New Fund Allows Students to Operate as Venture Capitalists
LMU College of Business Administration continues its track record of offering experiential learning opportunities for students with the introduction of a new Venture Capital Fund. This VC fund will operate as a class starting spring 2024, similar to how the Student Investment Fund class invests in the stock market. Students will function as fund managers and invest real money into start-ups. Returns, if realized, on investments and/or liquidity events, will go directly back to the college and the fund.
David Choi, Conrad N. Hilton Chair of Entrepreneurship, will serve as the course instructor and predicts the VC fund will make approximately 2-5 investments a year in the amount of $10,000 to $25,000, growing both in the number and size of investments over time.
Some of the leading entrepreneurship programs across the country operate VC funds, including Stanford, BYU, University of Michigan, NYU, UC Berkeley, and Babson College.
“Though we are not the first school to start a venture capital fund, we are still an early adopter and well-positioned to make this fund a success,” said Choi. “We already offer courses in Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Finance, we send student teams to VC competitions, we have a Business Incubator, we have Ignition funds, and we have a large alumni base of entrepreneurs and investors, some of whom will serve as advisors and their companies will be looked at as possible investment choices.”
Aside from the exceptional experiential learning opportunities for students, there are other significant benefits of a venture capital fund, including more career opportunities for students, enhanced relationships with VC firms, increased access to information on the latest start-ups, stronger engagement with alumni, improved reputation for the college and university, and, of course, an opportunity to make returns in the long term to support the college and its programs.
“This is really a full-circle, win-win situation for our students, the college, and our alumni,” said Dayle Smith, dean of LMU College of Business Administration. “We are thrilled to make this VC fund a reality and give our students a high-impact, value-added educational experience that will enhance their career prospects and marketability.”
The college aims to raise $1 million by May 31, 2024 to establish an endowment that would provide approximately $50,000 each spring for our students to invest. We are halfway to our goal! The fund will grow as will the annual distribution through more donations to the endowment. This VC fund is being created through philanthropy with tax-deductible implications for donors. If you are interested in supporting the CBA Venture Capital Fund, please make a gift here.