Michigan Fund Aims $10M At Life Sciences

Early-stage life science companies in West Michigan may be happy to know that a $10 million fund is being raised just for them. Michigan’s 21st Century Jobs Fund, run by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, has contributed $6 million to the Michigan Accelerator Fund I designed to fill the region’s early stage funding gap for life science and technology companies. According to a news release, additional investments by regional partners will bring the fund to $10 million by early 2011, when it is expected to make its first investment.

Author: Howard Lovy

Howard Lovy is a veteran journalist who has focused primarily on technology, science and innovation during the past decade. In 2001, he helped launch Small Times Magazine, a nanotech publication based in Ann Arbor, MI, where he built the freelance team and worked closely with writers to set the tone and style for an emerging sector that had never before been covered from a business perspective. Lovy's work at Small Times, and on one of the first nanotechnology-themed blogs, helped him earn a reputation for making complex subjects understandable, interesting, and even entertaining for a broad audience. It also earned him the 2004 Prize in Communication from the Foresight Institute, a nanotech think tank. In his freelance work, Lovy covers nanotechnology in addition to technological innovation in Michigan with an emphasis on efforts to survive and retool in the state's post-automotive age. Lovy's work has appeared in many publications, including Wired News, Salon.com, the Wall Street Journal, The Detroit News, The Scientist, the Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report, Michigan Messenger, and the Ann Arbor Chronicle.