New Mexico

New Mexico’s sovereign wealth fund is investing $50M in a bet that scientists will build startups in Albuquerque

Published

2 weeks ago

September 4, 2024

New Mexico’s sovereign wealth fund is investing M in a bet that scientists will build startups in Albuquerque

In downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, Adam Hammer is showing me around the building of his newly-launched venture shop, called Roadrunner Venture Studios—an old mattress factory turned open-air office space where he hopes he can convince scientists, engineers, and deep-tech founders to come and build companies.

Hammer walks me over to a wall to the left of the front door—pointing to a graphic of technologies or companies that had their roots right there in New Mexico, but then moved elsewhere once they started to scale. Microsoft is the prominent example: Bill Gates and Paul Allen started building their first microcomputer in Albuquerque before they moved the company to Bellevue, Wash. so they could be closer to the West Coast’s talent pool.

“What we’re trying to do is continue a legacy here in New Mexico of bold ideas— imaginative people,” Hammer says. This time around—he’s hoping his team can convince founders to stay.

Roadrunner Venture Studios is the first venture studio spinoff of America’s Frontier Fund (AFF), the venture capital arm of the policy and education-focused non-profit that is funded by the likes of Mark Cuban, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel. Roadrunner is the first of a series of studios AFF plans to scatter across the country, with the intention of helping scientists or researchers from national, university, or corporate laboratories get capital, recruiting help, and the resources they need to turn their work into viable commercial products. Behind it all is a mission to ensure that the U.S. continues to be dominant in innovation.

Nathaniel Paolinelli/Courtesy of Roadrunner Venture Studios

Albuquerque is where things will start—in part because of its proximity to Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Lab, the Air Force Research Lab, and the University of New Mexico. But also because the state’s sovereign wealth fund, the New Mexico State Investment Council, two weeks ago agreed to invest $50 million as an anchor check into Roadrunner’s first venture capital fund, approximately $20 million of which will go directly into Roadrunner itself. The sovereign wealth fund, which just started making venture capital investments a few years ago and has invested in deep tech-focused funds like Lux Capital, Playground Global, and Anzu Partners, has asked these funds in limited partner agreements to at least look at companies based in New Mexico. In the case of Roadrunner, it’s asking the studio to build companies in New Mexico.

“I obviously wanted it to start here, and was willing to anchor the fund to make sure that occurred,” says Chris Cassidy, who oversees the private equity investments of New Mexico’s sovereign wealth fund.

The premise of Roadrunner is to bridge the gap—what Hammer calls the “valley of death”—between the technology being invented and funded in laboratories in New Mexico and elsewhere, and turning the projects into commercially viable companies. Right now, Roadrunner is working with labs like Nokia Bell Labs, the University of Michigan, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Roadrunner’s new general partner, Mike Mettler, who is joining Roadrunner as part of this new fund, was out at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California last week, Hammer says, meeting directly with scientists and assessing which ideas might be ready for company creation. Hammer is hoping to get various stakeholders on the same page, from local municipalities and state governments to other venture capital firms. He touts Hydrosonics, one of the studio’s first three companies, which is building electrolysis technologies to enable affordable hydrogen fuel. Hydrosonics’ founder, Dr. Luis Chavez, had been a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory before starting a company with Roadrunner last year.

“We met Luis in one of our scouting trips,” Hammer says, explaining how Chavez moved to Albuquerque, set up shop here and within a year had raised approximately $875,000 in venture capital as well as non-dilutive funding from the Economic Development Department.

Gilman Louie, the CEO of America’s Frontier Fund who formerly ran the CIA-funded investment firm In-Q-Tel, says that Roadrunner Venture Studios is part of the investment side of AFF’s business, and that there is “no crossover” and “no financial interest” between its non-profit donors, including Schmidt, Thiel, or Cuban. “All of our philanthropy is kept separate from all of our for-profit activities,” he says, noting that Roadrunner will be squarely focused on working with scientists who need capital.

The problem with any kind of new studio or venture capital firm is that it can take a long time—sometimes a decade—to actually deliver meaningful results or returns. In the near term, SIC’s Cassidy will be monitoring how many companies and how much talent moves to Albuquerque as a result of Roadrunner and is hopeful that Albuquerque, with its renowned Christmas chile sauce and more affordable real estate, can have a startup scene that takes off—and sticks around—too.

“What we’re trying to do is build this center of gravity here,” Hammer says.

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New Mexico

Deadspin | Hank Brown steals spotlight as Auburn rolls over New Mexico

Published

5 hours ago

September 15, 2024

Press Room

Deadspin | Hank Brown steals spotlight as Auburn rolls over New Mexico

New Mexico Lobos running back Javen Jacobs (21) is taken down on a punt return as Auburn Tigers take on New Mexico Lobos at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. Auburn Tigers lead New Mexico Lobos 17-13 at halftime.

Hank Brown threw four touchdown passes and Jarquez Hunter rushed for 152 yards and scored two touchdowns as host Auburn held off New Mexico for a 45-19 nonconference victory on Saturday night.

Brown replaced Payton Thorne, who threw four interceptions in a loss to Cal last week, as the Tigers’ starting quarterback and completed 17 of 25 passes for 235 yards. Hunter caught one of Brown’s TD passes and rushed for another score for the Tigers (2-1).

Devon Dampier completed 22 of 44 passes for 291 yards and a touchdown to lead the Lobos (0-3). Dampier was picked off twice.

Auburn received the second-half kickoff and drove to Brown’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Micah Riley that gave the Tigers a 24-13 lead.

Brown’s 14-yard scoring pass to Hunter increased the lead to 31-13 by the end of the third quarter.

Dampier threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Medford to pull the Lobos within 31-19 early in the fourth. Four plays later, Brown threw a 26-yard TD to Rivaldo Fairweather to increase the Auburn lead to 38-19.

New Mexico missed a scoring opportunity later in the fourth after Auburn muffed a punt and the Lobos gained possession at the Tigers 32, as the visitors ended up turning the ball over on downs.

Auburn’s Damari Alston soon ran 22 yards for a touchdown that completed the scoring with 5:51 remaining.

On the first possession of the game, New Mexico drove to Luke Drzewiecki’s 33-yard field goal, and Auburn answered on the ensuing drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Camden Brown for a 7-3 lead.

NaQuari Rogers’ 3-yard scoring run gave the Lobos the lead before Hunter’s 2-yard touchdown run gave Auburn a 14-10 edge at the end of the first quarter.

Towns McGough kicked a 24-yard field goal for the Tigers, but Drzewiecki’s 21-yard field goal trimmed Auburn’s lead to 17-13.

Drzewiecki missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt and Auburn blew a scoring opportunity when it lost a fumble at the Lobos 15, keeping the score at 17-13 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

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New Mexico

Live updates from Auburn football’s game vs. New Mexico, Hank Brown’s first start at QB

Published

13 hours ago

September 14, 2024

Press Room

Live updates from Auburn football’s game vs. New Mexico, Hank Brown’s first start at QB

Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers (1-1) are looking to bounce back this week as they host the New Mexico Lobos (0-2) for homecoming at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The game comes on the heels of last week’s loss to Cal and a major shakeup in the Tigers’ starting lineup.

On Friday afternoon, it was reported that Freeze had decided to make a change at quarterback and would be giving redshirt freshman Hank Brown a shot as his first start.

Follow along for updates from Jordan-Hare Stadium:

Pregame

6:00 p.m. — Auburn officially announces Hank Brown as starting QB

Redshirt freshman Hank Brown was announced as Auburn’s starting quarterback — and Auburn’s student section quickly issued its approval:

5:45 p.m. — Official pregame notes from Auburn

Redshirt freshman Hank Brown will start under center for the Tigers, while junior Camden Brown will start at wide receiver in place of Cam Coleman.

5:40 p.m. — Injury notes from warmups

Auburn freshman wide receiver Cam Coleman (shoulder), sophomore kicker Alex McPherson (illness) and senior offensive lineman Izavion Miller (hip) will all miss today’s game vs. New Mexico

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New Mexico

New Mexico at Auburn by the numbers: Homecoming date good to Tigers

Published

20 hours ago

September 14, 2024

Press Room

New Mexico at Auburn by the numbers: Homecoming date good to Tigers

New Mexico (0-2) at Auburn (1-1)

6:30 p.m. CDT Saturday (ESPN2)

Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn

0 Previous games between Auburn and New Mexico.

0 Victories in two games this season for New Mexico. The Lobos opened 2024 with a 35-31 home loss to Montana State on Aug. 24 and fell to Arizona 61-39 on the road on Aug. 31. New Mexico did not play last week.

2 Sacks on back-to-back snaps for Auburn DE Keldric Faulk in last week’s game against California. Faulk became the first Auburn player to record sacks on consecutive snaps since 2003, when Reggie Torbor did it against Ole Miss. Faulk has three of the Tigers’ five sacks this season.

4 Victories without a loss for Auburn in games against Mountain West Conference opponents. The Tigers defeated Wyoming in 2000 and San Jose State in 2014, 2015 and 2022. All the games have been played at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

4 Consecutive seasons with a game against an SEC opponent for New Mexico. The Lobos lost to Texas A&M in 2021 and 2023 and LSU in 2022 to drop their mark against the SEC to 0-8. All the games have been on the road.

7 Victories without a loss for Auburn on Sept. 14. The Tigers have played as many as eight times on only one date without suffering a loss – Sept. 10, when Auburn is 8-0. On Sept. 14, the Tigers have defeated Southern Miss, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Kent State at home, Louisville in Birmingham and Ole Miss in Oxford. New Mexico has a 4-5 record on Sept. 14, including an 0-4 mark on the road.

7 TDs have been scored by the New Mexico offense this season – three TD runs and four TD passes by QB Devon Dampier.

9 Teams in the nation do not have a takeaway this season. Of those nine teams, only one – Temple with nine – has lost more turnovers than Auburn, which has had four of its passes intercepted and three of its fumbles recovered by the opposition.

9 Rushing yards are needed by Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter to become the 15th Auburn player with 2,300.

19 Years since the previous game in which a New Mexico player had at least 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards, which QB Devon Dampier accomplished in the Lobos’ previous contest. In New Mexico’s 61-39 loss to Arizona on Aug. 31, Dampier completed 24-of-42 passes for 260 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions and ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. It was the first 200/100 game for the Lobos since QB Kole McKamey accomplished the feat in a 27-24 loss to BYU on Oct. 8, 2005.

19.25 Yards per completion have been averaged by Auburn this season, which ranks second in the nation behind Washington’s 20.31. The Tigers’ 58.2 percent completion percentage ranks 13th in the SEC.

23 Consecutive games with at least one reception for Auburn WR Robert Lewis. All but the most recent two of those games came with Lewis playing for Georgia State. He had 70 receptions for 877 yards and seven touchdowns for the Panthers in 2023.

32 Consecutive homecoming games have been won by Auburn. The Tigers haven’t lost on homecoming since 1991, when Mississippi State spoiled the festivities by taking a 24-17 victory. Auburn has an 85-8-4 record in the homecoming game.

144 Games have been played by Auburn since it was most recently shut out, the second-longest streak in school history. Auburn’s most recent shutout loss came 49-0 to Alabama on Nov. 17, 2012. Auburn’s record scoring streak lasted 149 games, starting with a 55-16 victory over Richmond on Oct. 4, 1980, and ending with a 17-0 loss to Alabama on Nov. 26, 1992. Auburn’s current scoring streak is the 10th-longest in SEC history, and its record streak is the ninth-longest.

193 Games have been played by Auburn since the Tigers most recently had a punt blocked, the longest active streak in the nation. Mississippi State was the most recent opponent to block an Auburn punt in the Tigers’ 49-24 victory on Sept. 12, 2009. New Mexico most recently blocked an opponent’s punt in a 23-20 loss to San Diego State on Oct. 31, 2009. The Lobos have played 172 games since they most recently blocked a punt, the longest active streak in the nation.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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