Every early-stage business needs capital to grow, but a company that lacks collateral to procure traditional debt financing and is too immature to interest equity investment can idle for years in a financing limbo.
In Northern New Mexico, the Venture Acceleration Fund helps promising early stage startups get back in gear. And the VAF Enhancement Project now offers additional technical assistance to current and aspiring VAF recipients.
Improving the odds
The VAF began 11 years ago as an initiative of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s management company, Los Alamos National Security. LANS is the primary funder of the VAF, but the counties of Los Alamos and Santa Fe, New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the City of Santa Fe’s Economic Development Department also contribute.
The Regional Development Corporation, a private nonprofit 501(c)3 economic development organization, manages the fund and distributes interest-free loans to eligible companies in seven Northern New Mexico counties that seem most likely to grow and create jobs that improve the region’s economy.
In 2015, RDC received a $249,000 federal grant from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economic Development Administration under the “Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds” section of the Regional Innovation Strategies program. The grant created a VAF Enhancement Project to better prepare recipient businesses to grow beyond…