I can only imagine how excited the students participating in the Frankel Commercialization Fund program at U of M must be now that they have made an investment.  The fund has been around for more than a year and the students came close to making two investments last spring but never closed.  Now, with an $85,000 investment in Arbor Photonics they have finished the investment process in full, including handing over a check.  Good for them.

I know students Punit Chiniwalla, Delara Godrej, Andy Hastings and Michael Tarasev.  These are great young people who take their responsibilities as students and participants in this program very seriously.  I know they have learned a lot from Tom Porter, a legendary VC in Ann Arbor and fund director.

If you have any University of Michigan connection and are looking for early stage investment you may qualify for funding from the Frankel Fund. But you only have until December 15 to apply.  Go to the link below for all the information.

Skip Simms
Ann Arbor SPARK
skip@AnnArborUSA.org
O – 734-821-0072
C – 734-646-3173

Frankel Fund
Investment in Arbor Photonics

On January 3 Ann Arbor SPARK hosted an event that showcased 4 sources of capital available to Michigan start-ups who are nearly ready for their first round of equity investment. Automation Alley’s fund, Next Energy’s fund, the Frankel Fund and SPARK’s Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund presented their criteria for eligibility and the process for applying.  The link below will take you to the video of the program, which runs about 1 hr. and 40 minutes. You can fast forward through the parts you aren’t interested in.

Seed investors are those who like companies that are starting to generate revenue and have a product that is developed. They also like to see a management team mostly, if not entirely, filled out.  Pre-Seed funds are usually economic development funds that are willing to invest a little bit earlier and take the greater risk to help the company get to the stage where the private market will take over. In other words they will invest even if the product isn’t quite finished but has customers in a pipeline.  The management team is rarely complete at this stage but the needs are clearly identified.  However, these are not grants and because a return is desired a company still has to go through a due diligence process.  This is an excellent exercise for start-ups in preparation for the scrutiny the next type of investors will put them through.

The investment environment for entrepreneurs in Michigan is improving.  As a result we should see a lot more technology companies growing to maturity and profitability.