ORLANDO, Fla. - Sept. 2, 2015 - PRLog -- On August 25th, Orange County tendered a vote of confidence—and $100,000—to FireSpring Fund, the seed-stage investment fund that will provide educational programs and funding to early-stage technology companies in the Central Florida region.
Championed by Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, the award of funds from Orange County’s Board of County Commissioners adds $100,000 to prior funding of more than $600,000, including a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Association and matching funds from other supporters. FireSpring Fund plans to meet its first-year funding goal of $1 million by year-end and launch its first advanced business accelerator class in January 2016. FireSpring Fund’s goal is to raise $5 million over five years.
“Nurturing our high-tech sector is vital for long-term economic diversification and sustained job creation,” said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs. “The FireSpring Fund represents precisely the kind of strategic investment and support that is so important to innovation-driven sectors. Particularly as Orange County continues to grow its digital, high-tech, and modeling-simulation industries, FireSpring Fund will be a welcome addition.”
Donna Mackenzie, FireSpring Fund’s Executive Director, adds, “This contribution from Orange County is an investment towards solidifying our reputation as a sought-after region to seed, grow and sustain high-growth, high-potential technology businesses. I couldn’t be more pleased at this support from Orange County.”
FireSpring Fund has a two-fold mission: 1) build the region’s technology and creative community by investing in promising companies, and 2) increase access to capital for these promising companies and create a diverse technology ecosystem that reflects our community. It will offer these companies equity based funding in a series of milestone-based investments.
Ultimately, the realization of this mission will synch exactly with the vision of FireSpring Fund’s founders and supporters, to brand the region as the center in the Southeast for innovation and create an ecosystem for entrepreneurs, technologists and the creative class.
About FireSpring Fund
FireSpring Fund was founded in April 2015 to provide seed capital to early-stage technology companies that show significant growth potential and a broad national or international reach of customers. It is led by experienced local business people and community leaders. It is housed within Canvs, the downtown Orlando coworking space, but is a separate 501(c)(3) with its own Board of Directors. For more information, visit FireSpring Fund’s Facebook page or follow @FireSpringFund on Twitter.
FireSpring Fund is not affiliated with or officially connected with Firespring. The Firespring trademark remains the exclusive property of Firespring. For Firespring information, visit http://www.firespring.org/.
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