Venture Fund Member Profile
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Open Prairie Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in promising IT, wireless communication and life science technology companies. Open Prairie applies both its capital and team's expertise to focus on companies with efficient capital usage and disruptive technologies. With offices in Illinois and Kansas City, Open Prairie's national reach and unique access to investment opportunities throughout the Midwest region allows the firm to build a diverse portfolio of growth technology companies.
Founded in 1999, Open Prairie Ventures I, L.P. was licensed by the Small Business Administration as a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC). In 2006, Jim Schultz, Michael Peck, and Dennis Beard approached the SBA with a proposal to purchase the SBA limited partner interest in Fund I and cease operating under the SBIC license. To complete the SBA buyout, Open Prairie Ventures was successful in obtaining a commitment from HarbourVest Partners to fully replace the SBA position. The transaction closed on June 30, 2006 and consummated HarbourVest Partners as a limited partner in Fund I. The transaction allows the managers to operate the fund to full conclusion without the SBA-SBIC constraints.
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Jim Schultz
Managing Partner
Open Prairie Ventures |
In 1999, Jim founded Open Prairie Ventures I as a $40 million fund focused on Midwest seed and early stage technology opportunities. Jim has a diverse background in start-up companies, investment banking, and entrepreneurial ventures. He has been an active investor in a wide variety of industries, including: medical services and medical device technologies, semiconductor, software development, e-commerce, construction, financial services, and information technology.
Jim remains active on the boards of Epiworks and Venomix. He has served as Chairman of the Board/CEO of Telemind Capital Corporation, a Midwest-based merchant banking group, and has served as Chairman of the Board of Prime Banc Corporation, a Central Illinois multi-bank holding company. In addition, he has served on the board of numerous Midwest-based technology corporations.
Representative Investments
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iCyt is a firm with considerable depth of expertise in the field of flow cytometry, the science of cell measurement. Operating from a state-of-the-art 45,000 square foot facility adjacent to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, iCyt has been recognized repeatedly as one of the most desirable employers in the state of Illinois. iCyt offers a comprehensive line of flow cytometry products, including the revolutionary Reflection™ cell sorter, popular Lyt laser system, lab productivity software, and novel reagent solutions. A leading innovator in the industry, iCyt has received the Frost & Sullivan Emerging Technology Award, the Milestone Award, and the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, in recognition of its contribution to technological development. |
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Infoblox develops and markets a task-specific server appliance offering a more effective approach to Domain Name Service (DNS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). The design and application of DNS/DHCP solutions in the past have been resource intensive and have opened networks to security breaches, outages and downtime. The flagship product is a server appliance provides reliable, secure enterprise-class DNS/DHCP service in a streamlined product. The product is the DNS/DHCP solution of choice for the Networld+Interop's networks, eNet and iLabs, some of the most advanced networks in the world. |
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Cernium The Company develops proprietary software integrating computer systems for industry-specific electronic security solutions using video technology. The software solutions are used in multiple applications from government to commercial and from industrial to institutional. The core direction is toward the creation of industry-specific products focusing on intelligent image analysis via closed circuit television monitoring systems. Cernium is a pioneer in advanced video analysis for physical security. Our breakthrough solutions identify suspicious or unusual behavior through video analysis, helping achieve clients security and fiscal objectives by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their entire security operation. |
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ISSI/Argus Systems Also known as Argus, has software technology converting a Unix-based operating system into a Trusted Operating System (TOS). A TOS is a government-defined system for making an operating system extremely secure. They have products for several high-end operating systems, including IBM's AIX, Sun Microsystems' Solaris, and most commercial versions of Linux. |
Jim participated in the FundingPost event: Detroit Angel and VC Conference
on November 3, 2011 in MI, Sponsored by The Launchpad at Walsh College
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