Copyright © 2014, The Oklahoma Publishing Company
The i2E OK Angel Sidecar Fund and StartOK Accelerator Fund recently closed a $100,000 investment in Oklahoma City-based SIVI, part of a $340,000 investment round that also included the SeedStep Angels and the VentureSpur accelerator.
A recent graduate of Oklahoma City’s VentureSpur accelerator, SIVI has created an online education product called LaunchLeader that combines activities, challenges and rewards to help aspiring entrepreneurs advance their concepts toward the marketplace.
“The funding will be used primarily for personnel and product development,” said Ashok Kamal, SIVI co-founder and CEO. “We’re creating a virtual incubation platform that not only prepares entrepreneurs for launch but also evaluates entrepreneurs for investors.”
The OK Angel Sidecar Fund and StartOK Accelerator Fund are two of three Accelerate Oklahoma! investment vehicles created in 2011 by i2E through a partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and the U.S. Treasury State Small Business Credit Initiative. These funds invest alongside angel groups, individual investors and other organized funds to increase the value of an investment round in an individual company.
The SeedStep Angels were founded by i2E in 2009 and now have chapters in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Ardmore. Investments by SeedStep Angels members now total more than $4 million since the group was founded.
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