The David Eccles School of Business and the Sorenson Impact Center are building a unique student experience with impact investing. The University Venture Fund II focuses on impact investing, venture capital, private equity and entrepreneurship. UVF II is also one of the world's largest student-run investment funds. Read more about it in the latest issue of the Silicon Slopes Magazine.
SALT LAKE CITY—The Sorenson Impact Center’s University Venture Fund - Impact Investing (UVF II) closed its first investment in a seed round into Salt Lake City-based Navigen, Inc. UVF II’s investment was highly catalytic, unlocking over $1.5 million additional investment capital into the pharmaceutical company. Navigen, Inc. is an early-stage drug discovery and development company that has developed a D-peptide drug discovery platform to [...]
Have a great idea that will make housing more affordable? You may be eligible for the Ivory Prize in Housing Affordability. The $200,000 in prizes — funded by the Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation through Ivory Innovations, an initiative of Sorenson Impact Center — seek to honor innovations in design and construction, financing and public policy that make housing more affordable. Read more about [...]
Two influencers and four students at the David Eccles School of Business were recently recognized by the Utah Chapter of the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). Awarded annually, the CCIM Excellence Awards showcase the elite of Utah’s commercial real estate industry, recognize outstanding industry contributors and aim to foster excellence in the overall real estate community. The 2018 awards theme was “Time for Tech.” [...]
SALT LAKE CITY—February 12, 2018—The Sorenson Impact Center at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business played a leading role in supporting the bipartisan Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act (SIPPRA), which passed Congress early Friday morning and is expected to be signed into law. The legislation creates a $100 million federal fund that can support successful outcomes delivered to [...]
Day two of the 2018 Winter Innovation Summit was another inspirational day with a little bit for everyone — government leaders, academics, think tanks, impact investors, health professionals and thought-provoking films and panels all shared the stage. Below are some end-of-day highlights from our second (and final) day: Utah Gov. Gary Herbert: “I’m a big believer in collaboration and cooperation, and I think we [...]
We had a day full of inspiration and innovation at the Winter Innovation Summit, hosted by Sorenson Impact Center. The event brings together the brightest minds in innovation and impact investing to brainstorm new ways to improve social good. Every session at the Winter Innovation Summit was packed with information and new ways of thinking, but here are a few of our favorite moments [...]
Giving back as we give gifts to others embodies the spirit of the holidays. It's also good business. That's according to Jim Sorenson, impact investing pioneer and founder of Sorenson Impact. In a new op-ed, he argues the case for making 2018 the year of the philanthropic investor. Read the full piece in Forbes.
This week, Dean Taylor Randall, Jeramy Lund and I had the privilege of traveling with Jim Sorenson to an event he sponsored in New York City that is hosted by the Financial Times called “FT Investing for Good USA.” The convening of 150 people is billed as an event spotlighting “Innovative Finance as a Force for Global Change.” It attracted speakers such as the [...]
Pay for Success is in full swing at the Sorenson Impact Center. A competition and a new initiative were unveiled this week. The Center — part of the David Eccles School of Business — has awarded seven subgrants to government entities and non-profit service providers, allowing them to participate in a Pay for Success feasibility program. The new subgrantees aim to implement interventions in the [...]