BR Venture Fund

BR Venture Fund (BRV) is an early-stage venture capital fund operated entirely by a team of MBA students at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management. Founded in 2001, BRV is one of the oldest student-run venture funds. BRV typically invests up to $25,000 in U.S.-based high-growth companies across all industries. Initially funded by donations to Cornell University, BRV is a true evergreen fund, recycling all proceeds for reinvestment. Along with investing start-up capital in promising new companies, BRV also serves as the gateway to Cornell technologies by providing its investment partners unique access to new innovations.

BRV draws upon the formidable resources of Cornell – an unrivaled institution with 13 colleges and schools and more than 100 research centers and programs that ranks 11th among U.S. universities in total R&D expenditures and 18th in federally financed R&D. The university’s not-for-profit Cornell Research Foundation evaluates and provides technology transfer for inventions stemming from Cornell research. The Cornell community produces more than 200 patentable ideas each year–opportunities in a vast range of areas, including microfluidics, nanofabrication and advanced materials, environmental remediation, biomedical devices, veterinary medicine, pain treatment, agriculture, textiles, and gene therapy.

BRV provides more than just financial capital. A BRV investment puts the intellectual assets of one of the largest research institutions at the disposal of our portfolio companies. In addition, BRV has cultivated relationships with top-tier venture capital partners, helping our portfolio companies access the financial resources and relationships necessary to execute their business strategies and create winning companies. BRV views itself as a facilitator and enabler, purposefully structuring its investments with the needs of subsequent and follow-on investors in mind.