Meharry Medical College Ventures Newsletter | Quarter 4 2024

Announcements

Our $2M pilot fund has been a success, and our initial investment has already amassed a significant valuation. We are excited to announce that MMC Ventures Fund has formalized and is raising a $100 million fund to support and invest in innovative portfolio companies. Our primary focus is on identifying and structuring investments into high-potential businesses, and once invested, we are dedicated to managing and scaling these companies for success. Alongside this, we are committed to building and developing partnerships to support further and accelerate the growth of our portfolio companies. We invite you to join us in shaping the future of entrepreneurship and innovation. 

We have vetted several people for our advisory board, and appointed three. They are Fred Lowery, SVP and President of Fisher Scientific, Rick Gannotta, DHA, Consultant and professor at NYU, and Keith Coleman, head of his family’s family office, and venture capitalist with Stanford and Wharton Alums. We are in discussions with other dedicated healthcare sector leaders and have strengthened our financial governance by adding Fred Lowery to our Investment Committee. Our investment committee is formalizing its meeting structure to ensure we make the most efficient use of our members' valuable time.

Our Goals This Quarter

During this final quarter of the year, our main goals include activating the MMCV Board of Directors, establishing our and equipping the Board and Advisory to make them fierce advocates for the VC Fund. The top priorities is to facilitate connections in support of our fundraise, to close on LP’s representing the first $20MM of investment,and continue to provide strategic direction to our portfolio companies. Leveraging the successs of early investments to attract LP’s that are skeptical of first time fund. We believe these important steps will help garner the needed investment.

We are committed to utilizing the expertise and connections of our board members to forge impactful partnerships that will propel the growth and success of the fund and the portfolio companies we support. Our Chairman is committed to leveraging his influence to help close their investments.

We aim to solidify our position as a key player in fostering innovation while delivering high-impact results for our portfolio companies and limited partners. 

Our Strategy

In our continued efforts to drive growth and success, we have successfully leveraged the expertise and networks of our network to connect with a significant number of potential investors. To date, we have engaged with over 50 potential investors, of which several (MMC, VU, HCA, BCBST) have been identified as key targets to anchor the first $20MM of our fund. We are also thrilled to announce a $4MM commitment from Meharry, a pivotal step in reaching our initial funding goals. 

Additionally, several potential investors have shown interest but have expressed a need to see more early performance results before committing. In the discussions with those investors, the door is open to revisiting their investment in the second quarter of next year (Q1 2025), contingent on demonstrated performance. This strategic approach ensures that we secure immediate funding and build a strong foundation for future growth.