A startup-focused fund from DePaul University has made its third and fourth investments, selecting two companies in very different areas of business.
The DePaul Halperin Emerging Company Fund has awarded $100,000 to both Alphathena, an AI-powered investment firm, and Mooski Snacks, a maker of fresh granola bars
The new investments represent DePaul's continued push into the city's startup and tech scene. The school late last year was named by Princeton Review as one of the nation's top 10 universities for undergraduate schools for entrepreneurial studies.
"Our goal is to diversify the portfolio and make investments across different industries and the stages of the companies," Emily Doyle, director of emerging company programs at DePaul's Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, told Chicago Inno. "When we can, we love to invest in DePaul-affiliated companies."
The fund was established in 2022 by DePaul alumni Errol Halperin and his wife, Libby.
The fund's first investment was a $100,000 award in May 2023 to Visual Feeder, an experiential media company founded by alumni. Its second investment, also for $100,000, went to talent-development accelerator Bonfire — one of Chicago Inno's Startups to Watch for 2024.
Warrenville-based Alphathena is also on the Startups to Watch list.
Mooski started in California but has local manufacturing ties in Chicago.
"It's really an exciting time for DePaul to be in this space and to have a fund," Doyle said. "It definitely strengthens our ties to the entrepreneurial ecosystem."
The fund invests anywhere between $50,000 and $150,000.
"We many not be the largest check in the round of investment, but we do try to leverage the DePaul network and our advisory board members and different contacts in the community through the Coleman Center to give these founders access to a wider network and community," Doyle said.
The fund hopes to build a portfolio of companies, and if there are any profits or successful exits, those returns would go back into the fund for future investments.
