Funding/Investor Networks
The ECenter understands the importance of funding. Some ventures need an angel investor for a first round of outside capital or, depending upon the idea stage, you might be looking to a venture capital firm to raise a Series A round or beyond.
Raising funding and capital from outside sources has its pros and cons. We can help you understand the benefits and costs and help you understand what would be required to build a company on revenue, cash flow, and profits.
Sometimes funding is required just to get a prototype built. It's equally important to get early traction to test assumptions and iterate your idea before building a final product or technology. The ECenter's goal is to enable entrepreneurial teams to quickly build, test, and share their concepts.
For more information, please contact Director Ian Grant.
Prototype Funding
The purpose of the ECenter Prototype Fund is to help UNH students to design, build, and test new products or technologies. Applications are reviewed and a determination of winners is made each semester, and could be up to $1,000 in non-equity grant funding. The Fund is limited, but we are hopeful to continue to grow it to be able to award more grants. Application and process coming Fall 2016.
In the meantime, please email e.center@unh.edu.
UNH Rines Fund
Students actively manage the Rines Student Angel Investment Fund, a donor-created fund which focuses on investments in private equity and angel investments in entrepreneurial ventures and start-ups. The Rines Fund is open to all companies, not just UNH-related. For more information about the process to be considered, contact jeff.sohl@unh.edu.
Angel and Venture Capital in NH and Beyond
10X Venture Partners is a seed stage (and beyond) investment group. They commit operational experience and dollars to their portfolio companies. A typical investment ranges from $50-$500k, but they are capable of larger investments and follow on. They invest from the idea stage through $5-10 million in revenue, for profitable companies. 10X prefers companies in the New England market.
Borealis Ventures partne
rs closely with exceptional entrepreneurs from the earliest stages to build market-defining companies in information technology and life sciences. Borealis is particularly committed to advancing the realm of design and engineering software and has invested for more than a decade in that sector’s most innovative emerging companies in such fields as 3D design, construction management, and data-driven software.
Borealis seeks an initial institutional round of financing, including seed funding, and will invest anywhere from $100K to $2.5 million initially with the potential for more over time.
The group's focus is on early-stage companies involved with advanced technology, e-commerce, healthcare, and industrial products and services, principally located in the New Hampshire coastal region. The group is most interested in companies requiring $250K-$2M at pre-money valuations of less than $5M, who have a credible multi-option exit strategy and are led by an experienced core management team.
First Run Angels acts a conduit to find and screen business proposals for the investors who specialize in early-stage equity funding. Once the angel investors take an interest in a company, they work out the terms and conditions of the investment with the business owner. Investments can include seed money for business start-up or for internal growth and expansion.
Harbor Capital Light Partners is a private investment firm seeking to invest in early and growth stage companies located in the Northeast. Their unique approach combines flexible capital and collaborative support to build successful, sustainable operating companies. Harbor Light’s legacy, values, and experience provide the guiding light for superior results. Harbor Light Capital Partners focuses on investments in the $1-$5M range.
IFundWomen is a startup funding platform providing access to capital through crowdfunding and grants, expert business coaching on all the topics entrepreneurs need to know about, and a network of women business owners that sparks confidence, accelerates knowledge, and ignites action.
Learn more at ifundwomen.com
The Impact New Hampshire Fund is an angel investment fund that will create and promote positive impacts on the New Hampshire economy. The fund is limited to accredited investors.
The Impact NH Fund will begin to accept inquiries from early-stage companies on October 1, 2017. The fund gives preference to women-led companies; applicants should have at least one woman in an operating role at the C-suite level.
Please go to http://impactnhfund.org/#FundingHome to download the initial application.
North Country Angels (NCA) brings together over 40 successful and experienced entrepreneurs who are active in making early-stage and seed investments in companies located in the northeastern United States. Every month they gather informally to discuss recent news from the investment community, share due diligence activities, build strategic relationships, and review business plans from prospective companies. They are keen to see strong business plans with qualified management teams to back them up.
Northeast Angels is an early-stage investment group which works with entrepreneurs and businesses located in the Northeast. Specifically, NeA focuses on opportunities located around the business corridor between Manchester and Nashua, New Hampshire including surrounding communities. While they prefer deal opportunities located within driving distance of Nashua, NH, they will consider investments in the greater New England area. They also welcome deals referred by other angel groups or venture capital groups participating in greater New England investments. NeA invests in opportunities regardless of technology or service class. NeA members welcome any and all investment inquiries as our constituents have a wide range of expertise and interests. NeA looks for opportunities with companies that can demonstrate potential market penetration, strong leadership, organized effort and strong financial skills.
Vested for Growth, a program of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, provides risk-tolerant capital up to $1M, business education, and peer-learning opportunities to help owners of established small businesses increase profits and create higher-quality jobs. For investment needs greater than $1M, VFG may be able to draw upon up to $2M from other lending partners. The only business financing program of its kind, VFG creates sub-debt and royalty financing packages when banks and equity sources can’t provide enough capital to meet their needs. Training or technical support may be provided by some combination of: a business performance coach, consultant, an advisory board or a business peer group.
Wasabi Ventures is a venture capital, incubator, and consulting firm that specializes in building and advising early-stage technology companies. In the last 10 years, Wasabi Ventures has built, financed, and advised over 200 start-ups including some wildly successful ventures like Right Now Technologies, PBworks, Ustream, and Etherpad.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is by definition, “the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.”