RTP area universities leverage alumni angel networks to fuel their institution-affiliated start-ups
As most anyone will tell you, it takes locally-based investment capital to help fuel a regional economy built around start-ups. Yesterday’s article about the new Appalachian Investors Alliance underscored that point in rural Appalachia.
To our east in North Carolina, the universities in the Research Triangle region have developed their own individual programs to invest in start-ups built around their technologies. This article highlights North Carolina State University’s Wolfpack Investor Network, launched in December 2016, that has now deployed more than $10 million in investments into 18 different start-ups.
Collectively, the four universities – Duke, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina Central, and NC State – have now raised more than $31 million for start-ups affiliated with their institutions. Their four individual angel alumni groups also share back-office support, use teams of students to conduct due diligence on potential deals, and even co-invest on occasion.
