Connecticut Innovations (CI) invested $30.9 million in businesses during fiscal year 2016, the organization reported this week, largely in the bioscience arena.
The unaudited $30.9 million figure represents CI’s full traditional equity program plus any deals done through the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund, which is just one of several funding sources.The comparable number for FY 2015 was about $21.3 million, said David Wurzer, CI’s executive vice president and chief investment officer.
Of the funding invested, 68 percent was in bioscience, and the remaining 32 percent supported both information technology and clean-energy technology, said Wurzer.
The growth at The Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, plus the availability of funding through the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund allowed CI to pursue “bioscience-related opportunities,” Wurzer said.
The majority of that $30.9 was invested in companies where CI is taking ownership positions in the form of equity or convertible debt, he said.
CI’s three largest investments included etouches of Norwalk, with CI investing $2 million and another $18 million leveraged; IsoPlexis of Branford, with CI investing $1.5 million and $3.4 million leveraged; and Arccos Golf of Stamford, with CI investing $1.5 million and $2.5 million leveraged, Wurzer said.
In addition, Connecticut Innovations took a lead position in more than 80 percent of its financing deals in 2016, and those investments leveraged an additional $97.5 million from other investors, including private, angel and venture capital firms, he added. That’s an increase compared with the $89.6 million leveraged in FY2015, he said.
The Rocky Hill-based organization supports and helps finance Connecticut’s innovative, growing companies using a mix of its own funds and resources from other financial leaders.
Dollars invested in companies or research projects where CI believes research could lead to development of a company or growth in Connecticut totaled $8.6 million in FY2016, compared with $1.2 million in FY2015, Wurzer said.
CI typically reports annually on audited numbers in October.
