iNetworks Michigan Fund commits $20M to biotech investment

Pittsburgh-based iNetworks sees what is happening in Metro Detroit’s economy and is not afraid.”They’re really looking at it as a really untapped area,” says Greg Auner, manager of the iNetworks Michigan Fund. “Also, it’s Pittsburgh that went through a downturn and rebuilt itself. To them this is a natural thing.”The $20 million investment fund will focus on startups developing biomedical technologies, such as the latest and greatest in medical instruments. Pittsburgh reinvented itself after the fall of the steel industry in the 1980s by diversifying its economy around new industries, such as bio-tech and life sciences, and iNetworks was one of its major players.The Michigan Fund will provide seed capital with the idea of repeating that same strategy. Michigan has a strong background in developing and commercializing biotech and life sciences companies, thanks to its workforce and strong research universities. The Detroit-based fund calls TechTown and a Stroh’s River Place office home for its four employees, who are raising $20 million for the fund and expect to have it ready to go by the end of this year.Source: Greg Auner, manager of the iNetworks Michigan FundWriter: Jon Zemke