Flywheel Ventures Names New Venture Partner
December 7, 2010 (Albuquerque, NM) - Flywheel Ventures, a seed and early stage venture capital firm, announced today that Clyde Neu, veteran venture investor and founder of four start-up companies, joins the firm as a Montana-based Venture Partner. As part of the Flywheel investment strategy that includes “fishing where everyone else isn’t”, Montana has consistently proven to be a source of interesting innovation and opportunities for the firm over the past several years. In November, Flywheel invested in Montana-based New West, a next-generation media company dedicated to the culture, economy, politics and lifestyle of the Rocky Mountain West.
Flywheel’s interest in Montana has been influenced by the work that Senator Max Baucus has done in developing Montana’s tech economy over the years. Most recently, Flywheel attended the Montana Economic Summit in September hosted by Senator Max Baucus, which highlighted the innovation and entrepreneurial talent in Montana. Speakers at the conference included: Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft; Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy; Karen Gordon Mills, Administrator of Small Business Administration and Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO - Berkshire Hathaway.
“We’ve been continuously impressed not only with the caliber of entrepreneurs that we’ve found in Montana but also with the dedication we’ve seen to the tech industry by Senator Baucus,” said Trevor Loy, General Partner at Flywheel Ventures. “Attending the Montana Economic Summit and other such events over the last several years has really provided us with a sense of the exciting things happening in Montana. Bringing Clyde on as a Venture Partner allows us to continue to develop the relationships we have with Montana’s R&D institutions and its entrepreneurs.”
“This is what the Montana Economic Development Summit was all about: bringing the right people together to create solutions to grow the economy and create good-paying jobs,” said Senator Max Baucus. “I am pleased to see Flywheel putting boots on the ground in Montana - especially someone of Clyde’s caliber. I look forward to working with Clyde and all of Flywheel’s partners to help build even more business and opportunities for Montanans.”
“The commitment that Flywheel is making to Montana is like a breath of fresh air for entrepreneurs in our state. I am very excited about joining the Flywheel team to identify promising opportunities in the business sectors that Flywheel supports,” said Neu. “Given that Flywheel focuses on seed and early-stage companies in the areas of information technology and the physical sciences, I believe there are lots of companies in Montana that are a perfect fit for their strategy.”
Clyde Neu has over 34 years of venture investing experience as the founder of four start-up companies and a director of two others. He has successfully raised venture capital financing in the U.S. and in Europe. He currently serves as board Chairman of three existing Montana companies including New West, Inc. Clyde is also the President of Epic Management Group, a consulting firm on technology and business strategy. He was a professor of management at The University of Montana for nineteen years where he taught business and technology strategy, financial management, and entrepreneurship. He is a co-author of a college textbook on Small Business Management and holds a BS and MS from Montana State University, and a PhD from the University of Minnesota.
Press Contact: Yasine Armstrong
Flywheel Ventures, 505.850.8023
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