Academics
School of Management Launches Student Venture Fund to Aid Aspiring Entrepreneurs
By Catherine Probst Ferraro
Last year, President Barack Obama launched the Startup America initiative to help increase the prevalence and success of entrepreneurs across the country. In this same spirit, Steve Case, cofounder and former CEO of America Online, raised $450 million for a new Revolution Growth Fund to help rebuild and reinvigorate a “startup” culture in the Northern Virginia region.
In response to this new initiative to support America’s most pioneering entrepreneurs, Mason’s School of Management has launched the Mason Student Venture Fund to help harness the entrepreneurial energy and innovative spirit of the university’s student body. The venture fund will provide monetary support, training, and mentorship for a team of students from any academic discipline at Mason to explore ideas for business products and services.
Entrepreneurial School of Management students will receive support from the new fund to help put their ideas into action. Photo by Creative Services.
“We are very excited to be able to offer the support of this venture fund to our students and help expand opportunities for them to acquire entrepreneurial skills, knowledge, and perspective,” says Mahesh Joshi, associate professor of management. “The fund will also allow students to connect with successful entrepreneurs and investors in the community, thereby increasing the number of new companies and products brought to market by Mason students.”
Funding for the venture fund was provided by Mason alumni Lovey Hammel, BS Marketing ’88, a member of Mason’s Board of Visitors, and Charles McGrath, BS Finance and Decision Science ’86. With the support of additional donations, the School of Management will launch the fund with $150,000 and plans to eventually grow the fund to $1 million. The funds will be invested in an endowment with the George Mason University Foundation, but Mason students will make the investment decisions.
The first student group will be awarded $20,000 of seed money and in-kind services from attorneys, accountants, and other providers in fall 2012. Students will also have the opportunity to partner with Mason faculty, researchers, investors, and entrepreneurs from academic and private sectors. The fund will connect student entrepreneurs to resources available at Mason, as well as with the startup communities in the Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., region.
The School of Management offers a number of classes in which students work in teams to develop business plans and ideas. Photo by Creative Services.
In addition, the venture fund will help support the Dean’s Business Plan Competition, an annual contest sponsored by the School of Management. Business plans that focus on sustainable development are submitted by undergraduate student teams and evaluated by a panel of entrepreneurial experts from around the country. The winning team receives a monetary award.
“We need to ensure that the United States remains the world’s most entrepreneurial nation, and universities can play an integral role in this effort,” says Case, who was recently featured in the school’s Johnson & Strachan Speaker’s Series. “I’m glad to see Mason’s business school is taking an aggressive step by developing a student venture fund.”
This article originally appeared on the university’s News site.
To read more stories about Mason, check out the university’s News site.
