PROVIDENCE – After more than 15 years of advocating for the private sector to take a bigger role investing in early-stage startups, Richard G. Horan is looking to partake in the effort.
Horan earlier this month stepped down as senior managing director of the Slater Technology Fund, a publicly funded venture capital firm in Providence, to launch Biograph Venture Development LLC, a private venture capital firm.
Redefining Higher Education: The Strategic Imperative of a Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree
For over a century, the structure of undergraduate education has remained largely unchanged—typically requiring four…
Learn More
The company is still being set up, but Horan said the broad idea is to create a private venture capital firm to invest in life science and biotechnology startups in Rhode Island.
“I’m quite bullish on the prospect of life science and biotech business here in Rhode Island,” Horan said. “Access to capital is an important issue and I’ve been an advocate in engaging the private sector more actively in that regard.”
Indeed, beyond the Slater Fund, which is publicly funded, venture capital is scant in Rhode Island. Unlike the startup powerhouses of Boston-Cambridge and New York City, the Ocean State hasn’t had much in the way of private early-stage investment firms since Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s former company – then called Point Judith Capital – picked up and moved to Boston in 2012.
The idea behind Biograph Venture Development, Horan explained, is to set up a private-funding source parallel to Slater, which operates as a nonprofit and with a finite amount of money. The private firm will augment the ongoing efforts at Slater, and subsequently give startups greater access to much-needed early-stage capital.
How exactly the fund will be set up is still being determined, but Horan has stepped down from his leadership role at Slater to head the effort. He believes the timing is right to launch such a project.
“The timing is favorable from my perspective,” Horan said. “I’ve wanted – for quite some time – to pursue venture development on a more traditional and private basis.”
Thorne Sparkman, formerly the managing director at Slater, has taken over as senior managing director. He was travelling on Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
Horan said he will maintain an active role at Slater, serving on various boards and helping to develop portfolio companies. Biograph Venture Development, he added, aligns with his long-ongoing efforts to bolster the Rhode Island startup community.
“I’ve been with Slater for 15 years and we’ve had great success as an economic development fund,” he said. “This represents a next chapter for me to continue to pursue this work from the private sector.”
Eli Sherman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Sherman@PBN.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.
