What we Do
EDCO Ventures is engaged in the areas of Venture Development and Community Development Venture Capital. Both programs help fulfill EDCO’s mission of helping create innovative and high growth companies in economically distressed areas.
EDCO actively seeks out 3 key ingredients to fulfill its mission
- Strong Ideas
- Strong Leaders
- Community Partners
Venture Development
EDCO Ventures works with selected entrepreneurs to qualify, incubate, and capitalize a new enterprise. EDCO’s key contributions include:
- Founder Level Capital
- Business Planning
- Business Development
- Raising Capital
- Management Team and Board Recruitment
- Mentoring and Networking
- Pre-Seed Investment (Ventures only)
Community Development Venture Capital
EDCO Ventures is currently fundraising for its community development venture capital fund called Innovacion Investments. The fund will invest equity in companies with positive social returns and financial returns. In other words, while we intend to make money for our investors, we also know that developing regions may need more time and that not all conventional “exit” strategies benefit the local community.
Target Industries
- Green and Clean Technologies
- Biotechnology
- Nanotechnology
- Software and Web 2.0
Portfolio Criteria
Business Opportunity:
Each portfolio company is meticulously researched for high value-added potential using the following criteria:
- High Growth: Capable of generating $50 Million in sales per year or capturing 10% of their market
- Market: Product, Business Model and/or technology has recognizable competitive advantages. Technologies should be unique and have high demand and margin potential.
- Intellectual Property: Patented, patent-pending or patentable technology or technologies.
Social Impact
Creating innovative companies and jobs with living wages in developing regions and low-income communities.
- Job Generation: Capable of employing at least 500 individuals in 10 years
- Located in Economically Distressed Region or Ownership by Under-represented group
- Region: primarily located in economically distressed regions with incomes at 70% or less of national average and/or poverty rates 150% of national (currently Texas Border and Central TX)
- Ownership – under-represented groups make up the majority of individuals with low-incomes and living in poverty. Helping these groups will contribute to improving their communities.
- Extra Credit for being a Social Venture: enterprises with a “double-bottom-line” that combine a revenue-generating business with a social-value generating component (e.g. clean energy, biotech, etc)