Michael Ravenscroft brings considerable expertise in entrepreneurship and venture investment.
The University System of Maryland (USM) has named Mike Ravenscroft as managing director of the Maryland Momentum Fund (MMF), a $16 million investment fund that supports early stage companies affiliated with USM institutions. Ravenscroft joins USM next week.
Ravenscroft has devoted his career to entrepreneurship and venture investment. He joins MMF from Dreamit Ventures where he worked with emerging digital health and medical device startups and managed a national network of enterprise health care partners and venture funds.
“Mike Ravenscroft brings considerable expertise to this important role as managing director of the Maryland Momentum Fund. We are fortunate to have found someone who has experience both in the venture capital sphere and in prior work with USM institutions,” said USM Senior Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Ellen Herbst. “Mike is well known in the greater Washington and Delmarva regions, another strength that bodes well for the Momentum Fund and his leadership.”
Prior to joining Dreamit, Ravenscroft founded and led re:Founded, a venture advisory firm that specialized in strategic advisory services for venture capital firms, high-growth technology startups, and innovation programs. He also served as a venture associate for the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, College Park where he sourced seed stage venture deals for angel investors and developed relationships with regional angel networks and venture funds. He previously held investment roles at C5 Capital and CIT GAP Funds, where he led investments in seed stage technology startups across industries.
“We’re excited to have Mike Ravenscroft join the Maryland Momentum Fund,” said James L. Hughes, MBA, senior vice president and chief enterprise and economic development officer for the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and director of University of Maryland (UM) Ventures. “The Maryland Momentum Fund is an important tool for USM’s entrepreneurial community, providing not only investment, but also business development support and mentoring. Mike’s first-hand experience launching and investing in early-stage ventures will be a great benefit to the Fund and its portfolio companies.”
Ravenscroft serves on the Advisory Board for Alpine Consolidated, a Washington, D.C.-based venture investment company that specializes in early-stage entrepreneurial companies at the intersection of cyber-security, communications, and civilian-government applications unique to the Capitol marketplace. In this capacity, he works with C-Suite executives and angel investors from around the DMV to source and invest in innovative pre-seed and seed stage product companies. In his spare time, he advises startups and is a mentor at several early-stage accelerators and incubators.
As the MMF managing director, Ravenscroft will work to continue growing USM’s investment portfolio while defining and implementing strategies to meet the fund’s dual objectives of investor returns and economic development. He will lead the sourcing and vetting of prospective companies for MMF investment and, in conjunction with members of UM Ventures and USM teams, will work with early stage companies to provide business advice and counseling to help them achieve success.
Ravenscroft earned a Master of Business Administration from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, a Master of Arts from American University, and a Bachelor of Arts from University of Michigan.
About the USM Momentum Fund
The Maryland Momentum Fund is an initiative of the University System of Maryland (USM) to provide late seed investment funding for promising technology ventures that come out of any of the 12 constituent USM institutions, its research parks, and its students, faculty, or graduates. With an initial $10 million commitment from USM and up to an additional $6 million approved in 2022, the fund co-invests with venture capitalists, foundations, and angel investors.
The Maryland Momentum Fund was established by the USM Board of Regents and invests in USM-affiliated companies to catalyze outside investment in early-stage startups and foster economic development and technology commercialization. Its portfolio companies include: MF Fire, NextStep Robotics, the North American Wave Engine Corporation, Zest Tea, PaverGuide, Retrium, Veralox Therapeutics, Gemstone Biotherapeutics, Secretome Therapeutics (formerly NeoProgen), Minnowtech, ARMR Systems, InferCabulary, Datakwip, pathOtrak, KaloCyte, MiRecule, N5 Sensors, VisiSonics, Voxy EngGen, Dynamhex, TargetDocs, Qualytics, Liatris, AquaLith, GivHero, and Linshom. The fund is designed to create returns and support USM’s most innovative ideas as they enter the marketplace. Learn more at https://momentum.usmd.edu/.