2-16-2024 4:49am

FORMER RAVEN TO

A former Raven and Super Bowl champion spearheaded a new fund for Towson StarTUp entrepreneurs

The Tiger Fund, launched by the acclaimed NFL punter, aims to offer alums of the university’s accelerator a unique pathway to funding. It’s one of several opportunities on StarTUp’s horizon.

(L TO R) PATRICK MCQUOWN, ALFRED KO AND KYLE RICHARDSON.(COURTESY PATRICK MCQUOWN)

In addition to providing opportunities for youth and free coworking space, The StarTUp facility at Towson University is introducing a new avenue of support tailored for alumni and prospective cohort members of its signature accelerator.

The Tiger Fund, launched by former Baltimore Ravens player, past Super Bowl champion and entrepreneur Kyle Richardson, is set to launch with an inaugural information session this week.

According to Patrick McQuown, Towson University’s executive director of entrepreneurship and founder of StarTUp, attendees will have the opportunity to gain insights into what makes this new fund unique.

“There’s not going to be any management fee because there’s no need to have one,” said McQuown, who explained that a departure from the traditional 2/20 model will allow for more direct deployment of capital into selected ventures. “Because again, they’re going through the accelerator, and then I say, ‘Hey, here’s, who I like.’ [After] they’re with us for eight weeks, we get to see, are they real? Are they BS? How? How coachable are they? How hard are they going into the market? You know, what’s their sales cycle? We can obviously get more due diligence than any VC can.”

This new fund, like many others, will be overseen by a managing partner: Towson University alum and VC Alfred Ko of StepStone Group, which McQuown described as a fund-of-funds firm. Ko said that the fund exists simply for limited partners that want to support Baltimore’s innovation economy.

“Patrick has just done a magical job in his last few years here at Towson’s StarTUp accelerator,” said Ko. “He’s already seen several exits from his cohorts, and so we thought this was a good time to launch a fund. This fund is not for anyone, I mean, [myself] or Patrick to make money in any way. There’s no economics in it for us.”

With a focus on community impact, the fund eliminates carry economics entirely, ensuring that investor funds are primarily directed toward supporting startups.

While funds are currently limited to StarTUp accelerator alums and participants, the fund is still open to investors.

“[We] have people who have definitely expressed interest [in The Tiger Fund] and they’re ready to write checks,” said Ko, who hopes to get some larger partners on board at the information session on Wednesday.

There aren’t any public links to be shared for the Tiger Fund at this time. McQuown encourages any investors, past StarTUp cohort members and prospective members to email him directly at pmcquown@towson.edu to register for the Tiger Fund info session on Thursday.

RSVP FOR THE TIGER FUND INFO SESSION

While the fund is not generally open to all Baltimore entrepreneurs, it could be open to others: Applications for Towson’s eight-week, cohort-based fellowship are open until March 29 at midnight. Potential StarTUp accelerator applicants can also learn more about the accelerator at a pair of information sessions on Feb. 21 and March 21.

STARTUP ACCELERATOR INFO SESSION ON FEB. 21

STARTUP ACCELERATOR INFO SESSION ON MARCH 21

APPLY TO THE STARTUP ACCELERATOR BY MARCH 29

Plans for a venture studio

In addition to seeking potential Tiger Fund investors, McQuown is in the final stages of establishing a venture studio within StarTUp, in collaboration with a big local company that McQuown declined to specify at the time. The studio is expected to launch within the next two months.

McQuown is actively searching for a CEO with startup experience who can work closely with the board of directors to implement effective go-to-market strategies. Stay tuned for more information on that.