Renaissance Venture Capital Fund (RVCF) is a venture capital role model for Detroit. In this Crain’s article, Tom Henderson talks about how RVCF is held up as a leader for large companies investing in start-ups and how the Cincinnati region was encouraged to follow in RVCF’s footsteps.
Excerpt:
Several months ago, P&G officials contacted Rizik and told him they were doing a clone. Called Cintrifuse, it has raised $55 million thus far, and P&G has lent its vice president of global business development, Jeff Weedman, to lead it for two years.
“When we formed Renaissance, I kept saying that if what we did worked, it would become a model for the rest of the national as a way to increase capital and innovation in regions that are underserved,” says Rizik. “It was very cool for us that they found us via a McKinsey study that identified us as the best model. Good news for us and for Michigan.”