s a funding gap between the startup phase of a company and when it becomes suitable for institutional capital from a large venture capital firm,” Macy says. “We aim to fill that gap.”

The program is generously funded by the Fisher Incentive Funds in Entrepreneurship, an endowment established in 2017 by Donne and Sue Fisher. The Fisher funds are aimed at creating a lasting legacy by empowering students through real-world entrepreneurial experiences.

“This is a mission-based seed fund, which means it’s designed to do something other than just make money for investors,” Macy says, adding that it’s specifically geared to promote UW-affiliated startups.

Investment from the fund requires a UW touchpoint such as a student, staff, faculty or alum or a startup using intellectual property generated by UW. Businesses that wish to work with the program as a source of funding need to contact Macy directly before the process of evaluating the investment opportunity begins with the students. Macy serves as the managing director of the fund.

“Qualified businesses will be invited to pitch the fund, and there will be startups referred by various sources in Wyoming’s entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Macy says. 

Once prospective startups are lined up, they will make their pitches to students in the club. Students then perform due diligence on the companies and vote whether to invest. Typical investment amounts are expected to be about $100,000, depending upon funding availability each year.

“We conducted due diligence on one company to potentially invest in them,” says Venture MBA student Emily Jarrell of Sanford, Fla., who took part in the initial course this past spring. “It was such an eye-opening experience to see things from the venture capital side. This class is not something students would typically get to participate in. When it comes to venture capital firms, it’s extremely hard to get into without any background. Internships are particularly difficult to secure, so it’s a great resume builder.”

Jarrell is currently launching a business — Cowboy Country Milling (see Next-Gen Entrepreneurs - Part 2) — with two other UW students in the College of Business and College of Law. The class has helped the team evaluate whether seeking outside investment is the right path.

Startups that are invested in through the UW venture capital fund will receive in-kind business services such as training, legal and accounting consultations. If or when a company goes public, gets sold or is acquired, the fund will retrieve any returns on the investments, allowing larger or additional investments to be made in the future.

“Our students are getting invaluable hands-on experience with an important aspect of business funding and growth before they even graduate,” says Parag Chitnis, UW’s vice president for research and economic development. “It’s this type of experiential learning that helps set UW apart — giving students real-world learning opportunities to be more competitive as graduates of UW. It’s a win-win because venture capital from this fund can provide qualified businesses with a critical injection of capital to grow and thrive in our Wyoming economy.”