Last week 1809 Capital hosted its annual Limited Partner Meeting at Miami’s Lee and Rosemary Fisher Innovation College@Elm center. Thank you to those that were able to attend!
Mark Richey opened by stating this LP Meeting marked an important milestone. The fund has succeeded in building a unique alumni-supported venture platform that leverages a Miami alumni network for access to exceptional deal flow for financial return. 1809 Capital has executed on its vision for fund I, which includes more than 80 alumni LPs, access to deal flow from a network of more than 30 venture capital funds across the country, and now includes 11 portfolio companies. In addition, the fund leaders have collaborated with Miami faculty and administration to support the Miami mission. We highlighted the success in executing the strategy introduced three years ago and concluded by previewing the roadmap to significantly scale the platform in 2025 and beyond. We prefaced fund-specific updates with insightful remarks from Jenny Darroch, Dean of Miami University Farmer School of Business and Entrepreneurship Program updates from Tim R. Holcomb Ph.D., Chair of Miami Department of Entrepreneurship and the John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship. We then covered a dynamic agenda, featuring:
1809 Capital business updates (Partners Kimberly Walker and Kevin Mendelsohn): Kevin highlighted current venture asset class performance metrics and benchmarked 1809 Capital’s investing activity, its portfolio status, as well as the fund’s current performance relative to its peers and top-tier funds. Kim and Mark provided a summary portfolio update and discussed the compelling value drivers for the most recent portfolio additions
Portfolio updates from our most recent portfolio companies: CEO presentations from Rusty Ralston (Loft Orbital), Michael Markesbery (Oros/Solarcore), Ameesh Divatia (Baffle), and Walter Rogers (MontyCloud).
1809 Capital Student Intern Program update (current and former interns Katherine McIntosh, Stella Fiscus, and Jack Marks): Mark highlighted 1809 Capital’s commitment to support Miami’s educational mission by discussing the impact of its internship program through the Department of Entrepreneurship and RedHawk Ventures, emphasizing that 40% of the management fee is invested in the Intern Program providing talent, operational capacity and yearly Miami impact (experiential learning).
Venture Capital Trends Panel Discussion: 1809 Capital Partner, John Gardner, moderated an expert panel engaging Greg Barnes (Hyde Park Ventures), Emily L. Easley (Cintrifuse), and Steve Berg (Lytical Ventures) on current trends in the venture capital landscape, including perspectives on investing trends, valuation, and areas of opportunities across technology innovation.
Closing remarks: President Gregory Crawford shared Miami University’s long-term strategic vision, THRIVE, sharing the vision for how the university will continue to transform it’s educational mission to align with the changing landscape of secondary education.
The day wrapped up with a post-meeting reception, co-hosted with the Miami University Foundation Board of Directors. It was a day filled with learning, meaningful connections, and inspiring discussions, all reinforcing our commitment to alumni engagement, impact, and entrepreneurship at Miami University!
It was a day filled with learning, meaningful connections, and inspiring discussions, all reinforcing our commitment alumni engagement, impact and entrepreneurship at Miami University!
Here’s to another year of growth and impact!
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