PSU COURSE GIVES STUDENTS HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE INVESTING IN IMPACTFUL STARTUPS

Similar to many other students at The School of Business, Keegan Emrick had earned a bachelor’s degree and worked for a few years before continuing his education. The Eugene native chose Portland State University to pursue his MBA degree.

“Being in Portland was important to me and I felt PSU is ingrained in the local business community. There are many opportunities to connect with businesses around us. And its sustainability focus is pretty renown,” Emrick said.

PSU’s unique, graduate-level Impact Ventures course intrigued him.

“Impact Ventures is a three-term course that gives students networking opportunities and hands-on experiential learning on how to finance a start-up from the perspective of the entrepreneur and the investor,” said Julie Hackett, academic director for the Master of Science in Finance and Master of Taxation programs.

Students meet regularly with angel investors and venture capital partners to assess investment opportunities, largely from Pacific Northwest entrepreneurs, said Hackett.

“I don’t feel like a student when I meet with the investors,” said Emrick. “I have value to add, and they take my input seriously. It feels more like a business than a class. It’s very collaborative. It’s been a very positive experience for me.”

The students make recommendations to the Investment Committee that manages PSU’s Impact Investment Fund.

The committee has agreed with most of the students’ recommendations. The fund has invested $25,000 each in three start-ups.

Some other universities also offer courses involving a student-led investment fund. What makes PSU’s fund unique is it focuses on investing solely in new companies that have the potential to make a social and/or ecological impact, as well as an economic one.

The course is a differentiator for PSU, said Tom Kingsley, chair of the Impact Investment Fund Committee.

“It’s very appealing to our MBA and MSF students. It’s part of the Social Impact Entrepreneurship umbrella at The School of Business,” Kingsley said.

Started By Four Students

Alexis Nelson had also started her career before continuing her education at PSU in 2017. Nelson read about impact investment funds at universities in other states. She was surprised to learn PSU did not have one already.

“That’s when I said to three of my student colleagues, ‘Let’s start one ourselves.’ I had no idea what it would look like or be like,” said Nelson.

Nelson spoke with Dean Cliff Allen in early 2018. He approved Nelson’s request to study options and write a proposal for starting an impact investment fund at PSU.

The review and approval process took about 18 months. The PSU Board of Trustees approved the concept, and the school launched the fund in 2020.

“At that time, it was the fastest any university got a fund up and running. It usually took other schools up to three years,” said Nelson. “We thought we could be the first university venture capital impact fund in all of the Pacific Northwest. And it was.”

Nelson graduated in 2019. She went on to do a Fellowship with Beneficial State Foundation. She landed a leadership position with a sustainability start-up and now serves on the fund’s investment committee.

“It’s exciting to see it come to life and grow. Students want to be in it. People want to donate to it,” said Nelson. “Any student who goes through the program will get something from it. It’s such a unique and interesting experience.”

Still Building the Program

Kingsley, a Portland entrepreneur and business expert, served as a PSU adjunct instructor for an earlier version of the course.

The goal is for the fund to become self-sustaining and hopefully produce a profit that can pay for scholarships, internships and program expenses, said Kingsley. But its primary purpose is to provide a learning opportunity.

Funding the Fund

The committee members have talked with high-net-worth individuals and foundations about donating to the fund.

One of those individuals is Deborah Kane of Portland. Kane was not familiar with PSU before a friend asked her in 2017 to teach a course there.

“I was immediately struck by the caliber of the students and the quality of the institution,” she said. “I also realized PSU is a phenomenal resource to Portland and the community.”

In 2016 Kane started and led a small, all-female company that connects travelers with people willing to rent out their RV or camper van.

Kane sold the firm in 2021. She used some of the proceeds to support women-owned startups and other female-focused organizations. Kane donated $25,000 to the PSU Investment Fund, requesting her gift aid female entrepreneurs.

One Such Start-up

One of the entrepreneurs the fund has supported is Roslyn Hendriks, Ph.D., MBA and CEO of Tend Health (formerly MicrobiomX).

Hendriks co-founded her Seattle company in 2020. It provides products and services to make it “radically easier for researchers, clinicians and patients to access and understand the natural healing superpower of the gut microbiome,” according to its web site.

When her team sought seed funding, Hendriks pitched Tend to the students and angel investors.

“We also assisted in training some of the students to assess investment opportunities,” she said.

Tend Health received $25,000 from PSU as part of the $2.5 million it raised from investors.

“It made a difference. We value every investment,” she said. “It was a very positive experience for us, particularly our engagement with the students. The staff and students were a delight to deal with.”

An Experienced Instructor

Himalaya Rao-Potlapally has been the adjunct instructor for the Impact Ventures course since 2021. She’s well suited for the role. She has worked in the venture capital field for years and even started and managed two funds.

There is not a lot of diversity in the field in terms of the investors or the entrepreneurs; the course is helping to change that, said Rao-Potlapally.

“I definitely bring a different perspective to the venture capital world,” said Rao-Potlapally, who also co-founded and serves as managing director of the Black Founders Matter fund. “Mine is a story of the possibilities that can happen.”