Draft:Alumni Ventures
Submission declined on 27 November 2023 by QuantumRealm (talk).
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
|  |
Comment: Previously deleted article -Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Alumni VenturesStill fails notability. QuantumRealm (meow • pawtrack) 14:13, 27 November 2023 (UTC)
 | |
| Company type | Limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Venture Capital |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Mike Collins Luke Antal |
| Headquarters | Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S. |
Key people | Mike Collins (Chairman & CEO) |
| AUM | US$1.2 billion (2023) |
Number of employees | 150 (2023) |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1][2] | |
Alumni Ventures ("AVG") is an American venture capital firm headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire. The firm creates investment funds for university alumni and allows individuals to invest in them.
According to Pitchbook, in 2022 it participated in 273 venture deals making it one of the most active venture capital firms in the US that year.[2]
Background[edit]
AVG was co-founded in 2014 by Mike Collins. Collins, who previously worked at TA Associates wanted to make venture capital more accessible to individual people and had grew tired of how the industry was mostly limited to the institutional investors and the ultra wealthy. When AVG started, Collins raised $1.5 million in funding from his alma mater, Dartmouth College for the fund, Green D Ventures.[2][3][4]
The firm focuses on fundraising directly from individual alumni of universities rather than getting large investment funding from institutional investors. Individuals who are considered accredited investors can invest in an AVG fund that invests in companies founded by their alumni matter with a minimum ante $50,000. Some students of universities, claim the way AVG advertise these funds is misleading as it gives the impression they are university officially sanctioned endeavors when they are in fact separate from the universities themselves.[2][3][4][5]
Despite AVG having a large deal flow, the firm prefers to have a low profile. AVG prefers not to lead fundraising rounds and instead takes the role of a coinvestor that follows the lead one. In addition, AVG prefers to focus solely on investing in companies and avoids taking board of directors seats to change the company's direction. Some startup founders do not even know that AVG owns a part of their company. SimpliSafe founder, Chad Laurans claims that he never directly interacted with the firm and it wasn't actively involved in the company.[2][3][4]
Regulatory fine[edit]
On March 4, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined AVG $700,000 for making misleading contract statements and breaching operating agreements. The SEC alleged AVG in its marketing communications claimed to have an industry standard management fee which was a 2% management fee during each year of its funds’ 10-year term and a separate 20% performance fee. Instead AVG assessed a management fee of 20% of an investor's fund investment which represented 10 years of 2% annual management fees. The SEC also alleged AVG commingled funds assets through loans and transfers among the funds, despite the contact language stating this was prohibited. AVG also had to repay $4.7 million to affected funds.[5][6]
References[edit]
- ^ "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC.
- ^ a b c d e Joyner, April. "A VC firm backed by alumni of elite universities like Dartmouth and Yale is now one of the most active US investors. Its new investment chief reveals why its distinct strategy gives it a competitive edge". Business Insider.
- ^ a b c Kirsner, Scott (April 7, 2019). "Giving VC investing the old college try". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ a b c Clark, Kate (2018-10-19). "Alumni Ventures Group is the most active venture fund you've never heard of". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ a b Bailey, Doug (2022-03-14). "Did VC "innovator" Alumni Ventures mislead investors on fees?". www.businessofbusiness.com. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ "SCOOP: SEC Fines Sketchy 'Ivy League' VC Firm. What Took So Long?". Observer. 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
External links[edit]
[[:Category:2014 establishments in New Hampshire]
[[:Category:American companies established in 2014]
[[:Category:Companies based in Manchester, New Hampshire]
[[:Category:Financial services companies established in 2014]
[[:Category:Venture capital firms of the United States]
- in-depth (not just brief mentions about the subject or routine announcements)
- reliable
- secondary
- strictly independent of the subject
Make sure you add references that meet all four of these criteria before resubmitting. Learn about mistakes to avoid when addressing this issue. If no additional references exist, the subject is not suitable for Wikipedia.