FORT COLLINS — The Innosphere Fund has raised $5 million, and expects to be fully funded at $7 million in the first quarter of next year.
The fund is focused on investing in the top companies that go through the Innosphere incubator, said Mark Newhouse, a general partner in the fund.
“I chose to get involved because it was clear Innosphere was really focused on company success. It’s making a positive and substantive impact on those companies and attracts a lot of great companies. When Mike (Freeman, CEO of Innosphere) asked me to participate as a general partner in the fund I thought it was a great opportunity.”
The $5 million raised so far, through a variety of partners, shows that the local investment community has confidence in both the Innosphere incubator and the fund, Newhouse said.
“The reason our investors like the Innosphere Fund is because of the excellent support for companies Innosphere staff provides,” he said. “They also like the fact that rather than having to do their own diligence on each and every startup they might invest in, they can rely on diligence the fund can do in partnership with Innosphere. They get better diligence and better-supported companies if they invest in the Innosphere Fund.”
To raise the final $2 million, a variety of different investors will be approached, including new ones.
The fund recently made its first investment in Incident Response Technologies, a company that makes it easier for first responder teams to organize for natural disasters or major events.
Newhouse added that the fact that the fund made its first investment will make it easier for potential investors to see the types of companies the fund is looking at.
The plan is to invest in about four companies over the next four years, which will fully deploy the fund.
“We’re already seeing that since the fund had been announced we’re getting more advanced companies applying to the incubator,” Newhouse said. “There is positive synergy going on in the Innosphere organization that makes the fund better as it grows and the fund makes the incubator better because it’s funding companies.”