Atland Ventures, a local venture capital firm run entirely by college students at the University of Minnesota, announced Monday that it added three more startups to its growing portfolio.
Atland said in a release that it has backed SnapSHYFT, Stackin' and a third undisclosed urban-mobility company. Indianapolis-based SnapSHYFT connects restaurants, bars and hospitality venues with workers when they are short-staffed. It participated in Gener8tor's Wisconsin-based accelerator program last fall. Created by the co-founders of media site UPROXX, Los Angeles-based Stackin' is a financial-education platform that teaches its users how to invest.
With these new investments, Atland now has five companies in its portfolio. Last year, it backed two buzzy local startups: St. Paul-based Structural, which makes human-resources software, and Minneapolis-based Dispatch, which makes an app for B2B deliveries.
Atland works with groups like Gopher Angels, a Minneapolis-based network of angel investors that mostly backs Midwestern startups, to source its deals. Students then perform rigorous research on the company and its industry, which they present to potential investors.
Students earn compensation on investments through carried interest, which represents a cut of profits received by investors in the fund.
Atland Managing Partner Lucas Vaz previously told Minne Inno that the firm invests an average of $25,000 into each portfolio company. The group is in the process of raising its second fund, which they hope to close next month. After that, Atland aims to invest an average of $30,000 in around 35 companies within the next several years.
Atland is more than just a casual college club. It's a real venture capital firm in just about every way, and few are accepted into its ranks. Of the 150 applicants that recently applied to join Atland, just seven were accepted. Atland is now composed of 26 students representing 14 different majors, coming from four different colleges across the University.
