University Venture Fund gets final closing on $18 million

The University Venture Fund on Monday announced it has achieved a final closing of $18 million in funding.

UVF is one of only a few business school venture capital funds, which teach students entrepreneurship by investing in risky — yet potentially rewarding — start-up companies rather than in safer stocks of public corporations.

UVF is a collaboration among students, the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business and the professional investment community. Created in 2001, UVF models a real-world approach to business education with a self-sustaining private equity fund in which students raise the capital, research the investments and pitch the deals. It is also the first fund to have a traditional limited partner relationship with investors who anticipate reasonable payback.