Summerville, S.C. – Cliff Holekamp, co-founder and managing director of Cultivation Capital, was recently elected to the SC Launch, Inc. board of directors. SC Launch, Inc. is the investment affiliate of the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA), and its board of directors approves loans and investments made to eligible Member Companies in the SC Launch program. With a recently established office in Greenville, Cultivation Capital is one of the most active early-stage venture capital firms in the United States.

“We are very fortunate to have Cliff join the SC Launch, Inc. board. He’s already accomplished many things as a company founder, academic professor, and now as head of an investment company. He’ll bring a broad range of expertise to our Member Company investments,” said Peter Dunphy, SC Launch, Inc. Board Chair.

Holekamp was the founder and president of Foot Healers which he sold to private equity in 2007. He was also the professor of practice and academic director for entrepreneurship at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. He was named one of the top 100 entrepreneurship professors in the world and his entrepreneurship program was ranked No.1 in the world, according to Inc. Magazine in 2019.

Holekamp has been active in entrepreneurship and economic development with previous board service at the Arch Grants Global Startup Competition, T-REX Technology Incubator, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Venture for America, and he was a gubernatorial appointment to the Missouri Development Finance Board.

Cliff Holekamp earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington and Lee University where he currently serves on the board of trustees, and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis where he currently serves on the National Council for Entrepreneurship.

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About SC Launch Inc.

Established in 2006, SC Launch, Inc., is an independent, nonprofit corporation affiliated with SCRA, which provides loans and investments to selected South Carolina-based companies participating in the SC Launch program.

About SCRA
Chartered in 1983 by the State of South Carolina as a public, nonprofit corporation, South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) fuels South Carolina’s innovation economy through the impact of its four programs. SC Academic Innovations provides funding and support to advance translational research and accelerate the growth of university-based startups. SC Facilities offers high-quality laboratory and administrative workspaces for technology-based startups and academic institutions. SC Industry Solutions facilitates and funds partnerships between and among startups, industry, and academia. SC Launch mentors and funds technology-based startups that may also receive investments from SCRA’s investment affiliate, SC Launch, Inc.