North Carolina State Treasurer Janet Cowell formally announced the creation of a life sciences accelerator to support early stage companies in November 2011.
The entity will receive an infusion of $35 million from the $232 million NC Innovation Fund, the effort Treasury launched in March 2010 to help grow North Carolina companies and their payrolls. The Innovation Fund and the overall direction of the life sciences accelerator are managed byCredit Suisse.
“The accelerator is designed not only to provide capital, but also to create partnerships and leverage additional resources to support some of the most enterprising thinkers and businesses in the state,” Cowell says.
Thus far, the accelerator has partnered with, and infused cash into, one venture capital firm: Durham-based Hatteras Venture Partners. Hatteras, in turn, has set up “Hatteras Discovery,” an entity which will invest directly into life sciences startups. The size of the accelerator commitment to Hatteras has not been disclosed.
The treasurer’s office says a second accelerator investment into another fund is in the works. To date, the Innovation Fund has committed $97.5 million of its original $232 million. Other recipients were two Charlotte private equity investors, Carousel Capital and Frontier Capital. The size of each of those commitments have also been withheld.
Source: Triangle Business Journal, Lee Weisbecker
