Tarkian of Lincoln selected for Husker Venture Fund

The fund, built by alumni and university supporters, offers hands-on investment experience to students while providing more than $100,000 in funding a year to early-stage startups in Nebraska.

The 23 students in the fund’s second class of associates were selected based on their participation and performance in an eight-week Venture Boot Camp, in which they learned the terminology and principles of venture capital through projects, quizzes and lectures by guest speakers. The boot camp culminated with a project that split students into teams to conduct due diligence on a company to simulate the fund’s process of selecting new investments.

“HVF is unique in that its operations are completely student-led,” said Ateev Bhandari, a senior accounting and business administration major from Amritsar, India, who is one of the fund’s three managing directors. “This means that everything – from screening companies and completing due diligence to voting on investments – is entirely done by students. Our boot camp benefits from a similar structure, making room for intentional learning and hands-on experience.”

As associates, the students will use their skills and knowledge from the boot camp to gain a comprehensive understanding of startups seeking the fund’s investment. With a membership structure modeled after a typical venture capital fund, the students can advance from associates to senior associates and managing directors.

For more information on the Husker Venture fund, visit https://business.unl.edu/huskerventure.