Madison-based NVNG Investment Advisors announced this week it has closed its first fund of funds with $50 million in commitments from corporate partners. The closure of Fund I makes it the state’s largest fund of funds, according to a press release from NVNG.
Early investors in Fund I include Exact Sciences, Baird, Johnson Financial Group, West Bend Mutual Insurance and A.O. Smith.
NVNG, which stands for “nothing ventured, nothing gained,” will now invest the $50 million in venture capital funds from around the country in a fund of funds model. The venture firms NVNG will target will all have interest in learning more about and connecting with Wisconsin’s startup ecosystem. The hope is that these venture firms will later invest in Wisconsin startups.
“NVNG’s mission is to make Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem globally competitive,” said Grady Buchanan, co-founder at NVNG. “This doesn’t happen without creating new ways of attracting capital and supporting an ecosystem here that is very much in transition and deserving of a venture capital network that we can provide.”
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