White Rose Ventures fuels growth for South Central PA entrepreneurs

White Rose Ventures announced today its closure of an $11.9 million White Rose Impact Fund aimed at investing in South Central Pennsylvania entrepreneurs. 

A regional venture capital firm, White Rose Ventures is led by Martin Fedorko and Alexa Born. 

According to a company press release, the closure of the venture fund “marks a significant stride towards revolutionizing the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.” 

Fedorko said that as Central Pennsylvania has a rich history of entrepreneurship, White Rose deems it a privilege to invest in visionary entrepreneurs. 

“We extend our utmost gratitude to our esteemed investors – the very embodiment of dynamic, progressive institutions,” Fedorko said in a statement. “Through entrepreneur-led economic development, we are poised to forge a future that generates and attracts the jobs of tomorrow for our region.” 

The White Rose Impact Fund is backed by a consortium of institutions, including the Powder Mill Foundation, J. William Warehime Foundation, Fulton Bank, WellSpan Health, Arthur J. Glatfelter Foundation, Select Capital Group, York County Community Foundation, and York College of Pennsylvania. 

The White Rose Ventures team began investing in 2021, and through investments totaling $4.98 million, has helped fuel the growth of local companies such as Naqi Logix, Reflexion, cyberconIQ, Pledge It, EVERMIND, TEAMology, ReturnLogic, Gilson Snow, and The Pretzel Company. 

CyberconIQ announced recently that White Rose Ventures is one of the co-investors in a $4.5 million Convertible Debenture placement. 

“White Rose Ventures is consistently impressed by cyberconIQ and their unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence within the cybersecurity industry,” said Fedorko. “We are honored to invest in a company that is dedicated to making a meaningful impact across the business world.” 

White Rose’s nonprofit arm, Braided River Collective, supports organizations such as Keystone Merge and WayFinder EcoMap.