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April 2, 2020

COVID-free, CT Innovations CEO says full steam ahead on startup pandemic response plan

HBJ Photo | Matt Pilon Matt McCooe helped launch Connecticut Innovations’ $5-million VentureClash competition, which is now ending.
By Matt Pilon

A week after alerting his board that he was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms after meeting with a job candidate who was unaware he had the coronavirus, Connecticut Innovations CEO Matt McCooe said he received the good news Wednesday that his test results were negative.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted CI portfolio companies, and McCooe and his team are keeping close tabs as the crisis unfolds.

“We are conducting virtual town halls for our companies weekly, and we are closely monitoring and sharing details on the federal stimulus packages — which will be a godsend for our companies,” he said in an email Wednesday afternoon.

McCooe and others have worried that venture-backed companies may be excluded from the $2 trillion federal stimulus package, signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27. 

Lobbying efforts to clarify the loan regulations have ramped up in recent days, including by the National Venture Capital Association.

McCooe also said Connecticut delegation members Rep. Jim Himes and Sen. Chris Murphy have been among those pushing to ensure VC-backed companies are included in the Small Business Administration loan program.

CI last week outlined its plan to invest approximately $20 million in up to 50 companies through the end of the current fiscal year. That will include existing portfolio companies who are facing cash-flow struggles during the COVID-19 crisis, but there will also be some new companies, as CI has not stopped looking for investment opportunities.

Indeed, on Thursday, CI announced it had added a new company to its portfolio -- Stamford-based ReferWell, which makes referral management software for healthcare networks.

CI led the investment round in ReferWell, investing $833,000. 

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