The Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (aka SVASE) has set up a new seed funding program for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs in conjunction with newly established early-stage investment firm Cambridge West Ventures.
On the East Coast, meanwhile, things are in motion too, with the introduction of a new seed startup fund dubbed IA Venture Strategies that was founded by New York angel investor Roger Ehrenberg.
SVASE and Cambridge West Ventures are looking to connect with startups and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, and have developed a program apt for very early-stage companies. Selected startups are eligible for up to $50,000 in venture capital in return for an unspecified ‘modest stake’ and deferred legal costs up to $15,000 from certain law firms from the region.
The program also includes access to Sun Microsystems and Microsoft startup programs for software and hardware related support, as well as access to all SVASE events for 6 months and its network of VCs, attorneys and other useful partners.
More info is available on the SVASE website.
As for NYC-based IA Venture Strategies, this is a seed fund established by Roger Ehrenberg, a Wall Street vet that has been advising and operating dozens of early-stage companies across the financial technology, digital media and asset management sectors over the past few years. In an interview with peHUB’s Dan Primack, Ehrenberg disclosed that he’s raising up to $25 million for his new fund, and that he will focus on “big data” startups and invest seed capital up to $750k in each of them.
More info about the new seed fund here, and for an overview of what’s going on in the Big Apple, check out Chris Dixon’s take on the news.