URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Fall_2021_Melissa-McCarthy

“At a university level, in other highly capitalized areas, we’re seeing tons of startup activity with access to capital that is driving major valuations and a lot of opportunities,” Sperry says. “I would hope we can deliver that in Rhode Island as well, but that is yet to be seen.” According to Sperry, many universities are now recognizing entrepreneurship as a core of their curriculum and he aims to help this happen at URI. In addition to managing the fund, RVP provides additional resources to universities and entrepreneurs that they work with by collaborating closely with the intellectual property offices, teaching case study classes in business schools, providing mentorship for capstone projects, providing entrepreneur mentorship for students and professors, as well as assisting with making network connections, portfolio reviews and early business development advice.

“Rogue wants to be a central figure in working to look at the best and brightest opportunities and hopefully find some entrepreneurs and startups that we can back,” Sperry says. “We would like to work with the different departments within the University to build out an entrepreneurial ecosystem in classes and work with alumni to find great ideas.” Creating the fund in Rhode Island with URIRF support, says Sperry, will create the next generation of wealth and great startups and allow Rhode Island to shine as a new area of opportunity for young entrepreneurs coming out of the University and throughout the country. As this issue of Momentum goes to print, this new VC fund already has invested in a startup tech company that is being led by a URI alumnus, and a novel smartphone app company that spun out of RIHUB, one of the new innovation campuses (article on page 18).

THOMAS SPERRY Co-Founder and Managing Partner Rouge Venture Partners

This new VC fund has already invested in a start-up tech company that is being led by a URI alumnus, and a novel smartphone app company that spun out of RIHUB, one of the new innovation campuses.

FALL | 2021 Page 25