New fund available for Pirate entrepreneurs

Jamerus Payton and family celebrate winning the 2022 Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge. (ECU Photo by Cliff Hollis)

The new Pirate Entrepreneurship Fund (PEF), announced last week, will invest in companies with a direct relationship with East Carolina University.

To learn more about it, you can follow this link.

Businesses eligible for potential investment(s) include startups by ECU students, faculty, physicians, clinicians, alumni, IP licensees and industrial research partners.  Even startups created by parents of ECU students would be eligible.  The fund will be managed by East Carolina Angels, an angel investor network that was launched in 2019.

According to Dr. Mike Harris, director of the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, he’s excited about the fund because “it’s another available tool to provide funding opportunities for Pirate entrepreneurs.” Harris points to the example where the recent winner of this year’s Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge, Carolina Chicken & Waffles, will have $15,000 in optional equity investment via the Pirate Entrepreneurship Fund.

Van Isley ECU ’85, an entrepreneur himself, says the fund is just one more piece of the ever-evolving equation that makes ECU’s entrepreneurship program one of the best in the country.

“Comprehensive resources that now include the Miller School, Crisp Small Business Center, a new innovation hub and the PEF are coming together to provide unique opportunities that truly have the potential to make a significant difference in the region for many years to come,” said Isley.

For more information, please contact the fund manager at info@eastcarolinaangels.com.

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