A local investment fund has received a $1 million jolt to fundraising efforts that had not been meeting its own established timelines.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach announced Tuesday that it had invested the money into the FireSpring Fund, an Orlando-based effort to establish a pool of money to invest in local startup companies.
The new money brings the total amount raised for FireSpring to $1.5 million, according to the fund’s Executive Director Donna Mackenzie.
Mackenzie says the Embry-Riddle money will invest in Volusia County companies.
In a presentation before Orange County commissioners in July 2015, , Mackenzie had said the goal was to raise $5 million within two years of its April 2015 launch date.
In addition, Mackenzie told the board that they “need to raise ($1 million) by the end of the year.”
A two-month application period to land $25,000 investment from the new money will open Feb. 15.
If the companies that receive the initial money meet specific goals, they will then receive up to $200,000 more.
In April of 2015, FireSpring officials said they planned to raise $5 million and establish a seed fund, which would invest in startup companies in Volusia, Orange, Osceola, Brevard and Seminole counties.
Orange County chipped in $100,000 in August of 2015
Embry-Riddle Board of Trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini said the $1 million will go toward investment in Volusia County companies.
“Access to talent, seed capital and effective business-growth strategies are essential to the success of early-stage technology companies,” he said in a release. “The FireSpring Fund’s expertise, combined with the array of resources at Embry-Riddle’s Research Park, will provide a significant, vital and exciting boost for economic development in Volusia County.”
FireSpring Fund invests in companies that go through a six-month accelerator program in its name.
The news comes nine months after FireSpring announced the fund had surpassed $500,000 through micro-donations and other methods, including $100,000 from the City of Orlando.
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