Georgia lawmakers are taking a fresh look at a state-run venture capital fund that was created a dozen years ago
It is known as Invest Georgia, but it is not part of the State Small Business Credit Initiative.
Capitol Beat reports that Georgia lawmakers are taking a fresh look at a state-run venture capital fund that was created a dozen years ago.
The General Assembly intended to jumpstart Invest Georgia in 2013 with an infusion of $100 million, Charlie Thompson, the fund’s Board Chairman, told members of a state House study committee Tuesday. But so far, only about $50 million has been forthcoming from the state, said Thompson, founding Principal of the investment firm Eco-Capital Advisors.
“Georgia has done a phenomenal job creating an ecosystem of start-ups,” he said. “But for these businesses to scale, they need investment capital. Companies starting here are not staying here.”
“One of the reasons Invest Georgia was put together was not just to start them, but to gestate them, grow them, and mature them,” added Representative Todd Jones, the study committee’s chairman.
Invest Georgia has used the state’s money to invest in 18 venture capital (VCs) unds. In turn, those VCs have invested in 119 Georgia companies, which have created more than 4,300 jobs. A requirement of the legislation creating Invest Georgia is that it invest only in companies based in Georgia.
Every $1 dollar the state-run fund has invested has yielded a return of $1.60, Thompson said.
Sean Banks, a partner in Atlanta-based TTV Capital, told committee members that his was the first VC fund Invest Georgia invested in. Since 2016, Invest Georgia funds have helped TTV Capital support start-up companies, mostly in the financial technology space, to raise Atlanta’s profile as “Transaction Alley” for the fintech industry.
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