Professor helps recharge student-run venture capital fund

A Miami University professor has helped revive a student-managed venture capital fund that aims to energize new businesses founded and run by university students and recent alumni.

The Miami University Student Venture Fund was founded several years ago with help from donors such as Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co. But it fell dormant until Jeff June brought it back as a teaching tool.

June offered academic credit to undergraduates for reorganizing the fund and making it more user-friendly. Students run the day-to-day operations of the fund, which has increased amounts given to new businesses from $5,000 to $25,000.

The fund has also extended eligibility to Miami graduates, as well as students. Faculty members have final approval for funding a project.

With a total value of about $300,000, the fund's investments are considered seed money for businesses that show promise. The investments won't make huge profits for the school, but the point is to support new businesses and give students real world exposure, said Jack Tench, a senior and one of the four students who administer the fund.

"I think it's really cool that I'm 22 years old and I'm doing conference calls with CEOs," he said.

The fund's first investment was in Chicago-based GoPicnic, which is run by 1996 Miami graduate Julia Stamberger. The company sells high-quality portable meals that give business travelers an alternative to ordering at airports or through room service.

GoPicnic is the third company Stamberger has started, so her application for the maximum $25,000 from the Miami fund was well-written. Stamberger worked in the travel industry and knew the market, and her long-range business and marketing plans were credible.

The money Stamberger received was a small part of the approximately $1 million she raised in her first round of investment funding. But it represents an ongoing relationship she's maintained with the university: She's hired Miami students as interns and graduates as staff members for GoPicnic.

Applicants need to present a business profile that demonstrates long-range planning and a marketing strategy and this weeds out less-than-serious candidates, Trench said.

But even if someone isn't ready for applying for investment capital, June and the student managers are willing to give guidance.

"Ventures coming to us don't always need money but need help with marketing or developing a Web site," June said. "We can point them in those directions, too."

On the Net:

Miami University Student Venture Fund, http://www.sba.muohio.edu/pagecenter/muvcf/

Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com