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Dartmouth Alum Fund Invests In Businesses With College Ties

A group of Dartmouth College alumni "angel investors" has established a venture capital fund to help businesses with connections to the college.

"Angel investors" put up money to help entrepreneurs and start-ups to get off the ground and grow. The idea is less about turning a quick profit and more about nurturing a business.

The investors behind the newly established Green D Fund have added a twist: They are all Dartmouth alumni whose money will be invested in businesses with a connection to the college, either through other alumni, faculty or current students.

Dartmouth ’86 graduate Mike Collins helped start the fund and will manage it.  Collins says alumni of other colleges have established similar affinity funds whose benefits extend beyond the ability to secure capital.

"It’s not just money. It’s the fact that there’s a Dartmouth community and a group of Dartmouth alums behind the investment that can be invaluable in mentoring, access and advice,” he says.

Collins says the fund’s focus will be on technology. Nearly 100 companies have already expressed an interest in applying for funding.  The Green D Fund plans to invest in one business each month beginning this spring.  

Collins says in recent years legislation and technology have eliminated many hurdles to starting a small venture capital fund.

“It really is a lot easier to do small affinity funds today that it was even five years ago,” he says. “Today, the ability of a group of 40 or 50 people to get together and create a very logical, professionally run investment group is possible and it really hasn’t been before.”

The Green D Fund is working with the Boston-based company Launch Angels, which provides services to venture funds.

Collins hopes that now that the initial fund is closing, a second fund can be established.

Steve has been with VPR since 1994, first serving as host of VPR’s public affairs program and then as a reporter, based in Central Vermont. Many VPR listeners recognize Steve for his special reports from Iran, providing a glimpse of this country that is usually hidden from the rest of the world. Prior to working with VPR, Steve served as program director for WNCS for 17 years, and also worked as news director for WCVR in Randolph. A graduate of Northern Arizona University, Steve also worked for stations in Phoenix and Tucson before moving to Vermont in 1972. Steve has been honored multiple times with national and regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for his VPR reporting, including a 2011 win for best documentary for his report, Afghanistan's Other War.
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