Innovate Mississippi Announces Central Mississippi Angel Fund During UMMC’s Health Innovation and Transformation Forum

Innovate Mississippi announced the formation of the Central Mississippi Angel Fund during the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s 2nd Annual Health Innovation and Transformation (HIT) Forum on May 21, 2019 at the Norman C. Nelson Student Union on UMMC’s campus.

The Central Mississippi Angel Fund will focus on investing in startup companies in Central Mississippi, with a particular interest in healthcare-related startup companies.

The new fund will be a member-managed angel fund, with an initial $1 million in capital. The fund is likely to deploy around triple that amount over time because members will have the option of making additional individual investments in the startup companies identified by the Fund.

“Angel funds with committed capital have proven to be able to deploy investments faster and in greater amounts than individual investors alone,” said Tony Jeff, CEO and president of Innovate Mississippi. “The fund members can work together to pick and close deals, which can bring more ‘angels’ to the table.”

In order to encourage healthcare startups to apply for funding, Innovate Mississippi and UMMC will work together to create a pipeline for potential healthcare startups. The work of both organizations has been partially funded by a grant from the Economic Development Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“We’ll partner with UMMC and hope to have a pipeline for healthcare deals developed as a part of this process,” Jeff said. “The fund will have a particular interest in healthcare deals but will not be exclusive to that industry.”

The Central Mississippi Angel Fund will launch in the fall of 2019; startup companies looking for angel funding can reach out to Innovate Mississippi to learn more about both  the fund and Innovate Mississippi’s other entrepreneur resources.

Innovate Mississippi’s current Angel Network is likely to be a source of SEC accredited investors for the Central Mississippi Angel Fund; organizers will also look to bring in other accredited investors from the region.

Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst.