Our Investment Thesis and Process
Hillside Ventures was founded to create a space for UConn students passionate about VC while also building on the entrepreneurial infrastructure quickly growing at the University. Our student-led venture fund is established on the thesis of investing in early-stage startups either connected to alumni or that are within the edtech, sustainability, and insurtech industries. Why did Hillside decide to dive into these industries? Within edtech, there is potential and innovation revolving around the students that are our future. In the industry that seeks to integrate technology into various educational spaces, we hope to serve as game-changers by leveraging our college experiences and relevant perspectives. As far as sustainability, Hillside wishes to utilize capital to protect the natural environment, addressing specific issues such as climate, food and agriculture, healthcare, and wildlife. Our last industry focus on insurtech is due to UConn’s strategic location, connection, and network advantage with Hartford. Hartford remains a global leader in insurance and is therefore leading the charge on insurtech innovations for the industry. Last, we hope to be the place that UConn entrepreneurs reach out to when fundraising. To create such a brand, we want to be able to invest in any UConn related startup, regardless of its industry.
In making all of these developmental decisions, we also needed to create a framework for our investments. As mentioned above, we began by creating a thesis that we could later base all of our analyses on and make them the focus of Hillside. A fund brand and culture was also established to influence our future decisions in a specific manner, focusing on utilizing capital to make a positive social impact while having the diverse perspectives necessary to do so. Regarding the investment process, a series of steps has been established for analysts to follow and discern an investable business. Investments are only made after we conduct deep research into the four aforementioned areas, consulting our in-house and alumni subject matter experts along the way. Our thesis focus combined with the extensive research held on each industry allows us a deeper understanding of a startup we may select for further consideration.
Hillside analysts are also responsible for outbound sourcing of potential startups and deals to invest in. Alternatively, the analysts are referred to deals by our amazing alumni network. In their search, the analyst remains focused on the thesis as it relates to Hillside. The analyst then seeks out information directly from the startup’s founders, from people with expertise in the industry, and from their own diligence in order to inform their decision of presenting the company to the team. The analyst comes up with a one-pager or a pitch that consists of key considerations such as the startup’s founding team, competitors, market performance, business model and competitive strategy, and risks involved. Fellow team members and subject matter experts will, then, analyze the one-pager and we collectively decide if we should move forward with it. By expanding on UConn’s entrepreneurial culture and focusing our thesis on a handful of industries, we can make well-informed decisions and differentiate ourselves from other student venture funds. Hillside aims to help grow startups within these areas through investments and consulting plans while being leaders in the student venture fund space.
-
By Melvin André, Analyst