Countless startups, such as Sun, Yahoo and Google (as well as newcomers like Meebo) were started at Stanford, or by Stanford graduates. Now Stanford wants to help its students by providing seed funding directly, and in the process will get a little equity in those new ideas, too.
Stanford Student Enterprises, a Stanford student association with several hundred employees and $13 million in assets, has launched an early stage venture fund called SSE Ventures to invest directly in student founded startups.
Until now, the organization has focused on managing various investments, operating a student banking service, managing Stanford’s phone directors and selling Stanford apparel.
The new entity, founded by Matt McDonald, Matt McLaughlin, Samuel Lipsick and Brian Chavarria, says it will invest $50,000 or $100,000 in each approved proposal from Stanford undergraduate or graduate students.
SSE Ventures has also put together an advisory board to help review proposals. The board includes The Founders Fund, Charles River Ventures and angel investor Rajeev Motwani. Of course, those advisory members will be getting an early look at all of these startups, making it well worth their time.