Grand Rapids minority-focused venture capital fund searches for new managing director
Author: Carol Zichi
Posted Date: July 26, 2024
Media Contact: Republished from Crain's Grand Rapids; Mark Sanchez -July 25, 2024
Partners in the New Community Transformation Fund expect to have a new managing director on board by the middle of September.
Ollie Howie departed in June from the Grand Rapids-based venture capital fund that supports entrepreneurs of color. He had been involved in other funds while managing New Community and is now the managing partner at Roanoke, Va.-based Mount Auburn Venture Partners.
Howie was the first managing director for the New Community Transformation Fund, which he joined nearly three years ago. "He gave us a great start for the fund," co-founder and Executive Chair Birgit Klohs told Crain's Grand Rapids Business. "We really appreciate all that he did during the time that he was with us. He helped us with a successful launch of the fund, and the fund is continuing. We are committed to making the fund successful - that hasn't changed."
Abid Ali, a principal at Michigan Capital Network, has been serving as interim managing director for the New Community Transformation Fund as the partners search for a successor to Howie. New Community Transformation Fund partners are reviewing resumes that have been submitted so far in their search, Klohs said. Working with Grand Rapids-based human resources consulting firm HR Collaborative LLC, fund partners continue to search for additional candidates nationally for the position, she said. "We have a couple of good ones, but we would like to have a more robust list, and we have some time," Klohs said. "So, we're going to cast the net wider."
Launched in 2020, the New Community Transformation Fund has raised nearly $12 million to date to invest in growing mid-stage businesses owned and operated by people or color, or companies transitioning to new owners. The fund targets investments in companies that are involved in financial technology, health care, advanced manufacturing and information technology. Companies receiving investments must relocate to West Michigan or already have their home base here.
The fund has made investments in three companies and an investment committee has reviews pending for two potential new investments, Klohs said. She expects the fund to close two or three investments by the end of 2024.
In searching for a new managing director, the fund partners want a leader who has experience in managing an investment fund and fundraising, and also embraces the New Community Transformation Fund's mission and goals to support entrepreneurs of color who historically have received a small fraction of the venture capital invested annually in the U.S.
"There are folks, men and women, who can do this, but you need to also make sure that they understand the mission of the fund," said Skot Welch, co-founder and managing partner. "It's critical that they understand." Welch expects partners in the venture capital fund eventually will have a strong crop of candidates to consider for the next managing director. Grand Rapids is known nationally as a destination city, he said. The unique nature of the New Community Transformation should generate interest from prospective candidates.
"I think that this is a very attractive opportunity for someone to make a mark in this industry and to really elevate entrepreneurs of color," Welch said. "It's an opportunity that is rare around the United States. You talk about destination cities, this is a destination opportunity that will pop on someone's radar. It's just unique because there aren't that many funds that are doing what we do, and when we first started, they were far less and, and there's still only a handful."
The next managing partner at the New Community Transformation may also have a role in forming a successor investment fund. As partners continue their search, they have just begun the process to lay the groundwork for creating a future second fund, Klohs said.
Media Contact: Republished from Crain's Grand Rapids; Mark Sanchez -July 25, 2024