President and Chief Executive Officer New York City Investment Fund
Maria G. Gotsch is President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York City Investment Fund (www.nycif.org). The Fund, which has raised over $100 million, has built a network of top experts from the investment and corporate communities who help identify and support New York City's most promising entrepreneurs in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. The Fund will invest in most industry sectors and at any stage of business development. It also provides financing for projects that contribute to the economic renewal of blighted areas and alleviation of poverty. The Fund is the vision of Henry R. Kravis, founding partner of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co., who serves as its Founding Chairman. Russell L. Carson, General Partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, and Richard M. Cashin, Managing Partner of One Equity Partners, serve as the Fund's co-chairmen.
Prior to joining the Fund in 1999, Maria was a Managing Director at BT Wolfensohn (now part of Deutsche Bank), providing strategic and financial advice related to mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and the development of business strategies. Before starting with Wolfensohn, Maria worked at LaSalle Partners in the New York area and for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in New York and London. Maria has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Wellesley College. She was also the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to study international relations at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland.
The NYCIF is a private fund with a civic mission. The Fund was established in late 1996, under the auspices of the nonprofit, The Partnership for New York City. It was initially capitalized by contributions of $1 million each from sixty-seven individual and corporate investors, who invested for the good of the city and without expectation of financial returns. It is an evergreen fund, in which realized gains are reinvested in other worthwhile projects.
The Fund invests in technology companies but only alongside an experienced lead venture capital investor. The Fund is flexible in terms of how it structures its investments. It provides subordinated debt to leverage other private capital or to maintain maximum ownership for management of minority-owned companies. When investing in a venture capital deal, returns are expected to equal those of other at-risk parties. Investment decisions are made by the Board of Directors, which is co-chaired by Russell L. Carson and Richard M. Cashin.
The Fund has raised in excess of $110 million. Its investments typically range in size from $1 million to $5 million. The Fund provides equity or debt, structured to meet the needs of the project. It will invest at any stage of business development, but is seeking to exit in about five years. To date, the Fund has invested in over eighty projects.