The primary goal of the Student Venture Fund (SVF) is to provide students with hands-on training in venture capital investing with guidance from industry experts and supervision by finance faculty.
The SVF will allow students to evaluate founding management, complete market research, value companies, conduct thorough due diligence, recommend and make investment recommendations, work with other angel and institutional investors, and manage a portfolio of investments in early stage companies.
How it works
The SVF has a generous commitment of $1MM from an anonymous donor. $500k has been committed for investing in the Fall 2017 term. The fund’s long-term goal is to raise $2MM capital.
The investment objective of the SVF is to generate long-term growth of its assets by earning a return on invested capital commensurate with its risk class while prudently managing risk.
Students participating in the SVF will be organized into transaction teams, each consisting of 3-4 Analysts led by an Associate and advised by a Faculty Supervisor. Each transaction team will be responsible for:
- Reviewing potential investments
- Completing all appropriate due diligence
- Preparing an appropriate proposed Transaction Summary for review by Faculty Supervisors and the Investment Committee
- Completing all appropriate follow up with investee companies, including reviewing financial statements and other investor information and preparing SVF internal investment updates
- Travel throughout southern Ontario to visit potential investee companies, Angel Networks, and Venture Capitalists, and must demonstrate a willingness to do so
What you will learn:
- Hands-on training in early stage investment
- Engagement with entrepreneurs
- Work with other angel, venture capital and institutional investors
- Prepare for a career in venture capital investing
Applying to the Fund
The call for applications for the Spring term will be sent in late October/early November, and for the Fall and Winter terms in July.
Requirements for Application
We invite applications for the Student Venture Fund from the following:
- Enrolled in the following programs: AFM, Biotechnology/CPA, CFM, Mathematics/ CPA, Master of Accounting and MBET
- Can be involved as early as the second year for SAF students and the second term for MBET students
- Managerial Finance 2 (AFM 274), Corporate Finance 2 (AFM 372) or MBET Finance course
- Students cannot be enrolled concurrently in the SVF and the Student Investment Fund
Application Process
Apply to the fund with a resume, cover letter and unofficial transcript. The cover letter should address the following:
- Your interest in early stage investing
- Relevant work or investing experience you have
- Description of the emerging technologies that most interest you, with reasons
- Ability to travel throughout GTA/K-W corridor
- Demonstrated ability for self-directed work
- Demonstrated work ethic
Students will be selected through an application and interview process based on academic performance, work experience, aptitude, work ethic and interest in entrepreneurship.
Students selected to the fund will be enrolled in:
- AFM 418 PRJ (0.25) – Special Topics in Finance or Accounting (Student Venture Fund) and will receive a CR/NCR grade.
Classes are held on Tuesdays from 5:30-8:20pm.
Student Roles
- Analyst (~9) - This will generally be the first role that students are involved in when they join the SVF team. Analysts will primarily assist in industry and company analysis and specific deal due diligence
- Associates (~6) - will attend investment meetings, supervise analysts and oversee their analysis, organize due diligence, and be involved in deal terms. They will also be responsible for monitoring current holdings. Associates will also be responsible for generating deal term sheets to be reviewed by the Investment Committee, and working with co-investors to close and fund the deals.