Entrepreneurship Center at SBU Welcomes Brown and White Ventures

Solving boring problems with innovative solutions.

Neil Bommele described that as being at the heart of healthy startup companies; the kind that, when woven with high-value founders and well-measured business planning, can attract startup investment from Brown and White Ventures and other venture capital funds.

Bommele, a 1987 alumnus of St. Bonaventure University, and an associate and advisory board member of Brown and White Ventures, returned to his alma mater with fund co-founder Jim Aroune (SBU '87) to share the story of the fund to students beginning their study of venture capital and other matters of entrepreneurship.

Professors Todd Palmer and Tom Cullen, co-leaders of the weekly course on entrepreneurship, launched their Fall 2025 semester presentation of the class September 2nd with a Q&A session with Bommele and Aroune.

Both shared the story of the fund's founding by Charles O'Neill (SBU '83) and the development of Brown and White Ventures' investment portfolio in 2025.

Brown and White Ventures has welcomed ten St. Bonaventure students and alumni into its internship program through the fund's first 20 months of operation.