Connecticut Technology & Intellectual Property

As anyone who works in the VC/start-up tech space knows, the availability of seed financing for start-ups in the area has been dwindling in recent years, and such scarcity has only become more pronounced in the current tight market conditions.  This is especially true for start-ups in Connecticut, where, outside of the Seed Investment Fund of Connecticut Innovations, seed/angel investors are hard (if not impossible) to find.

Given the scarcity of seed, it is great to hear about the new seed financing initiative being started by Spark Capital called “Start@Spark” .  According to the initiative’s website, Spark Captial started the program because:

[w]e believe that providing entrepreneurs access to early stage capital is critical in building a vibrant eco-system of innovation.  Unfortunately, as our economy works through this time of economic difficulty, normal sources of early stage funding have been reduced.  Fewer angels are investing aggressively and many top tier institutional investors are turning their attention to their existing portfolios.  In this funding environment, Start@Spark is an important source of both capital and acceleration for entrepreneurs.

Start@Spark will initially focus on companies in the Boston and New York areas within their focus area of technology, media, and entertainment.  Their investments “span the full value chain in this sector, including gaming, technology platforms, mobile, advertising, consumer applications, infrastructure, and hardware”.  More details of the program can be found here, and their on-line application for funding can be found here.

It will be interesting to track the activity and success of Start@Spark, as its success may be able to not only “spark” the building of new businesses, but also “spark” the creation of new, much-needed seed sources.

- Gregg J. Lallier