Trinity University

Location

San Antonio, TX

 

Build to Scale Program

Capital Challenge

 

Project Name

Student-Managed Early Venture Fund

Award Amount

Federal Share

Local Match

 

$346,079

$346,160

San Antonio startups critically need high-risk, pre-seed, and seed capital. Trinity University will launch Student-Managed Early Venture Fund (SMEVF) and Trinity Angels to increase seed- and early-stage equity capital for high-growth ventures in the San Antonio region. The SMEVF will be sector agnostic and focus on early-stage startups with high-growth potential. Unlike traditional funds that are raised through limited partners, Trinity SMEVF will be supported by a combination of Trinity University funding and philanthropic donations to the university. As an educational, philanthropic source of capital, the Trinity SMEVF will be an open-ended, evergreen fund with the mission of educating students, supporting high-growth early-stage start-ups in San Antonio and the region, and sustaining this impact through reinvestment into the Fund’s corpus. By 2027, Trinity University projects investments in more than 50 companies in the region, creating more than 125 new jobs, and evergreen support for Trinity SMEVF.

Over the lifetime of the fund, the SMEVF will be one of the largest investors of early- stage, high-growth companies in San Antonio and a catalyst for growth in the region. It will also be the leader in San Antonio in investing in underrepresented founders with a minimum of 30 percent of its investments targeted at ventures led by women of all backgrounds, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and low-income background founders.

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