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FundNV, a for-profit pre-seed venture capital fund based in Las Vegas, has launched its second round of investments that will ultimately invest $2 million in scalable, early revenue Nevada-based startups.
In this second round of investments, FundNV will invest $100,000 per startup in at least 20 Nevada companies over the next 32 to 48 months (3 to 5 companies per year). These investment amounts are double those of the first round of FundNV that began in 2020 and funded 19 companies over 4 years.
One of the companies from the first round of funding was SeeID/Dot Ai, a fast-growing asset intelligence company located in the northwest Las Vegas.
SeeID.Dot Ai founder Charlie Maddox said, “through FundNV and StartUpNV, we received the capital we needed as well as unparalleled mentor resources, exposure to economic development tools, and connections to additional funding sources.”
Like the first round, the current round of FundNV investments will be matched 1:1 by the State of Nevada’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) program, leading to a total of $4 million being invested in the state’s startup economy.
The increase in funding is not the only unique attribute to the second round of the intrastate FundNV. Organized under the first in the nation “Nevada Certified Investor” law that was created by passage of AB75 in 2023 to qualify and enable more people to invest in startups, FundNV will allow investors to participate at lower minimum investment levels.
FundNV’s investment committee meets six times a year to review eligible companies, hear company pitches, and make investment offers. All companies receiving a FundNV investment must participate in the affiliated non-profit, grant-funded StartUpNV accelerator program to ensure optimal performance and provide access to resources, education, and mentorship.
FundNV is a venture capital that invests in exceptional founders and early stage Nevada startups that are in the pre-seed or seed stage. The companies it invests in are at the stage where they have at least a MVP (minimum viable product) or an officially launched product or service. Some companies are even further along and are generating revenue.
The focus is more on business-to-business than direct-to-consumer companies, but more important than type of company is that it wants to back the best founders and startups in Nevada.
The process is competitive. Each year, the fund receives more than 4,000 applications from companies applying to pitch for funding. For every startup it invests in, they see or evaluate more than 140 companies.
FundNV is led its founder Jeff Saling and two Las Vegas businesswomen, Vicki Zhou and Kristin Tomasik, who both have a distinguished track record of supporting high-growth startups in Las Vegas. Both Zhou and Tomasik are native Las Vegans.
Learn more about FundNV at https://fundnv.com and via the informational podcast, “How to 10X Your Money: Inside Nevada’s Investment Fund That’s Beating Silicon Valley: FundNV.”
“With many founders and companies fleeing high-cost centers in California and elsewhere, Nevada is primed to grow a thriving and diverse entrepreneurial economy,” Tomasik said. “FundNV is central to this growth by raising the necessary venture capital to support early-stage companies and broaden the pool of investors in Nevada thanks to the Nevada Certified Investor reforms.”
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