Your Window Into the Innovation Economy

When we started Alumni Ventures (AV) in 2014, we commonly heard comments like “will this work?” and “can you really scale this business?” Since then, we’ve built a venture investing engine that is unique, serving to substantially grow venture access for both accredited individuals and entrepreneurs.

AVTV features Doorvest, a real estate investing platform helping investors identify and buy single-family rental properties. AVTV videos feature Alumni Ventures’ portfolio companies sharing their stories and asks with our community.

Quantum computers are one of the most significant advancements of the century, as they solve computational problems substantially faster than traditional computer systems. A significant adoption of quantum solutions is expected across industries in the next few years, including real-world applications in pharmaceutical development, energy, logistics, data security, and other applications that rely on massive data inputs.

MANCHESTER, NH, JUNE 8, 2022 — Alumni Ventures (AV), one of the world’s most active venture capital firms, recently announced a second annual vintage of its Blockchain Fund to meet investor demand. AV’s fall 2021 Blockchain Fund was one of its largest fundraises to date, and the firm had to establish a waitlist to accommodate interest. AV’s spring 2022 Blockchain Fund will allow additional accredited investors to own a diversified portfolio of venture-backed companies using blockchain technology to innovate across industries.

We’re pleased to welcome Alex Attard-Manché as a Principal for The Yard Ventures, Alumni Ventures’ fund for Harvard alumni and friends of the community. Alex is experienced in strategy, operations, and investing, with a particular passion for investments within the media, technology and sports, and consumer industries. Read more about her background and why she decided to join AV.

Spring is the right time to celebrate entrepreneurship at Dartmouth! From May 12-14, I headed to Hanover for the dedication of the new West End. The title of the event, “Dartmouth Innovation and Technology Festival,” speaks to the excitement on campus and in the Dartmouth ecosystem around startups. So thrilling! See below to read my key takeaways from the event.

Aging in place offers individuals a more positive, comfortable, and affordable experience than nursing homes or assisted living facilities. In addition to being more cost-effective, aging in place also helps people maintain freedom and independence. It can also slow the advancement of memory loss, as patients remain connected to a similar setting and social network. Unfortunately, even with these benefits, there is a significant lack of systems and tools to enable individuals to age in place.

Alumni Ventures’ 10,000 Entrepreneurs Program (10KE) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2022 scholarship award!

Application security testing (AST) is the process of making applications more resistant to security threats by identifying weaknesses in source code, open source libraries, APIs, and running applications. Traditionally, AST has been performed at the end of a development cycle, often resulting in development delays due to application rejection.

Below are case studies on two notable healthtech investments from Alumni Ventures’ portfolio. American Gene Technologies is developing and commercializing genetic medicines targeting major diseases, while SonderMind is a behavioral health network addressing the three-sided marketplace between consumers, therapists, and enterprise partners. Both companies demonstrate our ability to identify and secure investments in high-potential healthtech opportunities, which we’ll aim to do for this year’s Healthtech Fund. Investors in the fund will own a diversified portfolio of ~20-30 companies developing impactful healthtech and biotech solutions to address addiction, obesity, Alzheimer’s, cancer, genomics, longevity, and more.

Car and automobile manufacturing is a booming industry, with the market at $104 billion in the U.S. alone. Add in the growing popularity and demand for fuel-friendly vehicles, and the industry potential grows exponentially. However, while economically beneficial, companies now have the additional challenge of manufacturing these innovations without disrupting current business operations.