Venture Capital

Accuri Cytometers nearly doubles staff, takes in $4 million more in VC

By Newsroom

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July 16, 2009

More and more venture capital investment is flooding Ann Arbor-based start-ups these days.Excerpt:Ann Arbor's Accuri Cytometers continues to blaze big trails towards rapid growth, bringing in millions in financing and creating dozens of new jobs.The Ann Arbor-based firm nailed down $4 million in Series D financing (think venture capital funding) from the likes of Fidelity Biosciences, Flagship Ventures, Baird Venture Partners, Arboretum Ventures and InvestMichigan! The money is expected to help push forward the commercialization of its Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer System and open up markets in Europe and elsewhere around the world. "This is expected to take us through to profitability," says Jen Baird, CEO of Accuri Cytometers. Read the rest of the story here.

Latest in Venture Capital

Great Lakes Angels moves headquarters to TechTown

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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July 16, 2009

Detroit start-ups are getting their own vanguard of angel investors now that the Great Lakes Angels is moving to TechTown.Excerpt:It's not just entrepreneurs setting up shop in TechTown these days. The money people who make Great Lakes Angels have also moved into the Detroit-based business incubator as of June.This is the second time the member organization of investors has set up shop in TechTown. It moved from TechTown to Oakland University in 2007. Great Lakes Angels came back to the Motor City to establish a more central location in Michigan's entrepreneurial breeding ground."We want to be at the center of the action, not at the perimeter of it," says Rick Galdi, president of Great Lakes Angels. "I think TechTown is going to be the epicenter of a new entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state."Read the rest of the story here.

VC firm Early Stage Partners plans to open Ann Arbor office

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Community Development

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July 9, 2009

Michigan's 21st Century Investment Fund invested in a Cleveland Fund and ended up with a new venture capital office in Ann Arbor.Excerpt:The state's 21st Century Investment Fund just invested $35.5 million into four funds. Among them is Cleveland-based Early Stage Partners, which is getting a cool $10 million to invest venture capital into research companies in the Midwest. It plans to open an office in Ann Arbor soon as part of the deal. Early Stage Partners provides early stage venture capital to research-based start-ups. Those companies are usually in the educational, scientific and medical industries. Read the rest of the story here.

Michigan invests $14.5 million into Detroit’s Peninsula Capital Partners

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Community Development

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July 9, 2009

Detroit-based Peninsula Capital Partners is the big winner from the latest round of investment from Michigan's 21st Century Investment Fund.Excerpt:Michigan's 21st Century Investment Fund just sent out $35.5 million in investment to some large mezzanine funds with the largest chunk coming to a Detroit firm.Downtown-based Peninsula Capital Partners took in $14.5 million from the fund. The firm focuses on non-conventional transactions, such as growth capital and strategic acquisitions.Read the rest of the story here.

65 VC firms set to attend U-M Growth Capital Symposium

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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May 7, 2009

There are deals to be made when the University of Michigan's Growth Capital Symposium kicks off next week.Excerpt:There are places to be seen in the Midwest start-up/venture capital game, and the University of Michigan's Growth Capital Symposium is definitely one of them.This is not a new thing. Next Tuesday and Wednesday is the 28th incarnation of the symposium, and given how many venture capitalists are coming and how many start-ups looking for funding wanted to get their foot in the door it shows how important the event has become.Read the rest of the story here.

Clean Emission Fluids clears $100,000 in venture capital

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Community Development

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May 7, 2009

Clean Emission Fluids doesn't have to worry about washing its latest investment of $100,000. The venture capital comes straight from Automation Alley.The Grosse Pointe start-up received the funds to help develop its FAST (Fluids Affordably STored) biofuel and clean diesel system. The new technology helps blend a variety of biofuels to make the right combination of bio-diesel for the right truck when it pulls up. Most other fuel pumps don't have this blending ability.Clean Emission Fluids installed its first such pump on the NextEnergy campus at Detroit's TechTown business incubator early last year. The pumps are turn-key usable with prices starting at just under $20,000 each. The company formed in 2007 and employs a handful of people. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation recently gave Automation Alley $1.5 million to invest in start-up technology-based companies across Southeast Michigan. This is one of the first two companies it has invested in. The other is Franklin-based Circle Builder. Source: Automation AlleyWriter: Jon Zemke

CircleBuilder nails down $500K in VC, plans to hire

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Arts & Culture

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April 30, 2009

CircleBuilder didn't have to necessarily pray to continue its steady growth streak, but one can't help but think that a higher power is watching out for the Oak Park-based start-up these days.The 3-year-old firm just locked up $500,000 in venture capital, half of which came from Automation Alley, while the rest was from angel investors. The $500,000 is on top of $1.3 million CircleBuilder has already raised in seed money.That's after the company added an employee, thereby expanding its staff to four people. It is working on hiring a few interns. CircleBuilder plans to use its newly found start-up funding to improve its software product, marketing, and even hiring a few more people. "It will probably be just a couple to start," says Howard Brown, co-founder and CEO of CircleBuilder. "One support staffer and one salesperson to start."CircleBuilder offers Yahoo Groups-like services to churches and faith-based organizations. Brown points out that most of these organizations lack any type of comprehensive online presence. It's a deficiency that plays against a church, making it harder for members to interact, share ideas, and even raise money in the 21st Century.Brown, who was a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur before moving to Michigan, has already done this successfully with PlanitJewish, an organizational website for Jewish communities. A number of Christian leaders, including Rick Warren of "The Purpose Driven Life" fame, asked him to do something similar for Christians.Brown launched CircleBuilder as a free service last fall, and about 500 faith-based organizations are using it. The subscription version started in March and already has a handful of users signed up. Those include Metro Detroit-based St. Hugo of the Hills. CircleBuilder is doing everything from designing websites to creating software so users can link to popular sites like Facebook but still control what type of material comes in."We create what is called walled gardens for the church and monasteries and whatnot," Brown says. Source: Howard Brown, co-founder and CEO of CircleBuilderWriter: Jon Zemke

VC In MI: A Conversation With Credit Suisse’s Kelly Williams

By Jon Zemke

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Economic Development

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April 29, 2009

If Michigan is to transform into a knowledge-based economy it means greater investment in local start-ups. Kelly Williams is a managing director with Credit Suisse, the investment firm that heads up the Venture Michigan Fund. Metromode sat down with her to discuss the state of our venture capital community and where it's headed.

Michigan builds VC base for future investment; $36 million for Lycera

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Economic Development

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April 23, 2009

Recent bad news about Michigan's venture capital environment isn't as bad as it appears if you look at it in the proper context.The first quarter was one of the state's worst in recent years when it comes to venture capital investment. But Kelly Williams, managing director of Credit Suisse's Customized Fund Investment Group, points out that venture capital statistics can be misleading from a quarterly view point, and even from a number of dollars invested perspective.For instance, the recent $36 million venture capital investment into Ann Arbor-based Lycera happened three days after the first quarter ended. Had it been a week earlier, the first quarter would have been hailed as one of the best ever for Michigan. Williams suggest looking at such numbers on an annual basis to get a better view of where Michigan stands. Not to mention, consideration should be given to the number of companies invested in, rather than just the dollar amount. Investing in start-ups is much cheaper today compared to a year or two ago because of the economic downfall."The same number of companies were funded this year as were last year," Williams says. "The dollar amount is different."She also pointed out that there has been significant progress in developing Michigan's venture capital community and that doesn't show up in investment statistics. The number of venture capital managers in the state has doubled, and their track record is growing. That will give bigger venture capital firms in California and Massachusetts more reason to invest in Michigan."When they know there are really quality, smart sophisticated investors in the state, they don't need to pull the companies out to the coasts," Williams says.She adds that there is still some dry powder in the Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund, including $33 million in the Venture Michigan Fund and $35 million in the 21st Century Fund. She expects another round of venture capital investments from these state funds to be announced within the next 4-6 weeks.Source: Kelly Williams, managing director of Credit Suisse's Customized Fund Investment GroupWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Lycera receives $36M in venture capital, to add 6 jobs

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Economic Development

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April 23, 2009

Michigan's venture capital investment came back in a big way through Lycera.Excerpt:Just when the local venture capital landscape looks its bleakest, a big silver lining appears. Right now that’s the $36 million Ann Arbor-based Lycera recently locked down.The pharmaceutical company plans to use that cash to continue research and development of small molecule drugs for treating autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. It won’t take the firm to commercialization of these items, but at least to the next step of FDA approval."It takes us to the next steps probably," says Gary D. Glick, founder and chief scientist of Lycera.Read the rest of the story here.