Indiana University instituted the Innovate Indiana Fund in 2009 in line with its goal to harness immense creativity and innovation in the state. The fund is significantly focused on providing equity capital to emerging innovations at the early stages, when funding is scarce and most difficult to secure.
Over the last three years, Tony Armstrong (President & CEO) and Dr. Ken Green (Managing Director) led the Innovate Indiana Fund in proactively assisting 17 start-up companies gain solid commercial footing. Prior to managing the fund, both Armstrong and Green accumulated exemplary venture capital experience by respectively spearheading the Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation, an organization working to bring IU research discoveries and inventions to the marketplace and Spring Mill Venture Partners, an early-stage venture fund co-founded by Green in 2004.
The fund’s portfolio consists only the most promising medical and technological advancements in the state. One of which is Apex Therapeutics, a cancer-focused drug discovery and development biotechnology company whose founder received a $250,000 Hyundai Hope On Wheels Grant for pediatric cancer research.
In 2013, the Innovate Indiana Fund, represented by Dr. Ken Green, participated in PrecisionHawk’s Series A funding round which largely kickstarted the latter’s entry into the civilian UAS space. PrecisionHawk’s ties with the Indiana University, both financial and otherwise, played an invaluable role in the company’s expansion and the road to addressing the growing demand for unmanned aerial systems and enterprise-grade aerial data management services in the US as well as abroad.
More About The Innovate Indiana Fund:
The Innovate Indiana Fund has been established to invest in companies with a meaningful connection to Indiana University and to help those companies achieve commercial success. The fund helps the companies in its portfolio reach a variety of commercial goals using a wide array of tools including, infusions of capital, recruitment of management or additional expertise, market research, next-stage capital and our extensive network of experts in the public and private sector.
