Directors chosen for state’s new venture capital fund

Enterprise Florida’s board has appointed five directors to head Florida Opportunity Fund

ORLANDO, FL (November 26, 2007) – The Enterprise Florida Board of Directors has announced its selection of five business leaders to serve as board members of the Florida Opportunity Fund, an outcome of this year’s Florida Capital Formation Act, which creates a platform for generating early stage capital and technology commercialization in Florida.

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A nonprofit corporation, Florida Opportunity Fund Inc. aims to grow the bank of venture capital statewide. “The intent is to get more venture capitalists to invest in Florida,” explained Louis Laubscher, senior vice president and COO of Enterprise Florida, which will provide administrative support to the Opportunity Fund. “The Fund will increase the availability of seed capital and early stage venture equity capital for investing in up-and-coming businesses. Not only will these organizations be key to the creation of new, high-value jobs, they’ll also enable a pool of funding for investments in seed capital and early stage venture capital funds that agree to invest in Florida.”

Here’s how:

* Venture capital funds will be able to request an investment from the Opportunity Fund.
* However, these firms must agree to match dollars the Opportunity Fund raises with private investment dollars as a minimum investment in Florida.
* Any venture capital firm receiving Opportunity Fund dollars must agree to invest that money plus its match into Florida businesses.
* Eligible venture capital firms must be based in Florida, have full time Florida staffing, and/or demonstrate a history of prior investment into Florida companies.

What this fund means: a 50/50 match by the state, when a Florida VC raises money for a Florida company.

Nice.