Queen City Angels aims for new $6M fund

Queen City Angels, a frequent investor in early stage healthcare startups, is hoping to raise […]

Queen City Angels, a frequent investor in early stage healthcare startups, is hoping to raise a $6 million fund, its fourth.

The Cincinnati-area angel group is hoping to obtain half of that amount through the state of Ohio’s Third Frontier technology support program, operations manager Jim Cunningham said.

The roughly 50-member QCA has invested about $30 million in 50 companies over its lifetime. Several QCA members are likely among the state’s most active angel investors. The group’s last fund totaled $4 million and also included money from the Third Frontier program.

QCA hopes to close the new fund around the end of the summer, but the timetable depends on the Third Frontier process. “Until we get the grant from the state, the whole thing is contingent,” Cunningham said.

QCA’s healthcare portfolio companies include pharmaceuticals company Akebia Therapeutics, personalized medicine test-maker AssureRx, and medical device companies Neuros Medical and Minimally Invasive Devices — all of which are located in Ohio.

“We’re looking at a wide variety of technologies, but I expect that life sciences and IT would continue to be the preponderance of the deals,” Cunningham said.

Because most of QCA’s investments go to early stage companies, the investments are typically in the range of about $250,000. The group’s biggest deal was a $1.3 million investment in Cincinnati-based advanced materials company Bioformix, Cunningham said.

QCA is a “major backer” of a new Cincinnati health IT accelerator called Innov8 for Health that will provide entrepreneurs with startup funding, mentoring and business planning. “We anticipate that the accelerator will generate health IT opportunities for the fund to invest in,” Cunningham said.

The group will soon welcome several new members, including Jack Wyant, co-founder of Cincinnati’s Blue Chip Ventures, according to Cunningham.

[Photo from flickr user Hannaford]

Shares0
Shares0