Washington University in St. Louis officials, has launched a new venture-capital seed fund aimed at helping to propel early-stage business ventures by students, faculty and recent alumni.
The new William Greenleaf Eliot Seed Fund, named for Washington University co-founder William Greenleaf Eliot, is managed by the university’s Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship. A group of approximately one dozen individual angel investors made a capital commitment to the fund and will serve on an advisory committee to review funding proposals. The investors also may get an opportunity to serve as strategic mentors to the startups chosen to receive support from the fund.
“We are thrilled to initiate this new partnership between private investors and Washington University,” said Emre Toker, managing director of the Skandalaris Center. “This new venture-capital fund will help us further support the science, technology and medical work being done at the university in the innovation/entrepreneurship space, and help to launch and further elevate that great work.”
“The William Greenleaf Eliot Seed Fund is an extension of the many supports and resources the Skandalaris Center already provides to startups within the Washington University community,” said Provost Holden Thorp. “The university is proud to offer another option to nurture these early-stage businesses as they develop, evolve and thrive.”
Startups affiliated with Washington University may apply for the William Greenleaf Eliot Fund via the Skandalaris Center; there is a rolling review process for those applications.