Cintrifuse, a corporate-backed non-profit organisation that supports entrepreneurialism in the Cincinnati area, has provided an undisclosed amount of money for venture capital fund Lerer Hippeau Ventures IV, according to a report on Soapboxmedia.
Lerer Hippeau Ventures has more than $130m under management and has invested in online news and entertainment site Buzzfeed and beauty grooming product site Birchbox. It had raised $62m for its fourth fund as of late June.
Eric Hippeau, managing director at Lerer Hippeau Ventures, said: “Since our founding four years ago, we’ve been focused primarily on fuelling the New York and West Coast tech scenes. With our fourth fund, we’re looking forward to selectively seeking investment opportunities outside these regions.
“Cincinnati is particularly interesting with a great deal of startup growth potential, and we are extremely excited to be partnering with Cintrifuse, which sits at the centre of innovation in the city.”
Based on Michigan’s Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, the $55m Cintrifuse fund of funds is a for-profit fund operated by Cintrifuse Fund Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cintrifuse, and backed by investors including energy company Duke Energy, and consumer goods company Procter & Gamble.