The state of Michigan has launched a new $120-million venture capital pool that will invest in seed and early-stage venture capital funds that in turn invest in high-tech companies in the state. Venture firms that receive money from the Venture Michigan Fund II will be required to invest at least as much in Michigan-based companies as they receive in capital commitments, according to a news release.
Venture Michigan Fund II follows the first Venture Michigan Fund formed in 2006, which invested $95 million into 11 VC funds. To date, with about 36 percent, or $34 million, of VMF I capital deployed, fund managers have invested more than $38 million in 15 Michigan-based companies, according to the release.
“The growth of the venture capital industry in Michigan will be a very important part of the transformation of the Michigan economy,” Tom Kinnear, chairman of the Venture Michigan Fund Board, said in a statement. “A healthy and active Michigan venture capital industry results in investment in attractive, growing high technology companies and industries. This means new jobs for the Michigan economy. VMF II should play an important role in this process.”
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.
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