UPDATED RALEIGH, NC - Credit Suisse will manage North Carolina’s new $230 million Innovation Fund, NC State Treasurer Janet Cowell said Monday in Durham. Credit Suisse said it will invest at least 1 percent of its own money in deals. It will seek partners and syndicates for its investments from the fund.

Money from the fund will be invested in companies with primary operations in the state. Cowell said the fund will invest in high impact, high growth areas.

UNC System President Erskine Bowles said the investments may go to firms in nanotechnology, biotech, clean tech, IT, and financial services.

We think this is obviously good news for the NC startup community, but we wonder if early stage tech startups will be in line for any of the fund’s money, or if they will target later stage companies.

The major funding gap in North Carolina and the Southeast in general is in early stage investments. The recession hit many so-called “angel” investors hard, slashing their own wealth, making it harder for them to invest in startups.

Many venture capital firms moved away from the riskier early stage deals as well, preferring the safer later stage deals with companies that have already gained significant traction and revenue.

Since the Innovation Fund will be using state money, we suspect it will want to limit riskier deals.

Credit Suisse is in the process of expanding its Research Triangle Park facility from 300 employees to about 1,000. It increased its RTP holdings by 35 acres in November.

The North Carolina Retirement Systems is the 10th largest public pension fund in the United States.

The state set a high bar for applicants who wanted to mange the Innovation Fund. It required “broad private equity experience in multiple industries and multiple investment categories,” at least $15 billion of total assets under management and a history of working with at least 25 or more private companies with significant NC operations.”