Florida Senate - 2013                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 546
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 572754                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/18/2013           .                                
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       The Committee on Commerce and Tourism (Ring) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 95 - 141
    4  and insert:
    5  as a corporate subsidiary. The purpose of the fund is to foster
    6  greater private-sector investment funding, to encourage seed
    7  stage investments in start-up companies, and to advise companies
    8  on restructuring existing management, operations, or production
    9  to attract advantageous business opportunities. The proceeds of
   10  a sale of the equity held by the fund shall be returned to the
   11  fund for reinvestment.
   12         (2) The institute shall administer the Florida Technology
   13  Capital Seed Fund. Administrative costs paid out of the fund
   14  shall be determined by the investor advisory board.
   15         (3) The institute shall employ professionals who have both
   16  technical and business expertise to manage fund activity. The
   17  institute shall establish an investor advisory board comprised
   18  of venture capital professionals and early-stage investors from
   19  this and other states who shall advise and guide the fund
   20  management and make funding recommendations.
   21         (4) The institute shall use a thorough and detailed process
   22  that is modeled after the best practices of the investment
   23  industry to evaluate a proposal. In order to approve a company
   24  for investment, the institute must consider whether:
   25         (a) The company has a strong intellectual property
   26  position, a capable management team, readily identifiable paths
   27  to market or commercialization, significant job-growth
   28  potential, the ability to provide other sources of capital to
   29  leverage the state’s investment, and the potential to attract
   30  additional funding;
   31         (b) The company has been identified by a publicly funded
   32  research institution;
   33         (c) The start-up company operates in a target industry
   34  designated pursuant to the procedure specified in s. 288.106(2);
   35         (d) The company has been identified by an approved private
   36  sector lead investor who has demonstrated due diligence typical
   37  of start-up investments in evaluating the potential of the
   38  company; and
   39         (e) The advisory board and fund manager have reviewed and
   40  recommended that the proposal be approved.
   41         (5)(a) Seed funds may be invested if the institute approves
   42  a company and the initial seed-stage investment. The initial
   43  seed-stage investment must be at least $50,000, but may not be
   44  greater than $300,000. The initial seed-stage investment
   45  requires a one-to-one private-sector match of the investment.
   46         (b) Additional seed funds may be invested in a company if
   47  approved by the institute. The cumulative total of investment in
   48  a single company may not exceed $500,000. Any additional
   49  investment amount requires a two-to-one private-sector match of
   50  investment.