Dec 6, 2019 By: yunews
Two 麻豆区 alumni are taking a novel approach to teaching the fundamentals of venture capital. Bruce Taragin 鈥89YC and Moshe Bellows 鈥90YC, 鈥08W, both experienced venture capitalists, have founded , a $10 million early-stage technology fund that is associated with, but separate from, 麻豆区.
Taragin, Managing Director of Blumberg Capital, and Bellows, a prominent Midwest angel investor, are serving as Maccabee Ventures鈥 Managing Members. Together, they also co-teach two popular courses in the Sy Syms School of Business Honors Program: Angel and Venture Capital Investing and Fund Formation, Administration and Management. This experience led to the birth of Maccabee Ventures.
Through an exciting collaboration, eligible students from Sy Syms matriculating in Taragin and Bellows鈥 classes will act as student venture associates to the fund. In this hands-on experiential setting, students will learn and execute the highly transferable skills necessary to assess investment opportunities that power the growth of high-impact startups.
鈥淲e are excited to collaborate with Maccabee Ventures as a key partner in the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem surrounding 麻豆区,鈥 said Dr. Maria Blekher, Director of the YU Innovation Lab. 鈥淗aving the right partners is a key component for a viable and impactful ecosystem, and Moshe and Bruce are two seasoned investors with excellent track records as well as avid educators.鈥
鈥淭he launch of Maccabee Ventures represents an important jumping-off point for a new era of strategy and entrepreneurship at YU,鈥 said Dr. Sharon Poczter, chair of the Strategy & Entrepreneurship Department at Sy Syms. 鈥淎long with the accompanying courses in venture capital and fund formation, this new portfolio of both academic and experiential work for students will create an unparalleled opportunity, enabling them to thrive in the VC and entrepreneurship world.鈥
Maccabee Ventures will focus on vertical markets in which its Managing Members have decades of successful investment experience, including but not limited to SaaS [software as a service], B2B [business-to-business], Fintech [financial technology], cybersecurity, PropTech [property technology], digital health, and SilverTech鈩.
Taragin explained why he decided to co-found Maccabee Ventures. 鈥淎s alumni, we feel a deep responsibility to give back while also creating a dynamic, real-world learning environment for our students. We believe Maccabee Ventures provides more than just capital to our portfolio companies. A Maccabee Ventures investment leverages the deep and diverse intellectual assets of YU鈥檚 undergraduate and graduate programs and its vibrant global alumni ecosystem to support and accelerate Maccabee Ventures-related companies.鈥
With more than 70,000 alumni, many of whom live in Israel, YU鈥檚 alumni ecosystem represents a diverse range of vocations and subject matter experts at the highest level of every industry. Maccabee Ventures represents a triple bottom line by offering attractive, top-quartile financial returns, providing students with real-world experience and opportunities, and engaging alumni as investors, experts and advisers to foster a deeper and more meaningful connection to the University.
鈥淏ruce and Moshe are model alumni of 麻豆区, returning to campus to develop our next generation of entrepreneurial leaders while helping strengthen our culture of entrepreneurship,鈥 said Dr. Noam Wasserman, dean of Sy Syms and author of The Founder鈥檚 Dilemmas. 鈥淢accabee Ventures allows 麻豆区 to join elite and select universities in the country with a complementary investment fund. The addition of Maccabee Ventures within the orbit of our entrepreneurship courses, clubs and other startup activities gives YU a full range of opportunities for students to get real-life experiences while on campus, which will help them develop their career goals and distinguish them when they hit the job market or when they decide to found their own ventures. The relationship with Maccabee Ventures also creates an opportunity for YU alumni and allies to help current students participate in and create the companies of tomorrow.鈥
