State’s venture arm invests in nearly 60 early-stage businesses and supports bioscience research; investments leveraged $97.5 million
Rocky Hill, Conn. – August 23, 2016 – Connecticut Innovations (CI), the leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticut’s innovative, growing companies, today announced that it invested $30.9 million during fiscal year 2016. CI also generated $19.7 million in investment proceeds during the fiscal year.
Of the $30.9 million invested, 68 percent of dollars invested were in bioscience, and the remaining 32 percent were in information technology and clean energy technology.
“This year, we saw tremendous opportunity in bioscience,” said David Wurzer, executive vice president and chief investment officer at Connecticut Innovations. “With the growth of The Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, and the availability of funding through the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund, we witnessed an increase in bioscience-related opportunities.”
Connecticut Innovations took a lead position in more than 80 percent of its financing deals in 2016, and those investments leveraged an additional $97.5 million from other investors, including private, angel and venture capital firms.
“This year, CI worked hard to tap into our state’s strongest asset—the talent,” said Matt McCooe, CEO of Connecticut Innovations. “In an effort to do more to support our companies, we expanded our executives-in-residence (EIR) program to help us accomplish our long-term goals of generating a return on our investments and creating more high-paying jobs.”
In addition to its traditional equity program, CI launched VentureClash, Connecticut’s $5 million global venture challenge, in fiscal year 2016. The challenge, which focused on early-stage digital health and financial services technology companies, attracted hundreds of applicants. The challenge will culminate with a finalist event on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016. The top investment award of the challenge will be $1.5 million; the second-place investment award will be $1 million; and there will be between three and six runner-up investment awards in the amount of $500,000 each.
About Connecticut Innovations
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is the leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticut’s innovative, growing companies. To maximize each business’s growth potential, CI tailors its solutions and often combines its funds with resources from other financial leaders to provide venture capital and strategic support for early-stage technology companies; grants that support innovation and collaboration; and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals. For more information, please visit www.ctinnovations.com.
Media contact:
Lauren Carmody
lauren.carmody@ctinnovations.com
860.258.7829