Maverick Venture Fund
The Maverick Venture Fund deploys seed stage funding to local startups. UNO analysts learn the complete process of Venture Capital investing through scouting, due diligence, and tracking investments.
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Summary
The Maverick Venture Fund invests seed capital into startups, especially those founded by UNO students and alumni. Students gain insights into the world of venture capital and angel investing. They learn the key principles and concepts necessary to conduct due diligence, calculate investment returns, write term sheets, make investment recommendations, and manage the investments made in student, alumni and community ventures.
Student cohorts research, recommend and monitor several investments up to $25,000 under the supervision of local venture capitalists who train the students in the art of startup investing. The Maverick Venture Fund has made nine investments, totaling $145,000.
Open to graduate and undergraduate students of any major. One credit hour per semester (3 semesters maximum) is available, but not required, for students who wish to receive it. Credits count towards business administration (BSAD) entrepreneurship (ENTR) or finance (FNBK). Please speak with your degree advisor for more information.
Semester Breakdown
Classes are held in-person & virtually on Tuesdays, between 4:00 P.M. - 6 P.M.
First Semester: BSAD 8776/ENTR 4770 - Introductory Maverick Venture Fund
The class reads and discusses Venture Deals, Forth Edition, by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson, while receiving mentoring from the previous cohort. Students will sit in on pitches from entrepreneurs and observe experienced MVF students make investments.
Second Semester: BSAD 8786/ENTR 4780 - Intermediate Maverick Venture Fund
With the help of MVF mentors, students will network in the community to identify entrepreneurs that will come pitch their businesses to the group. Students are assigned entrepreneurs to act as liaisons for the MVF and guide them through the process. The MVF conducts research and performs due diligence to determine what companies to invest in and for how much.
Third Semester: BSAD 8796/ENTR 4790 - Advanced Maverick Venture Fund
During the final semester, the cohort will continue to work with entrepreneurs and make investments. This semester, the fund focuses on helping companies scale and grow, while mentoring the new MVF cohort.
Why Join the Maverick Venture Fund?
A singular educational opportunity: Students gain real-world experience in a field that is typically very difficult to break into, particularly within the Midwest.
Exposure to the inner workings of startup investing and entrepreneurship: By managing and monitoring a working venture capital fund, students gain valuable insight into the process of startup investing and are often inspired to pursue their own entrepreneurial goals.
An opportunity to learn from diverse perspectives: The Maverick Venture Fund is open to students of any major at UNO, so the venture board is composed of students from a variety of backgrounds. This diversity teaches students to challenge their own perspectives and assumptions, which is key to investing success.
A ripple of economic development: By investing in the community and alumni-owned businesses and startups, the Maverick Venture Fund offers a sorely needed source of early stage venture capital activity in Nebraska.
“Every employer I’ve told about the MVF experience is very impressed, because it’s such a unique opportunity. It helped me get a job as a credit analyst and also gave me a head start because I already had valuable experience.”
— Clarence “Ben” Smith, BSBA, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Economics, 2019
Application Requirements
- At least junior status with three or more semesters remaining
- Master's student with three or more semesters remaining
- Willing to learn and think outside the box
- Commitment to the needs of the fund and its entrepreneurs outside of class
- Submit application (top of page)
- Interview for analyst position
Portfolio Spotlight: Engage Vision
Engage Vision is a retail intelligence company that empowers retailers with data to make informed decisions. Founded in April 2022 by Luis Merino and Jordi Becerril, Engage Vision’s mission is to make data analytics easy to integrate in retail.
Retail stores have vast amount of data that has been left untapped. Engage Vision can analyze this data to determine where customers spend their time within a store, how long they engage with a display, and the paths they travel throughout the store.
Engage Vision is able to use the on-site cameras retailers have to monitor customer shopping behavior, product engagement, and operations. Engage Vision differentiates as competitors typically charge for new hardware, installation of said hardware, and the software.
Are you interested in learning more about Engage Vision? Do you know any community members in the machine learning or retail space? Are you interested in implementing the Engage Vision technology into your retail store? If you’d like to learn more visit engagevision.ai.
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