Contrary Capital is seeding a second vehicle to back spinouts and university-linked startups through venture partners based at faculties across the US.
Contrary Capital, a university-focused venture firm with connections to dozens of US institutions, aims to raise $35m for its second vehicle from pooled investment funds, according to a regulatory filing published Wednesday.
The company backs spinouts and startups founded by students or alumni by reaching out to researchers and entrepreneurs through a network of approximately 100 venture partners, spread across faculties nationwide. It typically invests between $50,000 and $200,000 to sustain businesses until they are ready for a fully-fledged seed round.
Columbia University, Duke University and Harvard University are among the institutions to feature in Contrary Capital’s deal flow, along with others including Georgia Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and Ohio State University.
Contrary began seeding its first vehicle in 2016 and, by May 2018, had secured $2.2m from angel investors including Emmett Shear, co-founder of games streaming platform Twitch, and Martin Eberhard, co-founder of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla.
The fund made 13 investments during its initial year, and its portfolio currently includes on-demand cleaning service NuWash, travel booking software creator Deal Engine and rocket engine manufacturing company Additive Rocket, as well as several businesses in stealth mode.