New venture investment fund Silicon Harbor Ventures is now up and running with a focus on finding investors and investments in South Carolina.

SHV is affiliated with the Charleston Digital Corridor, an initiative to grow the technology economy of Charleston. The Digital Corridor’s offerings include incubator space, a talent portal for hiring and tech classes. The addition of SHV brings an investment piece to the effort, said Ernest Andrade, director of the Charleston Digital Corridor.

“People want to make investments,” Andrade said. “We had to give them a sophisticated structure in which they could make these investments.”

Andrade said SHV’s first fund will be $5 million to take advantage of South Carolina’s angel investor tax credit – which is capped at $5 million. The fund is seeking accredited investors in South Carolina who can invest a minimum of $250,000 and take advantage of the state’s tax credit. The fund has already raised $1 million from an individual investment.

The investment focus will be on IT and software, not health care, a reflection of the types of companies located in the Digital Corridor. SHV will invest between $50,0000 and $300,000 in startups. SHV will operate the fund like angel investor clubs, where investors are active in evaluating applications for funding. But SHV also pledges to offer mentoring and other support to help companies grow. Andrade said SHV has assembled a team of mentors ready to help its portfolio companies.

Andrade said that while SHV is focused initially on Charleston it is also looking to invest throughout the southeast, including North Carolina. He said that he’s already in discussion with companies in Ohio and New York that are considering relocating to South Carolina. Depending on demand, SHV could launch additional funds for additional investments.

SHV is now accepting applications from companies seeking capital from the first SHV fund, which will start making investments in 2014. But Andrade cautioned that applicants can’t just be looking for the opportunity to use other people’s money.

“This fund would be looking for folks who have made investments themselves in their own company,” he said. “We want entrepreneurs to have skin in the game themselves.”