YBI announces new investment fund

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Business Incubator’s recently announced investment fund potentially could mean new business for the Mahoning Valley.

Valley Growth Ventures LLC, a partnership of YBI, Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center in Warren and the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp., is in the early stages of capitalizing the fund.

Ernie Knight, the fund manager of VGV, said investors are not being broadly solicited at this point.

The fund will focus on providing growth capital to software, energy, advanced- materials and additive- manufacturing firms in the Mahoning Valley, but potentially across Ohio.

The fund will be professionally managed in the Valley, which could be an incentive for firms to relocate to the area, said Dave Nestic, chief executive of regional operations of TBEIC.

“This would be an extremely good thing for the Mahoning Valley,” he said.

YBI mainly works with software and additive- manufacturing startups, whereas TBEIC works with energy startups.

But both have a lot of opportunities to bring to the fund.

“We’re both bringing deal flow to the table,” Nestic said.

The fund also will be proposed to receive state dollars from the Ohio Third Frontier program in mid-September, which would match investor dollars.

“Things are just getting started,” he said.

Knight said the fund as an entity will move forward regardless of whether it will receive state money.