Loyola’s Simon Center invests $20,000 in Baltimore startup
Loyola University Maryland’s Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship awarded an investment of $20,000 from the Loyola Angel Fund to Keppel & Kismet, a startup business in Baltimore that manufactures and curates premium small-batch corporate and personalized gifts.
Loyola established the Loyola Angel Fund, a $250,000 charitable fund, in 2021 to provide students with angel investment knowledge and experience and support local under-resourced entrepreneurs, especially Baltimore-based minority- and women-owned businesses.
Investments follow recommendations made by students in Loyola’s applied angel investing class, a hands-on, interdisciplinary course where students attend pitch meetings and analyze companies. They learn the history of early-stage investing; the entrepreneurial landscape and social inequities in Baltimore; concepts and vocabulary in fund formation and investment vehicles; risk management in the funding and decision-making process; and models of valuation.
“Students in this interdisciplinary elective were profoundly influenced by the opportunity to make real-world financial decisions with the potential to impact the trajectory of a Baltimore startup, cementing the interest for some students in pursuing careers in venture capital and introducing a new career path and practical experience to others who had not had exposure to the notoriously insular field,” said Wendy Bolger, founding director of the Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. “We hope what students learned in the class can help change who investors are in the future and ultimately who receives investment in this country.”
Loyola University Maryland’s Sellinger School of Business and Management in Baltimore delivers an internationally recognized Jesuit business education. Recognized for its scholarship, ethical leadership, and tradition of excellence, the Sellinger School delivers a wide range of sought-after fields of study including eight undergraduate majors and 11 undergraduate minors as well as full-time, part-time, and fully online MBA and Master of Accounting programs.