What New Mexico’s SIC says its venture program is delivering

A new State Investment Council (SIC) report spotlights the early results of the agency’s Strategic Venture Capital Program, a redesigned approach meant to pair financial returns with measurable economic activity inside New Mexico. The SIC says the program has created more economic impact in the past year than in any prior year since the earlier initiative began.

At the center of the report is scale: more than $1.8 billion in commitments to venture funds, which the SIC says has helped drive more than $2 billion in economic impact tied to companies expanding into New Mexico, including Pacific Fusion, XGS Energy, and Castelion Corp.

SIC officials frame the pivot as a response to shortcomings in the state’s older, statute-based private equity program, which was originally oriented around New Mexico–headquartered companies. SIC private equity and venture capital director Chris Cassidy said the prior structure became difficult to sustain, both in investment performance and in meeting broader funding goals for public services.

The new model leans on partnerships with established venture firms that can source deals and encourage portfolio companies to build a footprint in the state—what the SIC describes as a “double-bottom line” of returns and local growth.

SIC leaders also connect the program to a broader transparency push around New Mexico’s sovereign wealth assets. The agency manages a fund it says has grown to $71 billion, and it reported sending $2.6 billion to the state operating budget in 2025. The SIC projects the fund could reach $100 billion by 2032 and return $38 billion to the operating budget over the next decade, according to the report.

Company examples in the story include XGS Energy—cited as a venture-backed firm partnering with Meta Platforms on a geothermal power plant in northwestern New Mexico—and defense manufacturer Castelion, which recently broke ground on a large Sandoval County site after a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, a fund that received an SIC commitment.

One line that captures the SIC’s pitch: Cassidy pointed to out-of-state firms building in New Mexico, saying, “I think that’s what everybody actually wants to achieve.”