Key Takeaways
- • SSC Venture Partners, founded by Boston College alumni, has raised and invested over $5 million across more than 68 companies founded by BC graduates and current students since its inception in 2014.
- • The fund originated from a mentorship relationship between venture capitalist Peter Bell '86 and entrepreneur Tom Coburn '13, whose startup Jebbit became a digital marketing success after winning BC's Venture Competition in 2011.
- • SSC evolved from a nonprofit model called Soaring Startup Circle into a structured venture capital fund designed to provide BC entrepreneurs with capital, experience, and mentorship from alumni investors.
- • The fund's core mission focuses on strengthening the Boston College entrepreneurial ecosystem by enabling Eagle alumni to support the next generation of student and alumni founders.
Summary
SSC Venture Partners represents a formalized alumni-driven venture capital initiative rooted in Boston College's entrepreneurial community. The fund traces its origins to 2011, when venture capitalist Peter Bell, a BC trustee and 1986 graduate, encountered Tom Coburn, then a rising junior at BC, after Coburn won the Boston College Venture Competition with Jebbit—a software platform enabling companies to gather customer data through interactive quizzes. Bell's early support, including office space for Coburn to develop the concept, proved instrumental; Jebbit subsequently became a significant player in the digital marketing space, with Coburn eventually pursuing the venture full-time after leaving BC.
The formal inception of the investment vehicle came in 2014, when Coburn approached Bell with a proposal to create an organized mechanism through which BC alumni could invest capital, expertise, and mentorship into emerging companies founded by younger BC entrepreneurs. Originally launched as Soaring Startup Circle (SSC), a nonprofit structure, the organization has since evolved into a venture capital fund. According to Bell, "The whole mission has been around embracing, strengthening, and helping the BC entrepreneurial community."
Through three funding rounds to date, SSC has deployed over $5 million into more than 68 companies founded by BC alumni and current students. The fund's portfolio encompasses ventures such as NuOnc, a health tracking application for cancer patients, co-founded by Lucas Lu '25 and Federico Fernandez-Kepka '23. By leveraging the experience and capital of successful BC alumni entrepreneurs and investors, SSC attempts to reduce barriers to capital access while providing portfolio companies with mentorship from founders who understand the institution's academic and business culture.
The formal inception of the investment vehicle came in 2014, when Coburn approached Bell with a proposal to create an organized mechanism through which BC alumni could invest capital, expertise, and mentorship into emerging companies founded by younger BC entrepreneurs. Originally launched as Soaring Startup Circle (SSC), a nonprofit structure, the organization has since evolved into a venture capital fund. According to Bell, "The whole mission has been around embracing, strengthening, and helping the BC entrepreneurial community."
Through three funding rounds to date, SSC has deployed over $5 million into more than 68 companies founded by BC alumni and current students. The fund's portfolio encompasses ventures such as NuOnc, a health tracking application for cancer patients, co-founded by Lucas Lu '25 and Federico Fernandez-Kepka '23. By leveraging the experience and capital of successful BC alumni entrepreneurs and investors, SSC attempts to reduce barriers to capital access while providing portfolio companies with mentorship from founders who understand the institution's academic and business culture.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.