Startup Nursery Fund
The Startup Nursery Fund (SUN Fund) was created by Ikove to allow external, strategic investors to co-invest alongside Ikove’s proprietary Nursery. Investors can now capitalize on exclusive opportunities related to the commercialization of disruptive intellectual property and startup companies.
About the Fund
The SUN Fund II will primarily invest in technologies during Concept and Seed Stages to address the substantial capital gap commonly referred to as the “Valley of Death”. The SUN Fund I LP three year IRR stands at 41.75% and TVPI close 2X, standing at the top quartile of funds tracked by main indices.
Ikove has launched over twenty disruptive startup companies with more than $100MM directly invested in the portfolio, generating over $500MM in equity value through this strategy. And we are only getting started.
Strategy Overview
The Problem / Opportunity:
US universities and research institutions spend $90 billion a year on R&D, but less
than 1% is invested in commercialization efforts.
As a result, over 95% of patented
university
innovations go unfunded.
Solution:
Ikove’s Startup Nursery seizes this opportunity by creating a business around the best intellectual property funded through the research budget of leading universities.
Ikove leverages the relationships it has built with selected institutions, then adopts a multi-layered due diligence process aimed at vetting the most promising technologies and creating the right teams to bring those technologies to market.
Results to date:
-
Over 20 companies founded
-
Sectors: Robotics, IoT, AI, Medical devices, FinTech,
FoodTech
-
Over $150 MM of third party investments
-
Over $500 MM of equity value created and
growing quickly
-
SUN Fund I LP three year IRR of 41.75% and TVPI close to 2X
FoodTech
growing quickly
Ikove’s Startup Nursery has built a strong team that provides the support necessary for these technologies to develop into successful startup companies that supports the startup team and helps de-risk the investment.
Ikove has also expanded internationally with
a full fledged Nursery recently
established in
Brazil
with initial fintech focus.
Ikove's Timeline
Investment Strategy
Concept:
Invest up to 25% at Concept, taking founding equity in a newly
formed company.
- Companies follow two models: Direct licensing via University or Joint
Venture with
existing IP rich companies.
Venture with existing IP rich companies.
