2. Eligible venture capital funds. Money in the fund may be invested in one or more private, professionally managed venture capital funds located in the State capable of providing venture capital to businesses in order to create and protect jobs and with an established track record of that provide evidence of past or potential management success and risk diversification. To be eligible for investments from the fund, a private venture capital fund must:

A. Apply to the authority. The application must describe the private venture capital fund and its funding sources, the region it serves, its methods and criteria for qualifying investments, including any targeted investing and economic development strategy, its expertise in venture capital assistance and investing in small and emerging businesses, the method by which it will leverage funds from other sources than those received from the fund and other information the authority determines necessary;

B. Have a strategy for the creation and retention of jobs, an effective small business marketing and technical assistance plan and enough expert assistance available to it to underwrite, document and service investments and to assist the businesses in which it invests;

C. Be determined by the authority to be able to prudently and effectively administer venture capital investments; and

D. Propose performance standards and goals and a process for monitoring compliance with proposed measurement and goals.

Sec. B-2. 10 MRSA §1026-N, sub-§4, ķA, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 424, §1, is amended to read:

A. The private venture capital fund shall certify that it will use funds only for eligible purposes and that it will make best efforts to invest an amount equal to the authority's investment in the fund in businesses that meet all eligibility requirements for a tax credit certificate pursuant to section 1100-T, subsection 2, paragraph B;