Who will be the Richmond area's next job creators and how will they fund their
operations?
New Richmond Ventures, a venture capital development firm, was formed a
year ago by some of the area's most acclaimed businessmen to identify emerging
leaders with big ideas and help them grow world-class businesses in this area.
"We are very supportive of the local coffee shop, but it's not what we
are set up to do," said J. Robert "Bob" Mooney, one of four partners at New
Richmond Ventures.
New Richmond Ventures provides a minimum $250,000 investment and
mentoring to startup companies with a passion for social impact and business
potential on national or global scales.
The company has invested, for example, in Evatran, which provides
wireless recharging products for electric cars, eliminating the need to plug
in vehicles and making them easier to recharge.
The technology involves an adapter on an electric car that allows the
driver to pull up to a parking place equipped with a transmitter device to
recharge the vehicle.
The startup has been through three rounds of funding from equity
investors, but none resembles the latest infusion from NRV, said Rebecca
Hough, 26, chief executive officer and co-founder of the family-owned
business.
Typically, investors are concerned about their equity positions, Hough
said.
"The difference for us is the focus that NRV puts on where we are going,"
she said, declining to say how much money the group invested. "They look at
what impact we hope to have and how they can help us get to where we want to
be."
Evatran's plant is in Wytheville, but the headquarters will relocate to
the Richmond area in early 2013, Hough said.
Some might refer to New Richmond Ventures as an angel investor or venture
capital firm.
However, the partners say they are not simply interested in putting money
into a company with potential to increase shareholder value. Nor do they seek
set returns on investments over pre-determined time periods.
"We are patient investors," Mooney said. "These are early-stage
investments. They will take years to monetize."
Their mission, they say, is to help jumpstart the region as a hub for a
new breed of startups.
The principals at New Richmond Ventures, including Mooney, are among
Richmond's most influential:
--James E. Ukrop;
--Theodore L. Chandler Jr.; and
--Andy Stefanovich.
All four serve on numerous community and corporate boards, providing
guidance on several levels in the Richmond area.
"As with many other business leaders, I am often called on to mentor or
financially support local entrepreneurs on an ad hoc basis where I can see
firsthand the difficulties that they face in growing a business from scratch,"
said Chandler, former chairman of the Greater Richmond Chamber and founding
member of the Capital Region Collaborative.
"My conclusion from these experiences is that our community has all of
the ingredients that early-stage companies require, but that those
ingredients, such as mentoring, support services and patient capital, are
poorly organized and difficult for entrepreneurs to access."
Against that backdrop, Chandler, Ukrop, Mooney, Stefanovich and Matt Rho,
