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TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today joined Ash Williams, CIO of the State Board of Administration (SBA), and Mario Giannini, CEO of Hamilton Lane to launch the SBA’s Florida Growth Fund initiative, a Florida venture capital initiative. The growth fund will manage $250 million of capital on behalf of the Florida Retirement System Pension Fund, which will be dedicated to prudent investment in technology- and growth-related businesses with a significant presence in Florida.

“Florida needs leadership to develop economic growth, because this is one of the biggest issues currently facing our state,” said Attorney General McCollum, on of the SBA's Trustees. “We have to find a balanced way to stimulate our economy and solve these problems rather than simply relying on federal handouts.”

Hamilton Lane is an independent private equity asset management institution which will work with the SBA to develop and manage this growth fund for a three-year investment period. According to the SBA, investments will include Florida-based and/or focused private equity partnerships and direct co-investments in Florida-based companies. Capital will be deployed to a select number of partnerships with a target commitment size of approximately $10-20 million per venture.

The co-investment portion of the Florida Growth Fund will make investments alongside private equity partnerships based or operating in the State of Florida. Hamilton Lane’s dedicated co-investment team will rigorously review each opportunity looking for a company headquartered in, or conducting a significant portion of its respective business in Florida; profitable companies; experienced management teams; and attractive growth trends.

The Attorney General began discussing the need to invest in Florida venture capital in 2007 at meetings of the Florida Cabinet. Last month, the Attorney General hosted a meeting between CIO Williams and the presidents of the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida, as well as a representative from the University of South Florida, to discuss technology and growth investment opportunities in Florida. The venture capital project will encourage state universities to engage in more highly-specialized research partnerships which will lead to the creation of high paying jobs and new business opportunities for the state. Representatives from the universities were present for the launch today, as were several businesses that could potentially benefit from the initiative.

The project is one result of the Florida Technology and Growth Act (SB 2310) from the 2008 Florida legislative session, sponsored by Senator Jeremy Ring. Other bill sponsors were Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Representatives Frank Attkisson, Thad Altman, Kevin Ambler, Adam Hasner, Ed Homan, Ed Hooper, Robert Schenck, and Michael Scionti.