Venture Capital

ITHACA, N.Y.-Cornell University is using part of its endowment as venture capital to finance small, high technology enterprises.

The university invested about $10 million in new firms, to "get them off the ground," Robert T. Horn, executive investment officer, said, adding that the university hopes to make a "sizable return in seven or eight years" when the firms grow large enough to issue stocks publicly.

The venture capital makes up less than 4 per cent of the university's endowment of $308 million, which presently earns less than 7 per cent.

James Sanderson, senior investment officer, said yesterday that Cornell has also been dealing in the options market for two years, generating about $500,000 a year.