The venture fund officially launched at the end of last month, having already invested in five companies linked to University of Washington.
Pack Ventures, a US-based pre-seed and seed venture fund, has launched to invest in spinouts and startups from University of Washington (UW).
The fund looks to back any entrepreneur linked to UW’s ecosystem, be that faculty, students or alumni. It is led by partner Ken Horenstein, who is joined by venture partner Beth Kolko, a professor at the university.
Pack Ventures has been set up as a 506c fund under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulations, meaning it can solicit investment from all kinds of accredited investors rather than just ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Among its supporters is Chris Devore, managing partner of Founder’s Co-op and a longtime backer of UW. He said: “UW is one of the top research universities in North America in terms of grant funding, on a par with peer research universities like Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley.
“It is also a magnet for global talent in both the technical and liberal arts disciplines needed to form high-performing entrepreneurial teams.
“We believe one of the key factors to accelerating UW’s startup growth is a dedicated pool of risk capital and a network of experienced builders mentoring and guiding the next generation of UW founders, which is exactly what Pack VC represents.”
Pack Ventures has already backed five companies, it said: Talus.bio, Monod Bio, Jeeva Wireless and two that remain in stealth – a document automation software developer and a healthcare artificial intelligence business.
