South Coast Angels, a local member-managed venture fund, has an unusual new investor on the books: Loyola University’s MBA program.
Loyola’s College of Business offers a private equity entrepreneurship class to MBA students. For the first time last year, the MBA program also partnered with South Coast Angel Fund to have those students provide market, financial, legal analyses and due diligence used in South Coast’s decision-making process.
The students were considered “pro bono advisers” – in a setup that resembled them being interns for the fund.
Now, with a $50,000 University investment into the fund, the students are considered voting members and can take part in the actual investment decisions. If there is a return on investment the money will go back to the Loyola College of Business.
“We think that investing in local startup companies is not only a smart, sound investment, but it provides a once-in-a-lifetime experience to our students,” Locander said. “There are very few M.B.A. students in the country that can tell future employers that they played an active, voting role in managing a multi-million-dollar investment fund.”
“It’s a very unique experience that just doesn’t happen in other M.B.A. programs,” said fund managing director and Loyola graduate Clayton White. “We started talking about how we could take it to the next level, and that’s when Loyola decided to become a member of the fund itself. The students have taken an even more active part in the decision-making process and now have a vote at the table.”
The South Coast Angel Fund, located in the New Orleans BioInnovation Center, has the capability to invest more than $3 million dollars in local startup companies. Omnicademy, based in Baton Rouge, is the only publicly announced start-up to date to receive investment from the group.
Read more about how to become South Coast Angel Fund’s next investment here.