Madison-based NVNG Investment Advisors announced this week it has closed its first fund of funds with $50 million in commitments from corporate partners. The closure of Fund I makes it the state’s largest fund of funds, according to a press release from NVNG.
Early investors in Fund I include Exact Sciences, Baird, Johnson Financial Group, West Bend Mutual Insurance and A.O. Smith.
NVNG, which stands for “nothing ventured, nothing gained,” will now invest the $50 million in venture capital funds from around the country in a fund of funds model. The venture firms NVNG will target will all have interest in learning more about and connecting with Wisconsin’s startup ecosystem. The hope is that these venture firms will later invest in Wisconsin startups.
“NVNG’s mission is to make Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem globally competitive,” said Grady Buchanan, co-founder at NVNG. “This doesn’t happen without creating new ways of attracting capital and supporting an ecosystem here that is very much in transition and deserving of a venture capital network that we can provide.”
For national venture funds, NVNG provides access to Wisconsin-based corporations providing insight and potential acquisition partners. For local venture funds, NVNG not only provides capital but provides access to new deal flow and potential syndications through the fund’s national partners.
For private and corporate investors, the NVNG portfolio is designed to remove barriers for local investors to access high-performing funds and ensure a more comprehensive approach to venture capital with the benefit of driving deal flow in the state.
“There is no reason that Wisconsin can’t have a thriving venture capital ecosystem,” said Carrie Thome, co-founder of NVNG and former chief investment officer at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. “We are confident that we have the right national network connections that the state has been missing, in addition to providing the necessary capital for both funds and startups.”
