PROVIDENCE – Slater Technology Fund on Monday said it closed on a special-purpose vehicle for HappyNest Inc., a technology-enabled laundry pickup and delivery service.
The SPV is a for-profit entity consisting of private investors and Slater that is organized as a limited partnership. Slater Managing Partner Thorne Sparkman said that to date, the SPV had raised over a half million dollars in capital for HappyNest. Sparkman said that the fund operates like a venture fund with only one investment – acting as a shareholder in the company.
Slater in 2019 invested $250,000 in HappyNest, which was founded by John MacKrell and is now expanding nationwide from its headquarters in East Greenwich. The new funding vehicle allows Slater to actively participate in fundraising for a company it already has an investment in.
Sparkman said that the SPV fundraising method is, “another arrow in the quiver” for Slater, allowing it to augment investment money the fund can raise for companies in addition to its funding from the state and its evergreen capital. “We are always trying to evolve our business model to get more done.”
He added that the SPV format also allows Slater to allocate its resources to coordinate operations and invest additional time, to give investors more confidence in their investment.
“Slater is committed to finding new ways and new partners to support innovation in the region,” said Sparkman. “The funds are a great mechanism to bring investment opportunities to a larger audience of eager investors, and to pull in advisers from Slater’s network in a meaningful way.”
Slater Technology Fund had already previously directly invested in HappyNest in 2019.
