East Lansing, MI – Iaso has been selected to receive a $10k investment by the Michigan State University (MSU) Student Venture Capital Fund (MSU SVCF). This spring, Iaso participated in an annual class project with the MSU Finance 444 class taught by Associate Professor Zsuzsanna Fluck, the Director of the Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Finance in the Eli Broad College of Business at MSU. MSU SVCF gives students the opportunity to learn what it is like to be in the venture capital space. The students complete thorough due diligence on participating companies and the top five startups are recommended for funding through Red Cedar Ventures. This is the third year the MSU SVCF has partnered with Red Cedar Ventures to make investments in Michigan-based start-ups.
“It is exciting to announce this year’s winners including Iaso Therapeutics. We appreciate so much the opportunity to partner with the SMSU SVCF and support this educational experience for MSU students while enhancing opportunities and investments with outstanding startups like Iaso.” says Jeff Wesley, Executive Director Red Cedar Ventures.
“Iaso is proud to have been selected by the students.” says Robert Forgey, President and CEO, Iaso Therapeutics. “Iaso has been very successful in supporting the early development of the mQβ vaccine platform through NSF and NIH SBIR grants. However, to accelerate the growth of this technology, Iaso needs to obtain financing from Angels and Venture Capitalist.” Iaso is currently raising a Seed round of financing. The company plans to close on this round in fall 2021.
About IASO Therapeutics: Iaso Therapeutics, Inc. is a start-up company spun out from Michigan State University. The company was founded in 2018 by Dr. Xuefei Huang. Dr. Huang is an MSU Foundation Professor jointly appointed in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan State University. Also, he is a member of the newly formed Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering. With over 25 years of experience, his research program is focused on the development of novel technologies for next generation vaccines, including vaccines targeting both cancer and infectious diseases. Iaso Therapeutics, Inc. aims to translate the cutting-edge technologies developed in the Huang laboratory to promote human health and treat diseases.
About Red Cedar Ventures: Red Cedar Ventures (RCV) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Michigan State University Foundation (MSUF). Founded in 2014, RCV is proud to be the first venture fund in Mid-Michigan. RCV’s objective is to help accelerate the commercialization of startups creating opportunities for MSU technologies, ecosystem partners, and Pure Michigan. Our vision is to be the leading Mid-Michigan Venture Fund providing economic impact for the region and the state with new jobs, new companies, and value-added partnerships.
About MSU Student Venture Capital Fund: The MSU SVCF is a collaboration between the MSU Foundation, the Red Cedar Venture, and the Broad College’s Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity and Entrepreneurial Finance. It makes selects startups for pre-seed investments, conduct due diligence, competitor and monetization analysis and valuation as part of MSU’s FI444 class. The decisions are announced annually on an Investment Celebration event with distinguished VC/PE investors, serial VC-backed entrepreneurs and corporate intrapreneurs.
