The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) and the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority (BFTDA) announced it awarded $2.5 million to a Pittsburgh-based fund from 3 Points Rising Ventures, a firm that is looking to invest in up to 15 western Pennsylvania-based startups per year.
More specifically, 3PR's 3 Points Rising Ventures Equity I LP fund will look to invest up to $2 million per early stage technology company it places in its portfolio, which will primarily target business-to-business software companies. It's being established by the co-founder of Pittsburgh Equity Partners Fund Ed Engler, as well as by Karl Thomas, a business developer with the Swartz Center at Carnegie Mellon University who was also previously an engineer at Michael Baker Corp.
“When we invest in companies that innovate and make change, we invest in the future of Pennsylvania,” Acting DCED Sec. Neil Weaver said in a press release. “Providing funding for venture capital firms that finance start-up companies in the commonwealth helps create opportunities for growth for our communities."
DCED's and BFTDA's involvement in a funding award to a Pittsburgh-based VC firm that's looking to do local deals comes just months after it did the same with BTVC Fund I LP, which is managed by Pittsburgh investment firm BlueTree Capital Group. The fund received $1 million to invest in early stage technology companies throughout the region and in the Midwest, though the first investment that it made back in March went to a Rehoboth, Delaware-based company called Instant Teams.
