Cove Fund Announces its Second Venture Fund
$12M+ Cove Fund II will invest in promising seed-stage startups throughout Southern California.
IRVINE, CA – February 15, 2018 – Cove Fund (www.covefund.com), a family of seed-stage venture capital funds that invest in the dynamic Southern California startup ecosystem, today announced the launch of its second fund, Cove Fund II, LLC. The second fund has completed its initial closing with over $12M in committed capital and will make its first investments in the coming months.
Cove Fund is headquartered in “The Cove”, a state-of-the-art facility on the campus of UC Irvine (UCI) and home to UCI Applied Innovation, which brings campus-based discoveries together with Southern California’s vibrant business community to support job creation and economic growth. Additionally, UCI Applied Innovation is working to cultivate an “innovation district” in the heart of Southern California, producing more start-ups, more scale-ups, and ultimately a world-class entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Cove Fund II is co-managed by a team of three experienced seed investors and technology executives, Mike Benvenuti, Howard Mirowitz and Paul Voois. All three have been active in Cove Fund since its inception in 2015. The fund uses a unique member engagement model in which the fund’s members (investors), most of whom are businesspeople and entrepreneurs themselves, play an active role in deal flow sourcing, due diligence, mentoring and governance of portfolio companies. This model provides the fund with a strong and diverse mix of expertise and network connections, enabling the fund to invest and engage with its portfolio companies across a broad range of industry sectors.
Cove Fund invests in early stage technology and life science companies that demonstrate the potential to address large markets with highly differentiated products and services. The fund typically leads financing rounds in the $1 to $3 million range, and has a strong syndication network of local angel investors, family offices and venture capital funds that co-invest in its deals. The fund will consider any company that is headquartered or carries out its main operations in Southern California, as well as any company affiliated with the University of California statewide system.
The $6M Cove Fund I began investing in 2015 and currently has 16 companies in its portfolio. Cove Fund II held its initial closing on January 31, 2018 and is evaluating its initial investments.
“On behalf of the Cove Fund family and UCI Applied Innovation, we are thrilled to launch Cove Fund II,” said Mike Benvenuti, fund co-manager. “The support that we’ve received from the local community has exceeded all our expectations, and we are excited to start investing in the next generation of great technology companies.”
To apply for funding from Cove Fund, go to the Apply section of its website. For more information, contact Julie Cranston, Executive Director, or reach out to one of the fund co-managers on LinkedIn.
About Cove Fund
The Cove Fund is a family of seed-stage venture capital funds that provides startup funding for promising new Southern California ventures. The Fund is headquartered in “The Cove” at UC Irvine Applied Innovation, a centrally located and vibrant gathering place for entrepreneurs, innovators and investors in the Southern California startup ecosystem.
The $6M Cove Fund I began investing in 2015 and currently has 16 companies in its portfolio. Cove Fund II launched in early 2018 with over $12M in capital. The funds invest in early stage technology and life science companies in Southern California that demonstrate the potential to address large markets with highly differentiated products and services, and that can achieve significant value-creating inflection points with their seed funding.