(ST. PAUL, Minn., April 26, 2007) -- RAIN Source® Capital has selected University of North Dakota student Matt Maurer as the 2007 recipient of its Ruvelson RAIN®maker Fellowship.  Maurer, a junior at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D., is from Hutchinson, Minn. 
 
The Ruvelson Fellowship was established in 2006 as an education- al endowment of RAIN Source Capital, a Minnesota non-profit organization.  The fellowship honors 91-year-old Alan K. “Bud” Ruvelson, a business pioneer who is considered the “grandfather of the modern venture capital industry” in the U.S.  The goal of the fellowship is to help develop the next generation of ethical equity investors and community-minded business leaders.
 
“This fellowship program honors Bud and helps students learn about equity investing, participate in problem-solving for small, growing companies, and gain experience with due diligence, portfolio management and business strategy,” said Steve Mercil, president and CEO of RAIN Source® Capital.  “There is also a strong emphasis on instilling the ethics and values needed to build companies and communities for the future, just as Bud helped pass along to all of us.”   
 
As the 2007 Ruvelson Fellow, Maurer will work side-by-side with venture capital professionals and members of the organization’s network of RAINâ funds, angel investment groups that are currently located in the Upper Midwest and Northwest. 
 
Maurer was selected from a pool of applicants from five states.  He will begin his fellowship in June 2007, working full time with RAIN Source Capital and its network of RAIN funds.  During the school year, he will work 10 to 12 hours a week and be housed at the UND Center for Innovation, which supports one of RAIN Source Capital’s RAIN funds and works closely with entrepreneurs to launch new products and ventures.   Maurer will also work with the Center for Innovation’s affiliated student-run venture fund, Dakota Venture Group, www.dakotaventuregroup.com.

In addition to achieving outstanding academic performance, Maurer is helping to build a company called ARMXX that will produce protective wear for hockey and other sports using a new type of fabric.  He also is president of UND’s chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE).  His community activities include mentoring high school and 6th grade students, working with youth hockey clubs and participating in a church praise band.  He also is one of the organizers of project Linus, which sells rubber bracelets to fund the purchase of blankets for children in trauma.
 
Trained as a pilot and initially pursuing an aerospace degree, Maurer learned that he had limited commercial flying opportunities due to his color blindness.  He said, “I am looking forward to the Ruvelson Fellowship because my switch to a business education made me appreciate the idea-driven creative process of venture development.  Now I am glad to be color-blind.”  
About RAIN Source Capital
RAIN Source Capital is a multi-state network of RAIN funds that works with angel investors who are interested in supporting growing companies.  RAIN Source helps bring together like-minded angel investors to form individual RAIN funds ~ and then provides these funds with additional capital, a process for due diligence, legal templates, management support, access to deal flow and other resources.  RAIN funds share expertise, deals and experience between and among RAIN Source Capital’s multi-state network of RAIN funds, to support growing companies throughout the area.  RAIN funds range in size from seven to 61 members, who have pooled anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million.  The RAIN fund network currently has $20 million invested in 40 companies.  For more information, see www.RAINSourceCapital.com.
 
 Photo of Matt Maurer is attached.  For additional information or  a photo of Alan (Bud) Ruvelson, contact joyce@johannsoncommunications.com.