Colorado’s state government is forming a new venture capital fund focused on startups in the state, and it’s aiming to raise $150 million before the fund’s formal summer unveiling.
Gov. John Hickenlooper, attending the Venture Capital in the Rockies annual winter summit in Beaver Creek, told reporters there that $100 million had been raised from Colorado business leaders, according to VentureBeat, an online publication covering the startup funding industry.
Ken Tuchman, founder of Douglas County-based TeleTech Holdings Inc., is the only person mentioned as a contributor to the enture fund.
Money from the state’s Public Employees’ Retirement Association, or PERA, will be used to help in financing rounds from the state venture fund, Hickenlooper said.
The small number of active Colorado-based VC funds is often identified as a problem for the state’s entrepreneurs.