The Venture Capital Authority (VCA) is requesting information from Fund Managers in Colorado to help inform policy and programs in the state of Colorado for early stage entrepreneur ecosystems and investments. The VCA would like to have a better understanding of the current venture capital funding in the state of Colorado, where Fund Managers see gaps in the market, and where they believe state funding or programmatic support would be most impactful. Additionally, Fund Managers should give an overview of past and present funds as well as current fundraising status.
In 2004, the State of Colorado passed legislation (the VCA Statute) authorizing the creation of a Venture Capital Program (Program) and the Venture Capital Authority (VCA) to oversee the Program. The VCA Statute authorized the sale of $50 million in Colorado Premium Tax Credits (PTCs) to initially fund this Program through 2014. The VCA sold the PTCs to insurance companies in exchange for cash as the initial funding, but there will be no additional sales of PTCs to fund the Program. The VCA invested the proceeds from the PTCs in Colorado Funds I & II, which are venture capital fund(s) with “Qualified Investments” (as defined in the VCA Statute) made solely in the State of Colorado.
Per the VCA Statute, the VCA is intended to manage the money as an evergreen fund; meaning, that the distributions received from Colorado Funds I & II are to be reinvested in future venture capital funds that meet the requirements of the VCA Statute. Accordingly, the VCA invested proceeds from CO Funds I & II into the Greater Colorado Venture Fund in 2018.
Any fund managers who are interested in presenting to the VCA’s Board of Directors & Office of Economic Development & International Trade (OEDIT), should please contact Emily.applegate@state.co.us. Meeting date is Thursday, February 21 with possible additional dates as well. Additional information will be provided via email. Please note, this is not an RFP. The state is an information gathering stage for the VCA and OEDIT staff.