01For cities and the county
A grant is spent once. An investment can come back.
A separate vehicle would let Ventura County cities invest alongside the fund in companies hiring inside their limits, with reporting for each city.
02Why it matters
A city's economic development budget is usually spent on grants, incentives and programs. Each dollar is spent once. An investment alongside the fund would be different in kind: it would go into a company hiring inside city limits, it would be reported on every quarter, and any return would go back to the vehicle's investors, including the city.
The case rests on three things a council already tracks: jobs inside city limits, the graduates and skilled workers the city keeps, and the tax base those employers support. Sourced figures for each city are part of every briefing.
03How it would work
1
Your city commits capital to the City Partnership Vehicle.
2
The vehicle invests alongside the fund.
3
We report jobs and companies in your city every quarter.
4
Any returns go back to the vehicle's investors, including your city.
The structure is being finalized with counsel. Briefings cover the current design.
04What your city gets
A quarterly report for your city
Jobs and companies inside city limits, every quarter.
Council-ready materials
Briefing documents a council and treasurer can read as they are.
A seat at the annual meeting
A seat at the fund's annual meeting for each participating city.
A founder pipeline through Startup Ventura
Companies come through Startup Ventura's accelerator.
05What it replaces
The goal: fund upside pays for the accelerator over time, so city dollars go into companies instead of operations.
06Ten cities, one county
- Camarillo
- Fillmore
- Moorpark
- Ojai
- Oxnard
- Port Hueneme
- Santa Paula
- Simi Valley
- Thousand Oaks
- Ventura
- County of Ventura
Reporting is broken out for each.
07Questions cities ask
Is this allowed for a city?
Each city's counsel and treasurer decide. We bring our counsel's structure summary to every briefing.
Who manages the money?
Counsel is designing the vehicle's structure, including who manages its capital and how it is accounted for. The current design keeps it alongside the fund with a report for each city, and each city's counsel reviews the structure before the city commits.
Does this pay for Startup Ventura's operations?
No. City capital goes into companies. The goal is that a share of the fund's upside pays for the accelerator over time, so city dollars go into companies instead of operations.
How do you report?
Every quarter, for everyone: jobs at portfolio companies in your city, companies backed and capital deployed, follow-on capital raised, and the share of portfolio headcount based in the county.
What happens if a company leaves the county?
The headcount test applies at the time of investment, and the quarterly report shows where every job is, so a move shows up in the next report. The hiring commitment a company made is written into its investment terms; what follows a move depends on those terms.
08Request a briefing