Venture capital firms think small to help startups

Venture capital firms and angel investors around the country are trying a new investment model.

Rather than target a small number of high-potential entrepreneurial companies with very large investments, there is a growing trend of investing smaller amounts of seed capital, called microfunds, with several entrepreneurs all of whom have promising ideas.

The venture capital firm Solidus Co. has pulled together a group from the Nashville entrepreneurship community to create a microfund to support local entrepreneurs and to help accelerate the growth of startups in the Middle Tennessee area.

JumpStart Foundry is focusing on very early-stage concepts. Over the next 12 months, the microfund intends to select 10 to 14 entrepreneurs for the program who will receive financial, business and technological support to accelerate their businesses’ growth.

by Jeff Cornwall

Full Story: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100426/COLUMNIST0305/4260324/2047/BUSINESS