In 2003 Mark Grovic co-founded the New Markets Growth Fund at the Smith School, after serving as deputy director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship for two years. The New Markets Growth Fund (NMGF) is a $21 million venture capital fund that is located at the University of Maryland, and is focused on high-growth technology companies. In his position as managing director of the fund, as well as being a venture capitalist in residence and a senior fellow for the Executive Education program, Grovic is involved in many aspects of the Smith community. He teaches a venture capitalist class, which in 2004 won the USASBE award for best entrepreneurship class in the country. He also teaches an ethics class to executive education students and he works with the office of technology and commercialization.

Grovic has over 13 years of venture experience. Before coming to Smith in 2001, he worked with an international fund called Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF) that consisted of 12 small country funds that were each $20 million funds. He started by managing the Baltic’s Small Equity Fund, then moved to D.C. and worked as the portfolio manager. He has also been a VC with Templeton and Calvert.

There are a number of things that Grovic enjoys about working at the Smith School. One is the student energy that surrounds him and the opportunity to continually work with new students, who always bring something unique to the table. He also enjoys coming to work everyday in an environment that if filled with such a high level of intelligence and excellence. The combination of work that the faculty is conducting and the students are completing, as well as high profile speakers Smith attracts, create a unique work environment that Grovic enjoys working in everyday.

When he is not managing the New Markets Growth Fund he enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids. He also likes to take advantage of every opportunity he gets to travel and visit his close friends around the world. Grovic has had the opportunity to travel to a number of unique places either through work or visiting friends, and he says his two favorite places are Italy and Thailand. Even though he has traveled a great deal he still has not had the chance to visit India or Africa and hopes to do so some day soon.

Grovic has the following advice to offer to Smith students, “Take time to figure out exactly what you want to do, it is time well spent.” He remarks that as part of the Smith community students have the opportunity to do something exceptional, and to take advantage of that one must first discover one’s passion, and then, “find people with a common passion so that you can support each other and share resources. This allows you to be entrepreneurial in with your vision within a larger institution that can provide a strong support base for your success. Be proactive in your life and your job search and seek out what you want. Do not wait for it to come to you.”

Story by Loretta Goodridge, MBA Candidate 2008, Smith Media Group