University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, committed up to $15 million to Air Street Capital II at its board of regents meeting Thursday, according to board documents.
The commitment to the venture capital fund that primarily invests in early stage companies across Europe and the U.S. was made from the university's $18 billion long-term endowment.
Founded in 2019, Air Street invests in biotech and enterprise companies that utilize artificial intelligence or machine learning, according to board documents. "This commitment offers the long-term portfolio the opportunity to invest with a firm that has the potential to generate strong returns over time and invest in companies to which the university might not otherwise have access," said Geoffrey S. Chatas, the university's executive vice president and chief financial officer, in a written recommendation to the board.
The board also approved hiring P/E Investments as a currency overlay manager for the university's $2.3 billion public equity portfolio. The strategy requires no initial funding, according to board documents.
P/E's strategy "employs a quantitative statistical approach that takes advantage of inefficiencies in global foreign exchange markets by analyzing fundamental factors in a disciplined format to build a diversified portfolio of currencies that adjusts to market changes," Mr. Chatas wrote in a separate recommendation to the board.
