StartX expands its investment

StartX, the student-run accelerator affiliated with Stanford University, is boosting its investing talent pool as its associated investment fund continues to thrive.

Suzanna Rombeau Fletcher, a former private equity investor, has been brought in to help manage the fund, according to news provider TechCrunch.

The Stanford-StartX Fund, launched in late 2013, is using the incubator as a sounding board for investment from the university. Supported by Stanford’s endowment fund, the uncapped investment vehicle is now automatically investing in any company that manages to graduate from the incubation programme and go on to raise $500,000 from outside investors, 30% of which must come from a professional lead investor.

To date, the fund has invested $31.4m in 82 companies. Since the accelerator was established in 2009, its companies have raised $700m in external funding, and have a 88% survival rate.