Student-Run Venture Capital Firms & Social Entrepreneurs

The University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business recently launched the University Impact Fund, and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business recently launched the Social Venture Fund.

Both funds will service startups that offer products and services in the education, environment, health, microfinance and urban revitalization fields.

These student-managed investment funds will give students the chance to invest real money in actual companies. The University Impact Fund's student associates are comprised of both graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and Westminster College in Salt Lake City. The Social Venture Fund is seeking approximately 8-10 first and second year MBA students to join the fund’s core leadership team and up to 20 associates to provide the portfolios with deal sourcing, due diligence and marketing support.

The Social Venture Fund hopes to raise $10 million. It’s the University of Michigan’s third student-led fund, joining the early-stage Wolverine Venture Fund and the pre-seed Frankel Commercialization Fund. The University Impact Fund hopes to raise $10 - $15 million, a bit less than the $18 million University Venture Fund with which it’s affiliated. The Michigan fund is evergreen, recycling any proceeds back into new investments, while the Utah fund will provide returns to its investors.

More info about this here, in Businessweek. Follow Utah's fund on Twitter here.

The Social Venture Fund is accepting business plans from social entrepreneurs who are innovating in the K-12 and higher education sectors. Entrepreneurs interested in being considered for up to $250,000 in funding should send a copy of their business plans to svfeducation[at]umich.edu by Feb 3.