To Date, Fund Has Invested $5.4 Million in Michigan Businesses
ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Three more Michigan start-up
companies received investment commitments in May, pushing the total
investments made through the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund to $5.4
million. To date, 25 Michigan companies have received critical seed funding
through the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, a collaborative effort of
Michigan's 12 SmartZones.
"Support across the state for emerging businesses signals a collective
commitment for creating new economy companies and jobs in Michigan,"
explained Skip Simms, Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund manager. "The Michigan
Pre-Seed Capital Fund is a resource that helps companies at a critical
stage of formation and development work towards bringing products to
market. Helping growing companies be successful works to retain business
here in Michigan as well as attract and retain the talent these companies
need to further their growth."
Funding recipients in May are:
-- Fulcrum Composites, sponsored by the Mt. Pleasant/ Midland
SmartZone, received $200,000. Fulcrum Composites utilizes advanced
materials and designs to develop structural components for the trailer and
energy industries.
-- Global Energy, Inc. (GEI), sponsored by Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti
SmartZone, received $250,000. GEI provides advanced auxiliary high
temperature PEM fuel cell power systems capable of reforming various fuel
sources to provide multiple, reconfigurable power output channels.
-- 3IS, sponsored by Automation Alley, received $92,499. 3IS is a
business information aggregator that provides comprehensive, Web-based data
portals for the global electronics industry.
In addition to Fulcrum Composites, Global Energy, and 3IS, 22
seed-stage companies have received funding through the Michigan Pre-Seed
Capital Fund. Additional fund recipients, and their SmartZone location are:
-- MedElute, Inc., Kalamazoo
-- Accord BioMaterials, Ann Arbor
-- Afid Therapeutics, Lansing
-- Avidimer Therapeutics, Inc., Ann Arbor
-- Cielo MedSolutions, Ann Arbor
-- Compendia Bioscience, Inc., Ann Arbor
-- Danotek Motion Technologies, LLC, Ann Arbor
-- EADevices, Inc., Kalamazoo
-- Emiliem, Kalamazoo
-- ERT Systems, Ann Arbor
-- Functional Brands, Detroit
-- Hybra-Drive Systems, LLC, Deerfield
-- JADI, Automation Alley
-- MedElute, Inc., Kalamazoo
-- OTO Medicine, Ann Arbor
-- ParkingCarma, Flint
-- Phrixus Pharmaceuticals, Ann Arbor
-- Pixel Velocity, Inc., Ann Arbor
-- RazorThreat, Royal Oak
-- Saleztrack, Detroit
-- SensiGen LLC, Ann Arbor
-- Venomix, Kalamazoo
-- XG Sciences, Inc., Lansing
The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund is an equity fund that invests in
technology-based companies to support business formation and acceleration.
Each SmartZone is responsible for recommending an investor to the Michigan
Pre-Seed Capital Fund review board. Ann Arbor SPARK serves as the Fund's
administrator.
To qualify for the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, start-up companies
must be a start-up company in one of the state's identified competitive
edge technology and have the sponsorship of its local SmartZone. In
addition to SmartZone sponsorship, companies must have received grant,
angel or venture capital funding greater or equal to funding requested of
the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund.
The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund is an equity investment fund and, as
such, will receive the same returns as the third party investor. The
returns that the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund receives from its
investments will serve as seed money for the Fund's continuation.
ABOUT ANN ARBOR SPARK
Representing all communities in Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor SPARK, a
non-profit organization, is the driving force in establishing the Ann Arbor
region as a destination for business expansion, retention, and location by
identifying and meeting the needs of business at every stage, from startups
to large organizations. Ann Arbor SPARK collaborates with business,
academic, government, and community investor partners including the
University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, the Herbert and Grace
Dow Foundation, Pfizer, Washtenaw County, the City of Ann Arbor, the Bank
of Ann Arbor, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the LDFA.
For more information, please call (734) 761-9317 or visit
http://www.AnnArborSPARK.org.
SOURCE Ann Arbor SPARK
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Related links:
http://www.AnnArborSPARK.org
CONTACT:
Elizabeth Parkinson, +1-734-761-9317,
elizabeth@annarborusa.org, or Susanna Thomashefski,
+1-734-527-9142, susanna@annarborusa.org, both of Ann Arbor SPARK
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