Tech, Carilion Launch VTC Innovation Fund

The VTC Innovation Fund will build the innovation ecosystem centered on the Jefferson College of Health Science.

The VTC Innovation Fund will build the innovation ecosystem centered on the Jefferson College of Health Science.

Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic have teamed up to form a $15 million venture capital fund in the hope of accelerating the growth of biotech companies taking root around Blacksburg and Roanoke, reports the Roanoke Times.

The VTC Innovation Fund aims to close seven to 10 deals over the next 10 years. By leveraging its money from other financial sources, managers hope the average startup will be able to raise between $2 million and $10 million. About 60% of the deals will be in life sciences. Although the main focus will be the Roanoke-Blacksburg area, the fund will consider investments elsewhere in Virginia or enterprises with strong ties to Tech or Carilion.

“When we looked at our grand vision going forward, we see that the innovation ecosystem has a few holes in it,” Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands said. “One is in the venture capital area. It’s not the only one, but it’s one we identified that we could do something about.”

Virginia Tech and Carilion are partnering to build a medical school and research institute in Roanoke, the Jefferson College of Medical Sciences, which stands at the center of what they hope will evolve into a biomedical industry cluster. Tech also is building a cutting-edge interdisciplinary program in neuroscience.

The Tech/Carilion duo is following a parallel path to Inova Health System in Northern Virginia, which is collaborating with George Mason University and the University of Virginia to build an biomedical cluster at the Center for Personalized Medicine. Inova has pledged to put $100 million in to venture capital in support of the innovation ecosystem there.

A third partner in the VTC Innovation Fund is Middleland Capital, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm, which will manage the Roanoke fund and invest $500,000 to $1.5 million of its own capital, reports the Washington Business Journal. Connections with experienced Washington-area venture investors likely will provide a depth of expertise and access to outside capital that entrepreneurs in the Roanoke-Blacksburg area previously lacked.

“We want to focus on the absolute best and the absolute brightest and the shining stars of the region,” said Scott Horner, managing director of Middleland. “We want groups from outside the region to be able to look here and say, ‘Yes there is good stuff in the region.’”